Decorated!

Our little one couldn't wait to get the decorations up.  She said when she gets big and has a house of her own, she would keep the Christmas decorations up all year long.  Of course, the outside ones would come down because the neighbors wouldn't like it, but inside, they would still be up. 

As much as I dread getting all this out every year, she really does bring the magic to the season.  We've only been listening to her alarm clock play Christmas music for the past 12 months.

And, she still loves to play with the figurines.  

Joy to all this holiday season!

Thanksgiving

It was great to have the whole family home.  Unbeknownest to me, our oldest had signed all the kids up for a volunteer post at the local Turkey Trot 5k/8k.  They all got up at 7am to leave for their 3rd mile station.  So proud of them for giving back on this day of thanks.  

The meal was the best we've ever had!  Everything was absolutely delicious:  turkey, gravy, dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, kale salad, beet salad, green beans, rolls, tea, and pumpkin cheesecake.  

Everyone was fine with me taking a picture except our son.  As soon as the picture was taken, he tore into the food.  My best compliment from him was, "This isn't too bad."  Score one for mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Player #76

The little one just ended her fall soccer season, and what great playing she did today!  

She's begun to enjoy goal keeper, like her big brother.  She stopped 5 goals today!

While she was in the goal box, I didn't realize my camera was still set on "scenic" mode rather than "action" mode.  Sorry they are so blurry.

Now with "action" turned on, I captured much better pictures.  You'll notice the little one isn't wearing the usual black short/pants uniform.  She prefers fun colors, which makes it easier to spot her.

She was passing, blocking, and running the ball so well. 

Running in to help a teammate.

She's really grown as a player over the past few months in looking for the pass, talking to teammates on the field, and looking for opportunities.  

Capturing her "corner kick".

So proud to watch from the sidelines!  Eric was a great coach, as usual, too.

Appalachian Trail

During fall break, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and traveled to North Georgia where the Appalachian Trail begins.  This is 2,190 miles of rugged hiking across 14 states, ending in Maine.

The trail took a while to find.  You can either stay on paved roads to a lodge, then hike 8 miles to the trail head.  Or, you can drive up 12 miles of very narrow, dangerous dirt roads to get within 1/2 mile of the trail head.  We opted for the latter to maximize our short visit.

Once we found the trail head, there were neat markings and a log book to record your journey.  Since we weren't taking the full trek, we didn't sign the log to save room for others who braved the long journey.

While there taking pictures of all the markers, we met a young lady who had just finished the trail.  She lives in Atlanta and began her hike on April 6th, finishing in Maine on Oct. 15th.  She had come back to welcome fellow hikers she had met on the trail who were expected to complete that day.

It's difficult to describe the gorgeous scenery, so I tried to capture it in pictures.  With 71 in the afternoon ad 45 at night, it was absolutely beautiful.

With all the new fallen leaves, the trail was somewhat difficult to follow.  The markings on the trees and stakes helped.

As evening fell, we checked into the only lodge around.  It was breathtaking!  Great views, decent price, and delicious food!

This was the view from our room.  Not bad to wake up in the morning and see this outside our room window!

Here's the little one sitting by the indoor fireplace and warmed by a "friendly" black bear.

In the morning, we headed out to the nearby trails again, but this time with geocashing (GPS scavenger hunt) and doing a fitness trail.

The fitness trail had 12 stations of chin ups, push ups, leg stretches, and crunches.

Then the GPS markers were things like:  find the bridge on the AT connector (short for Appalachian Trail connector).  The little one did great, and won the tshirt prize!

Other GPS spots took us up 175 steps toward a waterfall.  Great pictures along the way!

 Here's the view from the top of the waterfall looking down.

Before we headed home, we took one more stop back at the lodge.  Great weekend getaway!

Election

While the country was evenly torn between elation and devastion as the presidential election came to a close, our McConnell household was definitely celebrating this local victory!  Below is a screenshot from our Greenville, SC television station.

Very cool to see his name on the screen at the bottom!  Congratulations, Eric!

Planning Time

It is almost 30 days before one of the biggest events in our household, the little one's birthday!!  She's only been talking about it for 11 months.

Her theme is "breaking out of the single digits" and she wants to go to one of the new escape rooms in Greenville with some friends.  She wants her cake to show a picture of either a lock or handcuffs, and the invitations to do the same.  If I found a t-shirt she could wear that day, that would be great, too.

She'd like to invite 8 friends, but only have her Sissy go inside as the "adult" to help supervise.  I could go as well if one of her guests aren't able to come. The escape room can't be too scary, but it should be hard because all her friends are really smart.  Sometimes it takes a child to figure things out, you know.

I did my best to incorporate all her requests and keep it within budget.  So glad there was a Groupon special!  Here's the result:

front of invitation:

The back included all the important details like where & when.  Of course, pizza and cake will be included as well once we return to our house.

And here's her shirt:

You'd think we're all set for the event, but no.  There's still the goodie bags to get.  Each bag will include some play handcuffs, combination lock, magnifying glass, and other "spy" things in addition to candy and sorts.  

The cake should be round, not rectangular, with the words "Happy Birthday Julia #10" and pictures of locks, chains, etc.  She wants it a lemon cake with white frosting.

Gotta love this girl who knows what she wants!  It will be so much fun!!

USC Visit

Our son is now looking at colleges, so it was exciting to officially take him to the University of South Carolina for his tour.

We started at the business college, his interest right now.  They have an incredible international program, but also a robust accounting, finance, and marketing program that boasts internships and nearly 100% placement upon graduation.

Next was the 2 1/2 hr campus tour.  This covered housing options, dining, sports, academics, greek life, and more clubs than you can imagine.  I was proud I didn't embarass him with too many questions since this was my second tour.  

We enjoyed a brief visit with our oldest as she met us between classes for a bite to eat.

His favorite part was picking out a sweatshirt from the gift shop.  I think he's ready!

Halloween

Halloween is an exhausting day for me.  After dressing up for work to entertain 200 children and 30 volunteers, I get to walk the neighborhood with my little one!  Although I enjoy it, I'm definitely ready to relax at the end of the day.

Here's our little one dressed as Sacagawea along with her friend dressed as Ivy.  
Mr. Creepy and Creepy 2 photo bombed the picture.