What a monkey!

Okay . . . so she's actually a chimp, but you get the idea!

We went out to the feed store that my sister works at so that we could meet Mikayla. She's 15 mos old and very funny. My sister knows the lady who owns her and they were having an event at the store. This lady runs an animal rescue that is quite fascinating. Check out her website here.


As if isn't hard enough to get 4 kids to look at the same time! Add a chimp and I would call it impossible!


Austin and Kevin were there too . . . so we tried to get a picture for Grandma!


This pic is very similar . . . I just loved the look on Mikayla's face!


And finally . . . a close up!

We will be seeing her again this weekend at Kevin's birthday party. Should be fun!

Soccer!

This past Saturday started our soccer games for the year.

Megan is playing on a K-1 girls team, and is loving it. She and her friend Anna are July birthdays, and are therefore the very youngest on the team. That was very obvious this week, as they spent much time in la-la land while they were on the field, but they all had a fun time. Unfortunately, they only have 9 girls on their team, so that makes for very little rest time during games, but I think it's good for them : )

Here's Meg resting before her game. Isn't she cute?



Anna, Caroline and Lucy



Some of my fellow soccer moms. (And Julie who would just like to think she's a mom!)

Julie enjoying her chair!

Here's one of the few action shots that I have of Meg. She's #6.

Graci and Lucy go for it!

In the end, the K-1 girls tied 0-0.

Because of the way their birthdays fall, Ali & Emma both play on the 3rd grade girls' team. Aaron is one of the assistant coaches for their team. That means that if their team plays at the same time as Meg's team, I don't get to see the game. That was the case this week, but thankfully Jodi stepped up to the plate for me with her camera and was willing to share her pictures!

Here they are getting ready for their game . . .

I love this action shot of Karis (left) and Emma (#15). Emma loved playing, and (so I am told) was really into the game.

. . . Ali on the other hand . . . : ) This was her first soccer game ever. She spent quite a bit of time in outer space, but she's still learning. I loved this shot of Ali with the ball! She looks so focused.

Good game!

The 3rd grade girls lost 0-2, but the coaches were overall very impressed with how well they played!

This coming

Saturday, Ali & Emma's team has a double header (which is nice because I'll actually be able to see one of their games.) Meg will have game #2. Hoping for a win!!

Apple Time!

It's that time of year again! Yeah!!

Fall is my all-time favorite picture season. Between apple picking, and the pumpkin patch I literally take hundreds of pictures. It's a bit insane but I love it. I am exercising self-control and only posting 8! : )

Apple picking is a Patton-Alligood family tradition. I think the first time we went together, Emma was 2 and Karis was 18 mos. We have traditional shots that we take every year. One of all the children (that shot had grown over the years!), and then the pairs of kids. See below.


Here's the whole crew! What a bunch of monkeys!



Our family is completely retarded when it comes to having family pictures taken. Inevitably, someone isn't looking, has their eyes closed, or is cropped out of the picture (I guess I can blame my photographer for that one! : ) ) This was the best we could do. Really it isn't so bad.

Daddy manned the pole picker while Aubrey and Meg chowed down on apples!

Our Jonah and Ali Shot. Jonah wanted to have Ali on his back. He doesn't realize that (at this point) she weighs a lot more than he does! What a pair!

Then there's Emma and Karis. These two are quite a photogenic pair. I could take 100 pics of them together and 95 of them would be perfect! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but you get the point.

For the Littles, we have a trio rather than a pair. This series of pictures cracks me up! They are a riot.

After apple picking we enjoyed lunch together at Steak n Shake . . . what a treat! Once lunch was over, the Pattons and Alligoods parted ways to go home . . . and we enjoyed a few detours. We did some thrift shopping (I found the PERFECT pair of jeans for $3.00! Does it get any better than that?) We also stopped at the Lewis and Clark Center for a brief look around. Definitely a place we will revisit when it's time for Missouri history.

All in all it was a great day . . . now it won't be long and it will be time for the pumpkin patch!