Fall is here!

Northeast Tennessee is so beautiful in the fall! We've enjoyed the cool weather and bright sunshine over these last few days and the leaves are starting to get a little color in them. It's going to be a beautiful month! It seems as though every weekend from now until the holidays has some kind of festival or event for the public to attend. This past weekend, we went to a Harvest Festival hosted by a Methodist church. They had a huge "flee market", which was really an oversized garage sale. They had TONS of clothes, knick knacks, shoes, toys, etc for the treasure hunters to sort through. I think I found a couple of gems...I got an old Fisher Price clock toy and the original Memory game (from like the '80s!!!) that were both in great condition. I also got a book and some old French card game I had never heard of, but it came with some directions on how to play. My side of the family loves to play cards, so I figured I'd have to bring it home and we'll all have something new to try! Anyway, the UM church had a silent auction and a HUGE BBQ dinner. Patrick and I ate our fill (much to Patrick's chagrin!). There was also horse rides given to the kids. One of Patrick's co-workers had a horse up there, so we walked over to meet her and she offered to let Mallory "ride" the horse. It was so cute! Mallory may take after her cousin Skye in being a horse lover!














After our Harvest Festival adventure, we drove around the area and found a great kid consignment shop. It was a dumpy looking building; it looked like a place you would drive by on your way up to some deserted mountain town that sold hubcaps and old Pepsi signs. But, it had a couple of kid toys in the front instead and I asked Patrick to stop. When I peaked inside the door, there was a gold mine of clothes, shoes, and other accessories! I spent about an hour in there sifting through the clothes and found many warm clothes for Mallory to adorn this winter. I asked the lady at the counter what shop was next door and she told me that it was a salon and saddle shop. I thought that was a strange collection of retailers...a kids store, salon, and tack shop. Odd. But, I will be going back!

We've enjoyed our time in the hills so far and have been spending a lot of time looking around at the different housing developments, which are so different that Charlotte. There are only a handful of large neighborhoods; the majority of neighborhoods have approx. 15-20 homes, which is nice!

This weekend, my parents are coming for a visit, which we're ALL looking forward too! I have a lot to do before they come, but it will be fun preparing my house for company. We'll be attending an Apple festival this weekend in a neighboring city, which is supposed to draw some 90,000 visitors! I'm hoping to squeeze in the Storytelling festival in another town as well! With the FL/LSU game at 3:30, I'm hoping we'll be able to do everything!!! BUT, playing with Mallory is priority for Grandma and Grandpa!