Nana, Papa, and Aunty Lizzy come to town! Fall fun in Texas.

I love all these next pictures SO much.

perhaps my most favorite picture of my dad.

We had a whirlwind fun time with Nana, Papa, and Aunt Lizzy! It was perfect timing, b/c Benny boy was just two months, so still teeny tiny, but old enough for him mom to start becoming more human and less zombie-robot.  We capitalized on that fact and all accompanied Tillie and her preschool for her first ever field trip to the local pumpkin patch. As you can see, we took lots of photos to remember the fun. It was especially great, b/c the field trip happened on Aaron's day off! Hooray! With the entrance fee, a big cup of animal feed is included. Gag me. The kids loved the idea of feeding them, and actually held their little tiny, chubby hands pretty darn close to the chompers of hungry (dare I say, DISGUSTING?) goats and huge long horn cows. I about lost it and freaked out at the sight.  Luckily, the farm also provided huge vats of sanitizer---so they could rub the cow/goat slobber and bits of smelly animal feed pellets ALL around their hands with sanitizer. Just thinking of it, even now, I want to throw up.

The kids had fun, though. Who cares about germs when fun is to be had?!

With Becca around too, we trekked down to the Dallas Arboretum and discovered the amazing pumpkin village! It was BREATH-TAKING! We were all reeling. I think I smell a new tradition, for sure!

We followed it up by a trip to the mall nearby and my parents treated the kiddos to their very own Build-a-bear. My kids about died! They'd never been before and it was every bit exciting as they'd imagined.

No parent trip is complete without an awesome project. And this one was AWESOME! My mom helped plan out our little niche/mudroom with me over the phone after I provided the measurements. She is a master planner and knows all the precise IKEA products that will help maximize our space. She came up with a list for me to purchase before they got here, so we went and got them, then my dad and Aaron spent the weekend assembling and installing two big lockers and cabinets up top. It's hard to tell from the photos, but we also painted bead-board and installed some darling hooks that my mom and I picked out from Home Depot.  It's the BOMB!  We later installed a little shelf under the bench and have a perfect spot for us to throw our shoes when we come in. I love how functional this little spot is now! And to think, the builders thought we should turn it into a desk! In the middle of a dark hallway. I think we were much smarter with this option, and I couldn't be happier with the finished result.

We figured out a different fabric we liked more, and my mom, being the wonder-woman that she is, took it home, bought foam, and made us a darling cushion for the bench. I'll have to post pictures of it.

Anyway, it was a DELIGHTFUL trip, as it always is when our awesome family comes to visit us! COME BACK AGAIN, ASAP!