Fall In Full Swing

We've been dodging colds, coughs and snots between trying to do lots of fun fall outings.  We had the annual Cable Fest a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed some seriously fun time at the lake and this time everyone was 'off the clock' and there for fun only.  That made my night. Growing up I remember going to just a handful of really big bonfires and I remember just loving every second of them.  I know we're really blessed to be living in a place where those really big bonfires--and wagon rides and smores and kids running everywhere in the dark having so much fun--can happen relatively easily.  Fall is definitely our favorite time of the year.  

Gage was hot and heavy into a big game of tag when Leila would wait no longer to go home.  I hated having to round him up to take him home when everyone else was staying, but he showed some true signs of maturity.  Although his bottom lip immediately quivered and he had to put all of his might into not crying, with true manners and without being prompted, he told his tag mates that he had a good time... thanks for coming... and then he turned to me and said "Can they just come back tomorrow?"  I like 3--hints of child mixed with hints of adult-- and still very much trainable!

Leila has needed no extra time trying to figure out the next step to crawling.  My prediction is that she'll be walking by Christmas.  She is pulling herself up and cruising on furniture, watching TV by hanging onto the TV stand, she's learning to drop down and go instead of falling by accident... and she has begun to let go of things to test the waters on how well she can stand on her own.  All of this in a matter of about a week and a half.  My favorite part of all this--watching her pop up from crawling position onto her knees like a little groundhog or something.  I think it's just the cutest watching her play while kneeling.  Chasing Henry the train around the kitchen is good entertainment for about 20 minutes or so-- which is a big deal in the land of entertaining Leila.

It's starting to get borderline too cold for our evening walks.  The one-piece suit I have for Leila gets hiked up to her knees already if she's sitting, and if I put her into her winter coat it's a sad, sad picture because she can't even sit up, let alone put her arms down.  We took a wagon ride like this and it was less than enjoyable, that's for sure.   Austin nearly had to pull the wagon with Gage in it while carrying Leila almost all the way up the lake hill to our house.  I had to do some serious entertaining to get Gage to walk it.  I almost just let the wagon roll into the lake so I could beg Austin to fetch the Polaris for us, but we toughed it out.  We're Bailey's and Cable's and that's what we do.  I find myself often wondering if this is how my mom felt when all of us were little.