Boyd quotables. I used to be so much better at keeping up with notable quotable Boyd said but I've slipped. I will make a new charge while there is still kid time.

-Two weeks ago Boyd said, Instead of Reptiles Alive or something, let's just have Justin Timberlake come to my Birthday party. Boyd loves to FaceTime jam with his cousins Luci and Miles to Can't Stop the Feeling.

-The other night Boyd and I were having a deep discussion on time and earth, dinosaurs, peoples existence, etc. somehow we got on the topic of Adam and Eve disobeying God and eating the forbidden fruit; therefore, introducing sin into the world. Our conversation continued and Boyd a short while later says, "I know this might be wrong to say, but I'm kind of glad they ate the fruit, because otherwise there wouldn't be Nerf guns." Interesting train of thought Boyd and the 2016 evolution of sins effect on the world.

Cox Farm 2016

The trust fall position going down the slide.

Buddies.

The crazy bus. We didn't loose them this year!

Mining.

All the hard work is aging him.

Boys catching corn.

Finished painted pumpkin from last week. Pikachu and Dan TDM in one.

An interesting twist on basketball with a trash can and fancy football.

This was added out of order but he had to decorate a pumpkin as a book character with a book report. He chose Dr. Pickell from Wayside School gets a little Stranger. 

Same face he made a few years ago.

On the train.

Tricks on the new ship structure. 

I can still pretend he is little if I climb 9 feet in the air and look down.

At the mast.

Long lines today were worth it.

Alien high fives.

Boyd saif he thinks Noah will be his longest life friend.

Almost as big as me. 

We needed a Marino visit

This past weekend we were incredibly lucky to have Amanda and Matt Marino come visit. Amanda lived with us for a while in Falls Church and is one of our favorite people on earth. It has been far too long since we had seen her. We were lucky her brother Matt could come too. We felt like we knew each other thanks to FaceTime. We all soaked up their conversation, laughter and love. Complete with a soul searching hike (Matt actually feel asleep on the Summit), delicious dinner, fire, and brunch. We can't wait until they get to visit again.

Waiting forAmanda to come and enjoying a beautiful afternoon at Government Island and then the High school football game where Boyd just played football with his friends (sadly, no pictures)

View from a lookout point.

I made up a story about this one. I told Boyd a person had to hold the rock up until another person came along  and took the burden. He totally believed me and asked, "Was it heavy? What if you were the last person?"

Boyd sandwich with two Marino's. 

He was stuck to Amanda like glue for all kinds of snuggles.

Chilling by the fire.

Before they left we had to play a few rounds of Pie in the Face.

Sunday afternoon we went to Braehead Farm. The farm shows how much Boyd has grown. Not quite as much fun for an almost 8 verses newly 5 year old, but the pumpkin painting was a hit and he did a great job, He has been loving art this year and said maybe he'll be an artist.

At the Summit. We made it! Post lunch at the top, even though it was 10 in the morning.

Overlook.

Halloween costume preview.

Family is everything

Sunday I ran the Chicago Marathon. It was wonderful to be back in the midwest for a few days and my cheering squad of mom, dad, Aunt Jill, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Chris sure made a girl feel loved. While I was gone, Adam, Boyd and Grandpa Burla held down the fort inVirginia.Boyd had off from school Monday so I flew standby to get home earlier and enjoy a perfect fall day at Belvedere Plantation for their fall festival. It exceeded our expectations and we spent four hours there.  It was a wonderful day.                                                                                         

This is the face of a boy who doesn't want you to leave on a work trip.

The Chicago marathon cheering squad.

Waiting for the Pig races on the farm.

Boyd was chosen as a pig ring leader. We were cheering for the pig that was marked with red to match our flag.

Our pig took second or third so Boyd won a pig tail.

Zip line

Hoops. This was quite the sight. There was also a kickball and since the other boys were trying to kick the ball into the hoop he thought he should try too. Fearful for all our lives I told Boyd he could do the kicking attempt once...he sunk it in one shot.

Kind of like paintball. Somewhere I have another photo I'll need to upload.

Slides with sacks. He ran everywhere including up the super steep hill to the top of the slide.

I lost track of how many times he rode these vehicles around the track.  He loved it!

Carrying our flag in case we got lost in the corn maze.

Proof I was there.

Pig nose to go with his pig tail.

Gramps is always such a good sport. 

Pig on the way to our car. Always in character.

I let Grandpa go up with Boyd to get ready for bed. They were quiet for a while and when I came upstairs I saw this. Reading for twenty minutes together in bed before bed was part of their routine while I was gone. I love it!

Coolest thing ever. Giant corn pit. You could jump, dive, wrestle, dig, burry, and so forth. So much space and a blast. I wish we had one for the yard. It was at least a foot deep.

Throwing footballs.

Oh yeah. I buried Boyd. The only issue was occasionally someone would walk by and accidentally step on a hand or foot.

This is what happened when you attempted a headstand.

Cool kids