Fall Festivities - Let's go!

I love this time of year - besides the great weather there are so many festivals and activities. We already have something planned every weekend through November!
Last weekend we hit the local Ox Roast and Eric ran a 20K in the Hocking Hills area just south of us. This weekend is all work/back to school parties but I'm also trying to squeeze in Oktoberfest.
Hocking Hills is the closest we get to mountains around here but it is beautiful. Lots of trees, even some coniferous! I thought there would be lots of hiking trails for Cadie and me to explore while Eric was running but we only found a short one to a playground area. I'd like to head back to Hocking Hills sometime when we can stay longer.
The Ox Roast is a local tradition and fund-raiser for the high school. It was fine but I think we'll enjoy it more when Cadie is big enough to ride some of the carnival rides. She did enjoy the bounce house and I won a 2-Liter by tossing a ring!

Virtual Pat on the Back
I'm giving myself a virtual pat on the back for my amazing shopping skills. A friend here in Columbus taught me a little about Couponing and my life has changed. A couple of weeks ago I made my biggest get yet. Here is all the stuff I brought home for a measly $3.72. (For those of you that don't know - one bottle of juice by itself is normally close to $5)

I was able to do this with coupons on top of sale items and "bucks back" from previous shopping trips. Then, at the register I got $3 in bucks back and $5 off $25. I used both of those register coupons this week with manufacture's coupons and sales to get 3 jumbo packs of Huggies for $5 each. CRAZY! Now what to do with all this money I'm saving...

Toman Blogging
I finally blurbed our blog for 2007 and 2008 into a book. It has been fun to look through the past entries and remember what we did, especially in the months leading up to Cadie's birth and just after. That seems so long ago! It reminded me of why I keep up this blog. It is a great way to share our activities with family and friends but it is also the best way for me to journal our family memories and activities. One day I'll be a witty blogger that has hundreds of followers but for now I'm happy with the boring day to days of the Toman Blah Blah Blog.
That said, here is what we have been up to. Cadie and the playgroup visited a firestation and had an awesome time with the firefighters and their gear. Fireman Smith put on all his clothing and gear including oxygen mask and worked with the kids to not be afraid of him in case they are ever in an emergency and need his help.

When we walked through our home for the first time I stood by the front door and said "that would be the perfect place for my baby grand." Ha ha. I didn't have a baby grand and Eric thought I was nuts. But... a vigilant eye on Craig's list brought about my dream. Eric's mom visited us for a week just after we got it and Cadie would lead us all into the front room and have us clap for her piano performances.

Eric was away for a week at the end of August for a conference and then had a major deadline so we didn't see much of him. We have been busy this last week making up for it! We watched wild turtles and frogs at a local metro park, ate gyros at a greek festival, played at the science museum, and caught the last Clippers baseball game of the season. Here is a picture of Cadie and Eric in front of the large lilly pads at Goodale park.

And here is Cadie eating a hot dot at the ball game (it was dime a dog night!)