Trick or Treat

 Coronavirus and COVID has ruined much of 2020, but it we were determined not to let it ruin our traditional Trick or Treat fun! As always we go trick or treating with our besties, The Jarrell Family. They moved this year, too, so we were able to explore their new neighborhood. We had a blast!

Blake wanted to be a Fortnite character, so we as a family followed with that idea. The only problem was that we didn't really know who we were. HAHA! Either way - we had so much fun. On a side note, we my costume actually was ordered in a kid size. So have fun laughing at the pregnant woman in the kids costume. The boys looked great, though! 

Throwing the Heat

 Blake struggled with kid pitch in some areas...but he also really shined in other areas. For some reason, he wanted to pitch! He really took a passion to it and he was determined to give it a shot. It also helped that he has a shockingly good arm (with great aim). During a practice, Coach let Blake pitch - just playing around. Blake's pitching caught his eye so he stayed after for a few games and practices to work with him. 

Blake finally got his big chance in the last game of the season. Coach told Blake he could pitch to 4 batters and they would see how he did. I was a nervous wreck, but also SO excited for Blake. He ended up pitching the whole inning. He didn't hit anyone, he got his first strike out, and he didn't get the 5 run max - all of which are GREAT things for kit pitch ball! Blake LOVED pitching! I was so proud of him and I can't wait for him to try kit pitch again in the Spring.

For now, Blake and most of his team will be doing a skills class in the off season. :) 

Pilot Mountain Hiking

 Blake and I used to love going to Pilot Mountain, but we just haven't made the trip since our Papa Johnson passed away and the house was sold. So this year I was determined to take us back up there to hike AND to take Joyner to show him around - he has never been! 

Things have changed a lot in at Pilot Mountain State Park. You used to be able to just drive to the top and walk around the top pinnacle. Now they have limited the spaces at the top and they have created a visitors center at the bottom that will shuttle you to the top. Big changes and it looks very different. Our plan was to park at the bottom and shuttle to the top for some great views and light hiking. 

On arrival we learned that the shuttle was NOT running. WHAT?!?! The lady at the visitors center said the parking spaces at the top were full, so we could wait however long for them to reopen the lot (which could take hours) or we could hike the 3.5 miles to the top. Well... we didn't drive all this way for nothing, so we decided to walk! Yes, my 14 week pregnant self committed to hiking 8 miles up, around, and back down Pilot Mountain. The boys loved it and had a great time. The views were amazing and I was just grateful it was a beautiful day! We were tired and exhausted at the end, but we had no regrets! 

We then got to stop by the cemetery and see Granny and Papa Johnson. We also drove to Mount Airy to see my cousin Morgan and her family. Even though there were some unexpected adventures, we still made it a great day! 

Tractors Corn Maze

 Normally at this time of year we would be going to Hillridge Farms to get our pumpkin and on our Fall hayride, but they cancelled things this year because of COVID. Ugh. So we went in search to find something else similar for Fall fun. 

Locally we found this place called Tractors Corn Maze and they had a really cool 8 acre corn maze. We got to go in and complete the corn maze challenge. Then we got to go in and find a pumpkin! We had a blast with all the fall fun things. :) 

It's a GIRL!!!!!

 Thanks to our early genetic testing, we were able to not only find out that we have a healthy baby sor far but we were also able to find out the gender as well. We are having a GIRL!!!!!!! EEekkkkkk!!!!! I am SO excited - and thankfully everyone else is, too! Blake REALLY wanted a baby sister because he wanted to be the protective big brother. Joyner wanted a little boy, but he is also happy to have a daddy's girl. 

Once again, Joyner and I had the best time sharing the surprises. We wanted to tell Blake first and have a special moment for him has the big brother. We took him to the park and let him hit some baseballs - the surprise was that one of the baseballs would bust and show the color of the gender. He hit SO well trying to bust them. HAHA. Finally he got to one that busted open with a giant pink cloud. He was SO happy and that made my heart just melt! This baby girl has no idea how great of a big brother she is getting! :) 

We knew Blake wouldn't be able to keep the secret for long - and that he would also want to share the surprise, so we planned a gender reveal little party for our immediate family. We had them over for cupcakes and fun. They got to pick the color cupcake that they thought they baby would be. It was really cute. Then we went into the yard and shot out confetti cannons to share the happy news with our family! It was amazing and perfect and we are so happy! 

Thankfully Joyner and I agreed on the girl stuff way more than we did they boy stuff - so we are happy to share that we plan on naming this baby girl Kinsley Luann Freeman. And she will have the cutest mermaid themed nursery around. You are SO loved already, little Kinsley! :)