Love Those Fall Weekends

I love all of the fun activities that seem to take place every weekend throughout the fall.  This past weekend, we started out at Cowboys for Cortlyn.  

This is an event to honor the memory of a sweet baby girl who was taken WAY too soon from her family.  Our friends have held this "Ranch Rodeo" for 7 years, as they recently remembered what would have been Cortlyn's 8th birthday, and they donate all of the money raised to the NICU where she stayed.  There was plenty of roping action to witness at the rodeo! Oliver especially liked watching his buddy Coby out there in the ring.

The kids in attendance all got sheriff's badges.  Perhaps Oliver thinks he's a bit too old for this??

After the actual rodeo concluded, they had a hilarious "stick horse rodeo" in which spectators could participate. Of course, my boys jumped right in!

These pictures aren't that great, but the first one is Calvin jumping his obstacle, and the second is Oliver.  They did great at their first rodeo!

We all enjoyed lunch and the gorgeous weather, and then it was time to start drawing the raffle winners.  My boys had a front row seat to listen for their names to be called.

Our big winning for the afternoon was a Rex Hudler-signed baseball.  Those of you who aren't Royals fans won't know who he is.  And those of you who ARE Royals fans will probably wonder why anyone would want a Rex Hudler-signed baseball.  Apparently Russ thought it was a 'safe' bucket to put our raffle tickets in since ours were the only tickets.  At any rate, the boys liked hearing our name called and retrieving our prize!

We drove straight from C4C to a super-fun weenie roast hosted by another friend.

I loved their signs letting party-goers know exactly where things like the picnic tables, fire, and camping sites were located.  Aren't they cute? 

They also had a fun photo-op with their beautiful pond in the background.  Love my girls!

My boys swinging with their little girlfriends. . .

I had so much fun with Hazel-Nut!  On Wednesdays, her mommy Emily and I trade off our littlest girls so we can volunteer in our bigger kids' classrooms at school.  Hazel is the highlight of my Wednesdays, and when I get to see her on other days, it's a bonus!

Calvin was the king of the fire and wanted to roast everyone's marshmallows and hot dogs for them.

As the evening wore on, the hay rides started up!  This was definitely a highlight for my kids as it went ALL around the property and was a fun and bumpy ride.

Have I already mentioned how much I love fall??  God certainly outdid himself with the colors of this season, from the mums to the trees, to the sunsets.

What a fabulous fall weekend!