Rocktober - Brady

I always feel like there's way too much to pack into October. It's such a great month with such great weather, there are awesome October-themed foods to eat (Oktoberfest beer, pumpkin everything, sweet potato everything, apple everything), and you actually welcome - because you're not tired of it yet - cool mornings and evenings. Here's a little bit of how we made the most of it. 

GRRACE's Rescue Romp:

GRRACE is the organization we used to find and adopt Molly. Every year, they hold an annual picnic, and about forty beautiful Golden Retrievers take over a barn at the Lebanon, Indiana fairgrounds. We had the best time. Everyone kept saying they couldn't believe we drove all the way down from Chicago "so Molly could have a play date," but we couldn't believe they thought we'd miss it! It was also Kevin's birthday weekend, and although he now knows what he'll be doing on that Saturday for the rest of Molly's life, I don't think he minds. :)

A small taste of the chaos.

Kevin's birthday donut, on the drive down.

The Chicago Marathon:

We looooove watching The Chicago Marathon when we're in town. There's something so inspiring about it. 

The front-runners.

Molly taking it all in.

Coffee and pastry stop down the street.

Several hours later, the not-front-runners pass by as we have brunch.

Camping at Starved Rock State Park:

Wow. We just barely summoned the energy to squeeze in one more camping trip this summer and it was worth it. We had beautiful autumn weather, somehow finagled the prettiest campsite, and beat the crowds to the trails. I had trouble deciding which of our many pictures to include here.

Trip to Portland, Oregon:

Another one with too many pretty pictures to choose from. We flew out to Oregon to visit Kevin's aunt and uncle, to see my cousin and his family, and just to check out a city we'd heard so many great things about. It exceeded my expectations. We ate incredibly well, the scenery was beautiful, and the people were friendly. We can't wait to go back. 

And now it's November, and we're home, and we will be home for quite some time, settling in for the holidays and then for winter. It's getting dark by 5 p.m. now and it feels like there's a little less to pack in. Just lots of time for reading, watching movies, sitting by the fire, getting lots of work done, drinking coffee, and eating comfort food.