Avery, of course.

This past weekend was actually a lovely 4 day weekend for Going Mom and we had a wonderful time together!

On Saturday, G-ma came over to watch Avery as I took Kelley to Martin House Brewery for her 30th birthday, the same place I went for my 30th. We love our little girl, but it sure was nice with just the two of us; big thanks to my mom for watching our increasingly crazy girl!

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We are lightweights when it comes to drinking (not ashamed), and the 3 full glasses we each had with the tour had us slightly numb in the face with, ummmm, happiness! I also blame the beer on my over-determination to take a good selfie of us; I swear I was hitting that button!

After we returned home and G-ma left, we were sluggish the rest of the day and ready for bed. Geez, being 30 is rough! But we still had a cute little girl to care for and get to bed before we could do the same. Luckily, we had a giant box for Kelley and I to play around in with Avery and get her energy out.

Best free thing I took from a neighbor’s curbside in a looonnngg time!

The next day, Kelley’s actual birthday, I made chocolate French toast and coffee along with this fine presentation….

She gave my good beer for my 30th, and I returned the favor, plus Chimay cheese, also a great beer! Needless to say, we’re fans of good beer. I normally hand write my cards to her, but since I finally installed the printer we bought several months ago, I figured I’d use it instead.

My mom, G-ma, came back up to take Kelley out shopping as I stayed home with Avery. Basically just another day for our baby and me, but Kelley had a great time shopping with my mom and I was happy to stay at home. Shopping for clothes is not my strong suit (ha ha, get it?), and when I do, it’s online. Plus, Avery and I had some more cardboard box playing to tend to.

On Monday, we made plans to go to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden to see the pumpkin exhibit and take pictures. The drive ended up taking longer than we anticipated and we left later than we should’ve, but Avery had a nap and we enjoyed our time together surrounded by a beautiful landscape.

We wondered around taking in the scenes, and yes, we were a little lost too since we really wanted to find the pumpkin patch. Turns out, if you just follow the pumpkins lining the paths, it leads right to the patch. Go figure!

Avery kept pretty well-behaved as we took turns posing with her and taking dozens of pumpkin packed pictures.

Obviously, you MUST raise your arms when posing for pictures or the Pumpkin Ruler (aka Avery) will turn you into a pumpkin. Note the field of previous violators behind us..

Many pictures and poses later, Avery started to get fussy and we were about ready to head out to make the trek back home. But first, we had to shamelessly ask an innocent bystander to take our picture in front of this cool “squash house”.

I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t want their picture with this gorgeous gourd home?! Okay, probably Avery, but she didn’t get a say.

Going Mom and I enjoyed the family trip, but we both agreed it will be a while until we drive back out to Dallas for something like this. Once Avery is older and can run around and talk, we’ll look into it again, but there are plenty of similar things closer to us and that’s good enough!

Our 4 days of togetherness were fun-filled and now we are both parents in our 30’s…..uh oh…getting older!! Avery stood on her own several times making us think she would take her first steps, but still won’t do it! I thought it would be a cool birthday present, but Avery thought otherwise. Maybe it’ll just be a little belated?

Have you ever been to a pumpkin patch or something similar?

How long did your little one go from standing on their own to actually walking?