Baird Family: Ah, fall !

We are finally feeling like fall in Cincinnati. The weather has been great and we get to enjoy some of our favorite outdoor adventures. We have had another busy weekend spending Saturday visiting Ms. Emily & her sore foot and then parading around the zoo. Sunday we went to Young's Dairy up in Dayton for a true taste of fall- what a treat ! It's a very affordable family outing that I recommend to all with young kids. We took the tractor to the pumpkin patch and for $6 a piece we picked some HUGE pumpkins. Madelyn loved the Moovers & Shakers ride - she suckered us into 2 rides and Mia loved petting the goats. Of course you can't visit Young's without some of their DELICIOUS homemade ice cream which we waited in line for quite a while for.

September also brought my 30th birthday where I got to go away with my husband for 4 nights to Baltimore and just relax, have fun and be an adult. It was a great weekend- we had such an amazing time together. I felt like all we did was eat and sleep (and catch an Orioles baseball game and the Bengals/Ravens home opener) but it was a great trip.

The next weekend in September brought some weird weather to Ohio, we had a windstorm courtesy of Hurricane Ike that knocked power out to most of the city for days, somehow we were spared. We had to replace our roof, grill and patio table, but thankfully nobody was hurt by the 70 + mile per hour winds. Nobody realized the magnitude of what was coming, Maddy and I were out shopping for shower gifts, debating if we should try to go to the store even though we could barely open the car door and debris was blowing everywhere.

The following weekend we had a shower for Emily, followed by a Reds game in lieu of a Bachelorette party. I picked up a nasty staph infection on my chin and looked like a leper for a week.

We celebrated all our September birthdays at Mom's house the last weekend in September as well as our 8 year anniversary with dinner at El Coyote. It was a laid back night where horrible service didn't seem to be such a bad thing.

September Birthdays (Note Carrie's Face Funk and that was 5 days post antibiotics):

The Family:

We spent Septembger getting back into a routine. Madelyn is at a new preschool where she goes Tues-Thursday mornings. She really likes it.

I somehow have overcommitted us during the week though. Brandon coaches upward football on Mondays, Madelyn has soccer on Tuesdays (which is absolutely adorable to watch and she loves it) and Madelyn has cubbies on Wednesdays. Saturday AMs Maddy has swim lessons and Brandon coaches his flag football team. He loves coaching and giving back to the community, but he is so competitive that not winning is hard on him. This team is really helping him to realize that as long as they are working hard and having fun that is all that counts. Hopefully it is a good test for when he coaches his own girls in sports.

Maddy's 1st soccer practice: