Goodbye to Grandma, and zoo adventures.

I guess all good things must come to an end, but we had gotten super spoiled by having Grandma Jayne around to handle daycare pickup and dropoff and- because she's awesome- the bulk of the laundry, cooking, and potty training.

We had one last farewell weekend before she left, during which I snagged a rare night away. Which for some reason, I opted to spend running a 200 mile relay across Eastern North Carolina with a van full of sweaty cops, for the Tuna Relay. At least I got to share space, and some unlikely campsites, with Michelle. (The one on the right is us crashing midday at Bentonville Battlefield, dodging fire ants and overly enthusiastic park rangers.)

We eventually made it to the beach, and grabbed a few well-deserved morning beers. It had been a long time since I had been kicked out of a van to run 9 miles in the pitch blackness at 2am, and it felt good to be back in the saddle.

I made it home just in time for the first round of holiday parties (we have so far massively lucked out on weather) and costumes.

And as Grandma Jayne's last hurrah, we made a Sunday run for the NC Zoo in Asheboro- my favorite zoo of all time-

where the kids made new friends

and enjoyed the very last vestiges of summer.

Followed by a trip to the Flying Pig for food and arcade game throwbacks

and, naturally, trains. An Asheboro (and Ford) fave.

My favorite photos of the week are of the Nieman men, checking out the elk exhibit at the zoo

and this- completely candid- late night photo I snapped at Lowe's Foods in Asheboro. I swear Seth was only pretending he was going to punch Ford. Who loved it. Finley, on the other hand, was actually dancing like a paid performer on the tabletop.

I'm sure Jayne's going to miss this band of crazies as much we we're going to miss her!

It's beginning to feel a [little bit like] fall...!

This is the view of the trees in our backyard when you're lounging in the disc swing (with a glass of wine in hand.)

This is generally my view whenever I attempt to enjoy it. Minus the spilled wine.

Yesterday was the first day with a little bit of fall nip in the air. 

Not Alaska nip, Miss, but it did get down to like 60 degrees at night (causing every single Southerner to pull the winter coat out of the attic), and enough of the hurricane mosquitoes died that we were finally able to- for the first time- haul out the bounce house and enjoy our oasis of a backyard.

We salvaged a lovely fall-ish weekend out of one marred by a last minute Friday trip to (and earlyyy Saturday return from) DC for the Regimental Dining In (for me),

a fairly major tropical storm (during which- Jayne sent me this while I was at work- Finley danced in the rain in her PJs),

and yet another dance performance at a random rural festival. Which Ford crashed, as per usual.

The Coats Farmers Day festival actually turned out to be a total blast, complete with rideable farm equipment and a hysterical parade that included line dancing, candy-throwing, and lots and lots of Jesus.

Plus donuts.

We went full "fall in the south" and wrapped up the weekend with chili, football, church (in matching dresses, thanks to Finley), and a trip to the pumpkin patch

including some hilarious failed fall photos.

Also, F+F made superhero masks and put up the Halloween decorations with Grandma while I was at work. Crafts and decorating being two of my least favorite seasonal things, I am eternally grateful. 

Somewhere in there I had time to attempt my annual DIY house project, which resulted in spilled picnic table sealant, an emergency trip to the hardware store for paint thinner, and a barely-noticeable bald spot near my left ear. Plus noticeably sticky fingers.

But cheers! to my favorite time of year, even if it means some seriously questionable language pouring out of my living room as I am reminded where Seth learned to scream at the TV during football games. (His mother.) (Fine. This is actually one of my favorite things ever, and is completely hilarious.) Happy fall, y'all.

Denim Days & Tweetsie

We knew that at some point, our travel plans would become the victim of kids' sports and activities, we just didn't know it would happen this early.

But Finley was scheduled to dance at the Denim Days festival in Erwin on the Saturday of our Columbus Day weekend, so we cancelled plans to go to Dollywood and dispatched ourselves to the hilariously small, rural south celebration of the area's long-forgotten stint as the "denim capital of the world."

Finley's dance was adorable (and Ford did, in fact, crash it)

and there were ponies 

and bounce houses. As well as a visit by the fake Billy Ray Cyrus. So all was not lost.

Plus Ford joined the Harnett County Democrats purely by accident and got a Frisbee for his trouble. 

If you ask my Dad, this is probably how all democratic voter rolls are filled out.

Sunday, though, I had to have an adventure, and hopefully an escape from the stifling heat of an eastern NC October. We headed for the mountains, and an old, family-run, wild west-themed amusement park called Tweetsie Railroad. 

I had read somewhere that it had a real steam locomotive and figured the kids would love it. 

I was wrong. They HATED the locomotive, which unfortunately did get robbed by fake bandits, and are still telling me not to make them ride "the scary train anymore." So that was a fail.

But the rest of it was "practically perfect in every way." Plus we lucked out and got a sampling of almost-fall weather.

The rides were little kid-appropriate,

the lines were almost nonexistent,

there was an awesome if definitely dangerous chairlift,

and a petting zoo,

and face painting,

and a non death-defying train, which was a hit.

Plus Finley got to dance the can-can on stage. Her for-real "gream" come true, to our chagrin.

It was in a fake saloon that sold $5 diet Cokes in souvenir cups, but you can't win 'em all. Tweetsie Railroad was a blast.

The highlight for the ingrates, though, might have been the night we spent in a rented camper across the street. Since we had changed plans last minute on a holiday weekend, I had taken what Airbnb could come up with, which was an RV parked unceremoniously in someone's driveway on a dirt road. F+F, though, couldn't get enough of their "trailer," this photo notwithstanding (they've been wanting one ever since visiting Hattie's last summer)

and "farm life."

They could only be convinced to leave

by promises of the top-notch Boone park, 

a quick trip to the "world famous" Blowing Rock, 

and the never-disappointing Appalachian Mountain Brewery, where F+F feasted on wood-fired pizza and had the run of the place.

And then they got to hit Maggie & Allie's birthday party on the way home. 

Not bad for an impromptu mountain getaway on a weekend on which Seth (mostly) had to work and ballet reigned supreme. 

Plus, having Grandma with us (we conned her into coming out for a couple weeks with the promise of Dollywood, and Fabulous Jayne didn't even flinch at the eleventh hour change of plans) made things extra special. This is one of my favorite photos of all time, not to mention the week.

Although this one is a close second.