Whoah!
October has been CRAZY!  In fact, October has been crazy for the past several years.  So I'm now accepting that this month will always be crazy.  It's actually at least equal to, if not worse, than December.  I haven't had time to keep up with the blog.  I am not so dumb to think that you readers are following every detail of my life.  No.  However the blog is a reminder for me, a mother, to remember how we spent our time.  And it's quite handy each year when it's time for me to make the yearbook.  The stories are already written with the detail most of them deserve.
Usually, the lagging of blog stories means Mommy is in over her head.  :-)  Yes, I needed a break.  That's an understatement.  The girls are currently at Honey's. (Dan and I went to a football party last night.  Roll Tide!) It was 9:37am and Dan just called up here to ask me when I wanted him to get the girls.  My answer:  "No time soon."  Haha.  I need to get a few more things done!!

One of my favorite things we did this month was go camping.  We went to Wind Creek, my first time there ever.  I arrived on the scene first, with 2 girls in tow.  I was determined to get our tent setup before the men came.  I'm the better tent-setter-upper anyway.  Daniley helped me and we succeeded without too much trouble.

 

Now before arriving, I didn't do any research.  I just showed up.  So I was surprised to find it on the lake, and we had no swimsuits.  Yes I know it's October, but it was a sunny day and the water was warm enough, so I let the girls go for a swim in their birthday suits instead.

It got pretty cold in the nights.  Luckily, my brother and Dad arrived and Dad has a very nice horse trailer set up for camping.  (Think toilet, bed, stove.)  He volunteered to bring all the firewood and help do the cooking.  He builds awesome fires. 

Here we are gathered around singing campfire songs.

We took our bikes and went for several strolls.

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Now something else happened here but I have no pictures.  This particular weekend was their Halloween celebration.  So the campground was FULL.  Every camper had trick-or-treating, and some must do this every year because a few had their camp area set up into haunted houses.  We trick-or-treated and had a rocking good time.  Then that night, they had a hayride haunted trail.  I was really impressed with this.  We waited in line over an hour.  I was surprised to see they had a very dramatic setup on the hayride.  It was worth every minute.  Daniley LOVED it!!!!!!!  That kid, I just love her.  She ain't scared of nothing, even zombies coming out of the woods towards her. 

Now the weekend of our camping here was due to another factor:  our family reunion.  It meets in Alex City every October.  And I have grown to really enjoy it.  It is usually on the day of the Alabama/Tennessee game.  Half of my family is for Alabama.  The other half lives in TN and are Vols fans.  So it is a showdown at its finest.  You are for one team or the other.  Don't bother showing up in your Auburn shirt.  This year, we had a band.  Not just any band either.  The Family Band.  Everybody in the family can play and instrument or sing!  There are two songs we ALWAYS do, Bobby McGee and Rockytop.  I love both those songs because of the memories they hold.  Here we are rockin' it to Rocky Top.  It's not that audible, sorry.  

Here are some other photos from the day.  Yes, we sported our Alabama attire.  Represent it!

Cousin love at its finest!

 

We also went to Boo at the Zoo.  I had spoke to a friend about this, and then I decided I couldn't fit it in.  At the last minute something changed and we WERE able to go.  In a moment's notice we ended up meeting a different friend there.  It was so fun.  We stayed from Open to Close.  The kids had a blast.

Turn your speakers up and press play.  Little Darlin will quickly identify herself, right before her breakdancing floor roll.  haha.

And why do I run myself to near death after these kiddos???  This right here makes every second worth it.

The weekend before Halloween was a very special Halloween party.  We attended this last year, the first year it was held.  We had such a good time, Daniley was still talking about the spooky house there this year.  Some friends from Columbiana turn their garage into a haunted house and it's soooo fun.  It's fairly scary, and it scares Daniley a little bit, but she loves it anyway.  She was not too scared to go in, although she did prefer to have an escort.  I didn't get any pictures from inside because I was busy making sure she didn't trip or fall.  I enjoyed myself immensely just sitting on Ali's back porch and watching the kids.  (Dan stayed home to watch Danslen because she had been sick.)  Ali even let them roll her yard, and despite always up for having a good time, I'm not even sure I would have allowed this in my yard.  haha.

The next day we were scheduled to be at the Pumpkin Patch, but upset stomachs kept us away.  I was a little sad about that but you can only do what you can do.

Finally:  Halloween.  The finale of the show.  We dressed up as..... a farm.  :-)

 

There you have a farmer, his cow, chicken, and horse!  What a fun time.  We met with friends and family at LeLe's.  Sarah Katherine, who joins us every year, and Daniley went for a quick trick-or-treat before they had to go.  Danslen and Bentley rode in the wagon but didn't make the door runs this time.  Even Charlotte Anne got in on the action.

 

 After that we went back to Mom's to wait on James and Eli, but they never came.  So eventually we just went trick-or-treating by ourselves and had a rockin' good time.  Afterwards, we went to Honey and GPaw's to trick or treat at their house and let them see their grandbabies in their costumes.  I love Halloween.  It's about family and fun for us.  It is second only to Christmas in terms of how special it is to me.

And if that doesn't sound like a busy October, then let me see YOUR blog.  ;-)