Week 15

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone. As we were returning home tonight, I saw someone had already put up their Christmas lights....why is everyone always in such a rush!


We started off the weekend carving our Jack-o-lantern "Sarah" as it was named by Lily. Lily chose the design and helped clean out 'the guts'. Caroline supervised.



This year Lily was able to tell us what she wanted to be for Halloween...and it was a no-brainer for her...DORA!!

The grandparents will tell you it is Lily's favorite. So, there was a bit of pride swallowing for me because I had made all of Lily's costumes up to this year, and was hoping that would be 'my thing'...but after the melt-down we had last year it was more important to us(me) for her to have fun then for me to achieve my own agenda...so Dora it was.

Dora would not be complete without her sidekick...so luckily for her we planned it just right to have baby Caroline aka "Boots the monkey" by her side. Admittedly, not the costume I would have chosen for my sweet baby girl's first Halloween, but again, I'm working hard to put my own preferences aside...and to be honest it was pretty cute and Caroline was a champ. Really, I should know by now not to expect anything else from her, she remains one of the most evenly tempered babies. She is such a dream.



My concern was, as usual, with Big Sister. She informed me the night before trick-or treating that she in fact was not going to wear her Dora costume......say what?!?! Luckily she's old enough to understand no Dora, no candy. And when time came, thanks to some helpful persuasion from Gran as well, Lily easily got dressed for the night. And then it happened....like a switch was thrown, Lily was Lily no more, but Dora incarnate. She truly transformed and with such life and enthusiasm, it was a joy to watch...kind of like Christmas when you enjoy watching them enjoy their presents way more than receiving them yourself.


Gran helped Dora make a map for the evening...Step 1: Down the street, Step 2: Up the sidewalk, Step 3: Knock on the door! And that's how you get Halloween candy :) Lily made sure this map was in hand for the evening's adventure and she used it too. It was SO cute!


"Mr. Luke" (as Dave calls him) and my friend Elizabeth came over again this year. Luke readily informed us that his name was not Luke, but "Spiderman"...got it!

Week 14

This week picture marks what will be known as the last warm autumn days of the season.

Parents, Kids, and Grandkids

Week 13

Granny Campbell will tell you that Papa was born on Friday the 13th. So perhaps it is appropriate that Caroline decided to honor Papa's alma mater for her Week 13 picture. Apparently, when Nana and Papa were down keeping the girls for the past week, Papa kept hearing about a football game from earlier in the season.



Lily and Jackson didn't want Caroline to have all the fun!



Even though her younger sister is sympathetic to the plight of Papa's Hokies, Lily remains a Duke Dog girl at heart!

Week 12

This week was ended with a trip to Asheville for Mary Hudson's third birthday party (more of that to come later). While we were in that neck of the woods, we thought we would swing by some of the apple orchards in Hendersonville. We found this cut-out and in the heat of the day (mid-80's believe it or not) and with a overly-tired 3 year old this was about all we could drum up. Didn't get a good smile out of her, but it is a little reminder of our side trip adventure...

Week 11

Just as Lily did, Caroline loves her play gym. You can find her doing her workouts while we are reading books to Lily at bedtime. She's so content to play and stretch and gurgle while we are getting big sister tucked in for the night. Every once in awhile she'll have an audience, as viewed below.



The below pics are of the lovely 'Welcome Caroline' shower my Aunt Carrie held for us. It was so thoughtful of her and great to get the family together. We were so pleased my great aunts could make it.

Week 10

Here's a quick comparison to Lily's week 10.

Week 9

Back to work week. I was lucky to squeeze 8 weeks out of my maternity leave and looking back I really did pack it full of outings and adventures, so I can't be sad about that. It's just hard to leave my little angel. She is in good hands though as Mattie is taking care of her as well as Lily. In our eyes, she is our surrogate grandmother and a blessing to our family. Anna loaned me the baby scrubs, so I couldn't think of a more fitting opportunity to make use of them than this week pic. The reality of getting up with Caroline at night and going to work in the morning has already taken it's toll. I felt like a zombie this weekend, hopefully I'll adapt, and if not there's always caffeine.

Also, if you want to see a much better post about our recent roadtrip, go to Alison's blog at http://alisonandkyle.blogspot.com/. She put a great post together with a lot of great pics I don't have :)

Week 8

What an adventure! Anna got the wild hair to take a road trip with all the girls up to PA to visit her dad and step-mom. She, of course, proposed this to me only hours after coming home from the hospital with Caroline. To which my reply was reluctant to say the least. But, I obviously came around and we had a fantastic time! The week picture was taken at a lovely picnic area beside an Amish restaurant where we had a picnic after Thomas the Train (see below).


For such an adventure there really is only one vehicle up for the job....the dreaded minivan. Don't think we could have done it the way we did in anything else (still not convinced it needs to be a permanent member of the family, though). This pic was at our first big pit stop and the good ole' Golden Arches. We had a nice shady grassy area for the babies to stretch their legs and the girls to run around a bit. I found the look or our vehicle comical in the state it was in, all the doors open, stuff everywhere and the car top carrier to top it off...classic.


Luckily, since we had made it so far up the Eastern seaboard, Alison and her two boys were able to come down from CT (such a brave soul driving 5 hours alone with a toddler and an infant!). It was not the easiest endeavor to round up Lily, Hayes and Mary Hudson and get a group shot, but I thought this one turned out quite well!


And for one of the highlights of the trip Thomas the Train!! Patti (aka Mimi) had this whole trip organized, the kids absolutely loved it. It started out getting to ride a school bus from the parking area to Thomas (almost as fun as riding Thomas, it's so refreshing to be around kids, sometimes!). The big kids were SO good keeping together and behaving, as there were tons of people there. Lily was especially sad to see Thomas leave. She kept asking when he was coming back and when we were going to see him next. Who knew she'd love it so much!



For those of you who don't know, that's 'Mimi' with the kids. I think she certified herself as a rock star after this trip. The whole trip would not have gone as smoothly if it had not been for all of Mimi's hard work and preparation. Thank you so much!! We hope we'll be able to come back some day :)

Daytrip to the Carl Sandburg Home

The weather today was so nice that we couldn't help taking a day trip out to the Blue Ridge Parkway area in North Carolina and exploring around a bit. Fortunately, we found the Carl Sandburg Home, that featured a picnic area, beautiful flowers and a goat farm. Though it wasn't quite fall yet, you could feel it on the way. So the weather was just right for our little adventure and we made the most of it!



Sweet picture....


Not so sweet picture....


Sweet picture again....


Artsy


The only picture of the actual Sandburg home that we ended up with...but you'll see that we've got the goats covered!


Trailblazer


Just sweet.


Observing from a respectful distance.


Hmmm....there seems to be one too many things squatting in this picture....


What happened to that respectful distance?!?!


Family time with the goats.


Another artsy photo.


A small bamboo forest.