Burla Adventures: 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.