Raleigh for the Weekend

We headed to Raleigh the first weekend of November to see some of our good friends.  Joe and Abby took us to Hill Ridge Farm.  The kids had a great time and we had a great time and we were reminded how great it is to be with old friends!

Josh, Lizzy and Samuel in the maze

Giant slide that you climb up the hill and go down on a burlap sack.  I think the kids all did it about 20 times each!

Samuel making sure daddy made it through alright

Charlie wasn't so sure about it!

Instead of a sandbox they had a HUGE corn pit!

Lizzy getting buried (I think Josh is having too much fun burying his sister!)

Duck Racing

Monkey see...

...monkey do!

The next day we headed over to the Ramsay's house to celebrate Jacob's 1st birthday.  Erica had a cute owl theme and she decorated so cute!  

Erica's mom took pictures of EVERYTHING!  She likes to document...so here I am documenting her documenting Erica!

Where's the best place to find kindling for the fire?

Up the tree, of course!

Jacob and his sweet neighbor, Danielle

Where do you eat your snack?

We eat ours on the recently cleaned kitchen floor with our umbrella close at hand just in case those cheerios start falling from the sky!

Carving the Pumpkin

We carved our pumpkin together the Sunday  before Halloween.  Samuel was so excited to finally use his spoon for what it was intended, and not just as a sword (what it is the rest of the year!).  He kept saying, "when will we get out the ooie gooie, I don't want to touch it, I just want to use my spoon."  Charlie had fun playing in it and even tried to get daddy to try some!  It has been fun to keep traditions and make every day exciting for our boys!  Looking forward to many more pumpkin carving in our future!

Turning 30

For all of my 29th year I tried to think what I really wanted to do for my birthday and I decided a quiet girls weekend away was exactly it!  Some girlfriends and I drove to Cashiers, NC to my family's house and spent a wonderful weekend together.  I rarely looked at my watch, slept as long as we wanted, ate a leisurely breakfast (well all meals actually), shopped, sat on the porch, enjoyed a fire and just had a great time!  It was a great rejuvenating weekend, I just hope I don't have to wait another 30 years for one!!!  

Liz just got a new iPhone so she was getting some lessons and pointers from Sherry about fun apps and other great things this little piece of magic can do!

The Pumpkin Church

Every year we head over to the "Pumpkin Church" to take some pictures and let the kids pick out a small pumpkin.  They had a great time-Samuel climbing on the pumpkins and trying to find the biggest one, and Charlie just rolling around with them like they were his play toys!

Playdate with my Sweet Charlie Man

Charlie and I have been having some fun mornings while big brother is at preschool.  He is all smiles these days and is such a joyful little guy!

Surprisingly didn't even need brother's help getting into this predicament!

I have been trying to get Charlie to say "mama" for weeks now.  Every time I ask him to say mama he blows raspberries!  I guess it's his sweet way of saying I love you!?