Celebrating Autumn even when it feels like July

I went to college in East Tennessee. Gorgeous in the Fall. I spent many years in Northern Virginia. Beautiful in the Fall. I lived in Kansas City for a few years and I spent one autumn traveling across the Midwest where I watched red leaves tumble to the ground on chilly afternoons.

So, what I am trying to say is that Falls are ruined for me. If I am not sitting on a porch in the Smoky Mountains bundled up in a blanket while sipping hot chocolate and watching the leaves fall, then I refuse to recognize the season. Sweating at soccer games while guzzling water and praying for shade is NOT Fall to me.

But at least there is a whole lot to do here in the Dallas area. There are a lot of festivals and fun things going on every weekend, so I will just be happy with that. Here are a few pictures from some recent outings that have made it feel like Fall in spirit, if not in temperature.

First up was the GrapeFest in Grapevine, Texas. This town looks awesome and I can't wait to check it out when there isn't a huge event going on. Oh, and it was actually cool that night so the long sleeves were appropriate for once. Thanks heavens.

We also checked out the Plano Balloon Festival. They had one very similar to this in Kansas City and we had missed it while we lived in Alabama so we were excited to find one here in North Texas. We took lawn chairs and just camped out all evening. The kids ran around and played and then at night they lit up all of the balloons. It was gorgeous.

God Bless Texas. Naturally.

We were told that we had to go to the State Fair of Texas from the moment we closed on our house. I am not exaggerating that much. People talked about it nonstop and we figured that we would not be taken seriously as Texans until we checked it out. Ummm.... we were not disappointed. It was amazing. I can't do it justice. There isn't anything I could write on here that could accurately describe it so just trust me in saying that it more than lived up to the hype.

Yes, Lainey, everything is bigger in Texas.

Big Tex. Living (kind of) legend. 

My parents were in town for the fair and so they got to experience the fair for themselves.

Another weekend we went to Farm Fest in Plano. We all got to tour an old farm that is still working and participate in county fair type events. I did not sign up for the husband calling contest, much to Rob's relief. I don't know. I totally think that I could have won. But here is my beautiful bugaboo all decked out for Fall.

The loves of my life. And yes, I am aware that Will has worn that shirt to every festival this weekend. he loves it and calls it his "soft and cozy shirt" so why not? If he's happy, I can put up with repetitive yellow stripes in all of my pictures.

The Webster girls will always love horses. This one is Breezy and I would have ridden him home if I could. Now there's a mental picture for you.

This creepy tree came to life and we all ran and hid. Except for this little guy. He's the only brave one in the bunch.

Is there anything cuter than a 3 day old goat? Nope. Didn't think so.

Will entered a barrel riding competition and.....

...he won first place!! He was so proud that he took his blue ribbon to show and tell the next week at school. Way to go, buddy!

We have also gone to downtown Dallas and played in parks and walked through museums. We spent one beautiful morning in downtown McKinney browsing the candy store and cheering on marathon runners. And we have spent many mornings at soccer games cheering on Will. And pretty much every Saturday afternoon and evening are reserved for football. And that's how life goes. 

Family fun on Friday evenings. Soccer games on Saturday mornings with football the rest of the day. We are at the church most of the day on Sundays with services in the morning and then choir that night. And I love every bit of it.

Happy Fall, y'all!