Surprise Gifts

Aunt Becca came home with a special surprise for Leila last week. She had gone to get her a monkey costume that she'd seen and thought was cute. She couldn't find the costume in Leila's size, though, so she got her the next best thing...

It's a Mrs. Claus outfit, but...

...doesn't she look just like a little elf?

Another surprise we came home to was one that Ella left for us. Apparently she had too much energy that she needed to get out. Combine that with two cats that are very good at knocking things off of tables, and what do you get?

Shredded pumpkins, that's what.





Happenings

Our second trip to the fair was on Monday, October 11th. We went with our entire family this time. (Well, everyone except for Danielle, that is.) Unfortunately, we chose that day to go because it was Christina and Jesse's fair day. It turns out it was not only Arlington's fair day, but also Grand Prairie, Midlothian, and Irving's as well. The fair was as crowded as I've ever seen it, and it was hot. We didn't feel like making Leila suffer, so we tried to take her indoors as often as possible.

Here we are in the auto building. 

She and her Nan hung out together while the rest of us hunted for cars.

We also went and saw the baby animals again. Last time they were all sleeping. This time, most of them were up and moving, so Leila actually noticed they were there.

 

We were planning on visiting the petting zoo again, but there was a very long line that we didn't feel like waiting in. There's always next year. :)

Leila had a good time playing in her excersaucer this week. She's started this new scream-sing thing and I finally got it on video.

Video 1

Video 2

This past Saturday, Ryan and I took Leila to her very first pumpkin patch.

We went to the one in Flower Mound... the one where Ryan and I went a few years ago and talked about how much fun it would be to take our kids when we had them. And now we got to go with our baby girl this year! A dream come true.

Getting ready to go the the Pumpkin Patch

 

There was so much going on and so much to see, that we got very few pictures with Leila looking at the camera.

Some people were kind enough to offer to take this for us.

Breaking in our new stroller.

That's a little bitty pumpkin in her cupholder that she's trying to get to.

We had fun, but it was a bit warm and very crowded. We look forward to going back next year when Leila can be a little bit more involved.

The admission is free, and they have free train rides and hay rides and bounce houses. You only have to pay for any food you want and any pumpkins or gourds you'd like to buy. We highly recommend it!

Leila and I went over to my mom and dad's house on Saturday afternoon while Ryan played golf with "Uncles" Chad and Jeremy in Mansfield, and I took her a nice Woodwick candle from Hallmark. She liked the candle. Cali liked the bag.

How cute is she?!

We also went over to their house on Sunday after church to do some work in their kitchen. It took longer than expected and Leila fell asleep over there.

Here is a picture after she was woken up to go home.

Smiley girl. I just love her so much!!

We Love Fall

In the Krannon household, Fall is one of our favorite times of year. We don't decorate for Halloween, but we love decorating with pumpkins and gourds and fall plants and flowers and leaves.

We couldn't let Leila's first fall season go by without taking a few pumpkin pictures!

\

Mmmmm... Grass tastes good

Can you see her two pearly whites that have made their way into our lives?

A Day at the Arboretum

Ryan and I recently took Leila to the Dallas Arboretum for the Great Pumpkin Festival. The weather has been so beautiful lately and we wanted to take advantage of it.

This was my first time at the Pumpkin Festival, too, and I was very impressed with the array of pumpins and gourds they had to offer.

They had houses built out of pumpkins.

Can you guess what this is supposed to be?

If you guessed a river with swans on it, you'd be right! See how the blue pumkins make the water coming down from the "rocks" in the top of the picture? And the ducks or swans are the green gourds. Neat, huh?

Who knew that there were Swan Gourds? Not me!

There are piles of pumpkins everywhere!

It sure makes for great pictures.

They also had "horses" made out of cornstalks. Aren't these people creative?

Leila picked our her very first pumpkin to bring home.

By the time we left, it was getting warm, so we decided to play in the water a bit. Leila loved it and kept kicking her legs.

We had a wonderful day and can't wait to go back!

(Anybody know what they do with all of those pumpkins after they're done with them? That sure is a lot of pumpkins to get rid of and I sure wouldn't want to be in charge of it!)

Goodbye Aunt Danielle

On Wednesday, September 29th, Aunt Danielle moved back to Nebraska. But, the night before that was spent saying goodbye. We had a family dinner together, and then Jeremy, Rachel, Katelyn and Alyssa came over for dessert.

Leila loved Katelyn, but didn't really know how to show it.

She also loved Pico. He wasn't quite as enthusiastic about her, though.

He was VERY patient with her, though, and we were very impressed by how sweet he was.

Katelyn ate her dessert at the table. Doesn't she look like such a big girl?!

Goodbye Aunt Danielle. We love you and miss you and can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving!

Total Tangent...

Here's another cool-weather outfit we've sported recently.

Can you guess who may have bought her this orange ensemble?

(If you guessed Aunt Renae, you'd be right. :)

First Day at the Fair

On Monday, September 27th, Leila and I went to the great State Fair of Texas with Danielle. It was her only chance to go before she moved back to Nebraska, so we were lucky to have the opportunity to go with her.

We made sure that Leila got her morning nap and then headed out to the Fair around 1 p.m. We got fantastic weather, and the crowds were as sparse as I can remember every seeing them.

The first thing we did upon arrival was buy coupons - or State Fair money.

Then, we were off to see some shows. On the way there, we stopped to get some food, so we sat down at a picnic table and ate.

We went to see Elsie the cow and her calf in the Food and Fiber Building.

We saw the acrobats and then the Marine Corps Band in Marine Corps Plaza.

We spent a short amount of time at the Backyard Circus before Leila got hungry.

(Sidenote... the day started and ended in the stroller, but the majority of Leila's time was spent in the Moby wrap. For anyone considering getting a wrap or carrier of some kind, we highly recommend this one! It's been so useful from almost the day Leila was born. She's 7 months old and we're still getting plenty of use out of it.)

She posed for a picture as we went to the Baby Care Center so that she could eat.

We also hit the pig races, which Leila didn't seem to like, and the petting zoo, where the goats made a sleepy Leila cry. We visited one of the auto buildings, where Leila clicked and clacked and made friends with the sales people, and through the craft tent, where we found fun things to see.

She fell asleep right before it was time for the parade to start.

We stopped and got the best corn - Roasted Corn - to eat while we watched the parade go by.

This stand has Sweet Tea Slushies, too, but we didn't get one because Danielle said she'd make them on her slushie maker at home the next day.

Then, we made sure to stop by Big Tex on the way out.

And that was Leila's first visit to the State Fair of Texas.

Thank you, Danielle, for going with us and making it so much fun!