Fall happenings and quick trips

This is LONG OVERDUE, so it is really LONG.  (and there is a picture overload, but I'm sure no one will mind cute pics of the kiddos~)

Todd was - once again - hard at work coaching Mercer's baseball team this fall.  It seems that this season was especially tough because in fall ball, families aren't as serious about playing.  Here in the south, the majority of folks are VERY into college football which is on Saturdays when games are played.  Close to the end of the season, there were a couple of games that should have been cancelled due to low attendance but the families who made the effort to come out and play decided to continue on with the game even though there were not enough kids.  This team in a hard place:  playing 5 or 6 kids against 9.  One of the games with the scales tipped went OK, but the next one the kids were pretty beat up mentally as they were getting crushed.  

I feel bad for those dedicated handful of kids, but honestly, feel worse for Todd who put so much effort into the coaching, scheduling, and customized rosters each game.  The last game of the season - the team pulled off a win and the kids overall seemed happy.  Todd's hope is that they learned a few things this season while having fun.  Overall, they ended the season with 3 losses and 5 wins.  Not bad considering the lack of participation.

Isabella did not want to sit and watch baseball.  She only wanted to play on the playground - which makes it hard for me to watch much.  But - what I saw of the game, I could tell that Mercer has developed more focus and contributed to the team as a whole -- hitting well and making some good plays this season.  He's becoming a pretty good all-around player.  The team was (again) the Mets -- donning orange shirts.   This is Isabella's typical face when forced to stay in the stroller and watch for a little while. 

This fall, the "real" Mets -- the professional baseball team -- went to the World Series!!  Unfortunately, they did not take it all the way - however - Todd was really excited to watch his team advance to the Series.  It doesn't happen very often!!

Another activity that Todd and Mercer participated in:  they went camping with the Cub Scouts. That trip was in north Georgia and after playing a game first thing Saturday, the guys changed clothes, changed out the baseball gear in the car for a tent and supplies, and hit the road.  

They camped out with the troop one night and then packed up the next day to come play more baseball!  What a whirlwind that was!  The troop went for a hike, made personal emergency first aid kits, performed a skit, and toasted s'mores.  It dropped to freezing that night, but they all said they had a great time.



When the guys went away on their trip, Isabella and I did some things together.  There was a harvest festival on our Square with a pumpkin patch and activities for the kids.  As far as I know - this is the first time that Isabella has had her face painted.  She, amazingly sat still for this (thankfully it was a quick and easy design!).  One thing that was funny -- she sat holding the mirror looking at herself smiling and smiling and smiling.  It was hard to get her to let go of the mirror and move on for the next kid.  

It's good that she saw herself made up and understood the concept of face-painting, as RIGHT AFTER the kid's harvest festival, there was a zombie walk scheduled on the square.  I was hoping to leave before that all started, but she wanted to play on the playground.  It was too late anyways.  There were zombies milling about the Square early and there were some who had kids playing on the playground too!  There was no escaping. But... Isabella was not phased by it.  When we encountered the first group of zombies, I talked it up like "Look!  they have their faces painted too -- just like yours."  so, from then-on, that's what she said... they are painted. whew!

Here are some of our pool buddies zombied out.   Chelsea, Annette, and John.  Kind of fun to see them out.


Isabella is gutsy.  She walked right up to one of the "zombie moms" hanging out at the playground, and asked what was wrong with her eye.  (The woman took off her fake glasses to show her her real eyes underneath.)  Isabella also played with the fake leg.  Then - of course - there's the other side of her... completely soft-hearted for animals.  When we were at the square, she had to meet the owners of and hug no less than 30 dogs.  Again, with her bold spirit, walking up to the owner:  "What's your name? Can I pet your dog?  What's her name?"  then a hug and a squeal~

The next day, Isabella and I went to Baby Land General where they make Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.  (In a different part of north Georgia than where the boys were.)   Isabella mostly enjoyed playing with the toys and dolls that were set up in a play kitchen and a play hair salon.  

The place was about 80% gift shop, 10% play area for the kids, and 10% "performance" area.  The main focus of Baby Land General:  sell dolls and accessories!  ANYTHING you could imagine that you would need for your CPK dolls... they had it.  

Regarding the performance:  I must say - it was a bit odd watching performances of the staff (dressed like nurses) giving birth to these dolls by reaching down into the depths of a cabbage.  

People clapped and cheered when they held up a baby.  Again - it was sort of weird, but, we saw it.  I've always wanted to check it out, so now that we've been, I can cross that one off the list.

Recently, we all went apple picking and to a farm.... back to north Georgia.  We have been to both the orchard and this farm before -- when Mercer was little.  The apple orchard has gotten insanely busy.  But - because of the threat of rain, the farm was pretty manageable with the kiddos.

The highlight of the trip was the live animals -- especially the ones that you could feed.  

There was an "old fashioned" milking demonstration followed by information on the newer technology used on a small-scale dairy farm.    There was also a herding demonstration.  A man was giving the dog commands and he would run /get the herd to run in various directions based on the command.  

The farm also had pig races inside one of the barns.  (It's been a few weeks since we've went, however, Mercer still mentions that black and white pig that won all of the races -- it must have had a real impact on him~)  Sorry there are no photos of that.  It was pretty cute, however, we were in the center of a track which was inside a barn and the pigs ran circles around us. 

You will notice a theme about these pumpkin photos... we cannot seem to get both kids to look at the camera at the same time!!  Oh well~

And - of course - here are some photos from the apple orchard. 

We had MORE fun the next day when we headed south.  We went to a place called Serenbe in Chattahoochee Hills below Atlanta.  Todd and I had been there before -- renting a cabin for the weekend and taking a long hike in a major downpour.  But - this trip was dry.  We went in honor of a man, Ray Anderson, who started a revolution in the carpet industry... and ultimately in the green building industry.  His company was very bold in some sustainability initiatives that they took and they have made a (positive) lasting impact on the built environment.  This event was called "Ray Day" and it was something that his family / family trust puts on every year to give back to the green building and sustainability community.  (all of it -- gratis)  


The highlight (for our little family) was the children's area -- complete with games, face painting and horse rides.  There were hot air balloon "take offs" (as the balloons were tethered to the ground), food trucks, a free-flowing Sweetwater beer tent, and vendors who all had some sort of environmental mission.  Many of the organizations that I've been involved with and/or worked for were there.  It was great catching up with people, but it was really nice to spend some great time with our family doing some things we have not done before.   

As mentioned, Isabella is a huge animal lover.  Horses / ponies are no exception!  It was unbelievable how drawn she was to them and how (being a strong-willed 2 year old) she INSISTED on riding each and every one of them.   

Here she is on the biggest one (this is the one she rode first), then - a little more comforting to me was her riding on the smallest pony, and finally the medium-sized one.  The woman who walked around with her and "spotted" her on big one said that Isabella was actually really great.  She did not move. She held on.  She listened to instructions.  She was very comfortable with them... she's a natural and kids her age can go ahead / start riding lessons.  Uh oh (for us!)  This smile tells the story.....

Mercer was not interested in the horses, rather, he was interested in playing all of the games and getting his face painted.  He looks pretty fierce (and lovable too).   

There were animals there as well -- including a bunch of baby piglets!   

Oh what a sweet day we had with our little family exploring some new things.



The next post will have some more fall fun, Halloween, and Isabella's birthday (our baby girl is about to turn 3!!)  

miscellany

There was actually more of summer after the "last hoo-rahs of summer" post~  but, it was after school had started and it felt like summer was officially over.

But - before the fall blog post comes, we should share more LAST hoo-rahs!

We signed Mercer up for cub scouts this year.  He is in a "den" with other 2nd graders from his school.  He is in a "pack" with 1st-5th graders from his school / from the area.  (We are learning the lingo~)  They did something pretty cool.  At one meeting, they made bottle rockets.  Because it rained, they weren't able to shoot them off, so at a subsequent cub scouts cookout, they shot them off in our church parking lot.  It was a lot of fun to watch these things shoot up in the air ('til a kid got hit in the head with one!!).  You can't see Mercer in the last bottle rocket photo because someone stepped between he and the camera, but you CAN see the trail of water that his bottle rocket left behind as it shot up into the air!  (2nd from the left station)

We've also been on a hike and have had some meetings with our (2nd grade) den.  The hike was fine -- but LOUD with a dozen or more little boys traipsing through the woods!  

We met up with a couple of families recently.  The last time that we saw the one family -- Ann and Anthony -- was BEFORE Mercer was born.  Ann brought Henry as a baby to Mercer's adoption day party.  Both infants.  Both adopted through the same consultant.  Theirs was a more traditional adoption through an agency as they had several months to prepare and to get to know the boy's birth mother.  We've kept in touch over the years with plans of getting together.  And, through the years, they went through the adoption process again... but after they were paired up with another baby, the original birthmother was pregnant again!  They adopted 2 more children within months of one another!  They now have 3 children -- 2 of them are biologically connected, but all of them are connected by their wonderful, loving family bond.  It was so nice seeing them and their beautiful children.  And - hopefully it's not close to 7 years when we see them (and our mutual friend, Kristy) again~

A couple of weekends ago, we were going stir crazy after being stuck in the house due to rain.  We found this (free) activity to partake in at a nearby mall:  a LEGO roadshow with monuments and civic buildings built out of little plastic bricks.  Here are some shots of the kids at the LEGO play area.  Mercer also went through a free "make-and-take" area where he got to pick up pieces to build a mini white house at home.  It was a great event to find last minute.... but it reminded us how much we hate malls!  Oh well.  The kids didn't seem to mind~

Mercer earned ANOTHER "Mercer fun day" for 4 more weeks of good behavior at school.  He's doing pretty well so far this year!! His teacher gave us a great report at the parent-teacher conference last week.  His scoring on the tests for math and reading are FINALLY up where they should be!  (He's pretty good at both, however, never tested well because he'd rush through.  He finally took his time and scored above average.)  whew~  His behavior is good.  The teacher likes his creativity and uniqueness on some things.  (so do we!)  We aren't sure what the *magical* combination is, but one thing is for sure -- she is more laid back than his K and 1st grade teachers on sitting still. She says that the kids can stand if they need to while they're working at their desks.  They can grab a clip board and lay on the floor to work.  She has told us several times that if Mercer gets frustrated with homework -- stop.  We don't need to push it.  We DEFINITELY like her style!  

Back to the Mercer fun-day.... he chose to go play Monster Golf to celebrate.  It was raining that weekend too (see a theme going so far in this blog post?) so this was a great choice, as it's an indoor glow-in-the dark venue.  Isabella was NOT at all interested in playing.  We got her a miniature club, but after a couple of whacks, she was done.  She only wanted to hang out on this alligator and "fake" play the video games that were in the arcade area in part of the building.  (luckily at this age, you can get away with fake-playing without putting any money in the machines!  ha~)

We took a chance last weekend that the rain would hold-out enough for us to check out this cool art exhibit:  Los Trompos (spinning tops).  The High Museum has had these things on display out in the courtyard all summer.  There are also a few of these scattered about in other public areas in midtown Atlanta.  The kids got a little drizzled on while spinning, but they absolutely loved it.  I have to admit, I went for a spin too.... and it's kind of fun~  

Look at this picture of Mercer and Isabella.  He's got such a funny expression on his face (maybe from the twirling?), but I love how Isabella is looking at him.  (This is one from the same top... but had to zoom in on it!)   

There are other exhibits, of course, at the High too:  some modern art as well as some children's exhibits.  The day we went, there was a hand's on project the kids could partake in -- making a scene with an ocean.  All Isabella wanted to do was play with scissors.  She was so focused on cutting.  It was kind of funny!  There's an author, Mo Willems, who we like.  They have an exhibit of his drawings there as well.  The kids thought it was pretty cool - later - when we got a bunch more of his books from the library... some of the same ones that were on display.

A new chapter in my own book.....

I ended my job at the green building company last week.  It's been an emotional week.  I've never felt "all in" or totally comfortable there - so it's ultimately OK, but I'm still a little sad.  I suppose this is because the change was not of my own choice?  Before January of last year - I had always called the shots on my job transitions.  The last two have not been within my control, so they loom over me.  I - ultimately - know that something better will come of this change, but it's still hard not knowing what that is yet.  
I've just begun some part-time work with an architect doing drawing reviews.  I was talking with this same woman in January of last year when my first green building job ended and she was offering to help me get a job at her company then.  She works 60-80 hours a week, however, and travels a ton.  This part-time work that I'm doing with her now could possibly lead to a permanent job doing, however.... I know that I do not want to work a crazy amount of hours and be on the road so much.  (I did that before we had kids.)  I sort of feel like I'm messing things up for our family -- putting us in a bind -- by not choosing one steady full-time job... but I feel in my heart that having more flexibility right now is more important.

I'm sort of intrigued to get back into architecture.  Also, we just went to a green building event.  Afterwards, I told Todd that these are "my people!"  (Some of the groups represented:  the non-profit where I used to work... the nature center where I used to work... a biomimicry group that I would LOVE to work for... the green building organization I volunteer for sometimes... etc etc etc.)  Maybe I should stay in green building?  

I just don't know which direction to go.  The one thing that's steady right now is my (low-paying) teaching job that's 2 days a week.  I'm enjoying it, but do know that I can't swing the 2 part-time job juggle again for another school year.  I'll need to 100% commit to teaching.... or go back into architecture... or do something green building related...  argh!    

Right now, I'm just going with the part-time contract work squeezed in between my teaching.  Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed with big decisions and must turn it over to God to handle.  I have a lot of doubt about my decisions, but honestly feel that each position was held for a reason.  I have had a non-traditional career path so far and I have to wonder where I am headed:  architecture -> non-profit green building work -> green building consulting -> nature center -> teaching science ->  to ____ (what's next?) ___    Stay tuned.  We will all see how this unfurls! 

Sorry for the ramble!!!

BTW - Todd has been / still is VERY happy with his "traditional" career path.  He's loving his office-mates and his church projects.  (Sorry - there's never enough in the blog about him!)  He juggles the crazy activities and events that I impose on our family.  He goes along and is wonderful about it all; he's such a caring father.  There should be more in the blog about him.  There will be on the next post!