Snugglebunny

The baby wore her snazzy new shoes today. I took this picture with my phone after breakfast. She's growing up! She's trying to walk and she's mastered the stairs.

After not napping enough at school, she was in a sad and cuddly mood this evening. Two bottles and a good-sized dinner cheered her up. I owe both of my children an apology for inheriting that trait (and we all owe Eric at least one apology for that, too!).

Solo Playground Trip!

Eric is part of a discipleship study at church on Sunday nights, so the kids and I had a quiet evening together without him. We walked to the playground... we're so predictable. The little guy played with the diggers.

The baby and I rocked on the rocker-thing. I was trying to get her to go to sleep. I failed. I also failed at my attempt to take a sweet (and flattering) photo of me giving her a little kiss on her head. Not only do I look awful, but she's YAWNING!!! What?!!? Boo.

BBQ, Bluegrass, and Hockey?

We went to a big bluegrass festival tonight with Nana and Pops. There was also a barbecue competition... but we couldn't find the champion meat! We settled for some interfaith sandwiches (delicious interfaith sandwiches).

The Carolina Hurricanes had a game set up at the festival. If you hit your puck through one of the holes you would win a free t-shirt! The little guy wanted to play, so we waited in line and he played. I felt pretty ridiculous explaining that my not-quite-four-year-old hits lefty so could he please have a different stick. He didn't manage to hit the puck into one of the holes, but he did pretty well. He earned a high-five from the booth people and a round of applause from the other people in line.

After eating and listening to some music, we headed back to the car. We wandered around the state capitol building on the way and I took this sweet picture.

Delicioso!

We had veggie tacos again tonight (yum). The little guy ate cheese and sour cream on a tortilla...

... and the baby ate a ton of chili lentils. She's so funny-- she loooooves beans.

Scenic Route

We took the scenic route on the way home from Tennessee, driving through the national park. We got to stop at the top of a mountain on the Tennessee/North Carolina line and stretch our legs. The little guy took this picture of us, much to the amusement of the other people wandering around.

Then I took this picture of him:

The views were stunning, but the baby was more interested in the other family on the observation tower than she was in looking at the mountains.

A Walk in the Woods

Another thing we did on our trip to Gatlinburg was go for a short hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! 

We managed to get a reasonable family picture by a really pretty waterfall. He insisted on standing over there by himself, which makes him look like both a ghost and an outcast.

The little guy really liked the hike. He kept running ahead on the trail. He's getting so big!

The baby looked around a lot and then took a nice nap in the carrier.

All in all it was a successful morning.

The Age of Aquariums?

We spent a long weekend in Gatlinburg with some old friends (and had a blast!). One of our outings was to the aquarium. It was very impressive. One of the cool things they have is a group of smaller tanks set up so that kids can climb under and come up in the middle of each one. The little guy really enjoyed that. There was a similar set up in the penguin exhibit.

His favorite part, though, was the spider-crabs. He called them "Grumpy Spider Fish." I'm not sure that they are really ill-tempered, but they do look the part. The little dude posed for a picture with one making his best grumpy face.

Get this girl a purse!

She obviously needs a purse... where else can she keep her play-doh container?

Or is she taking lessons from Beau again?

Leave me out of this!

Seeds

Eric bought a cantaloupe at the store, and the little guy was pumped to scoop the seeds out. I, um, didn't exactly cut it in half with the first cut, so we ended up with three pieces to scoop. I'll count it as a success because the middle piece is like a cantaloupe-donut, which sounds both gross and delicious.

This and That

The baby is eating bananas again. She'd refused them for a little while, but now she's able to pick up banana slices and eat them by herself.

The little guy is typing now! He can type his first and last name, usually surrounded by strings of random letters and numbers. Sometimes it seems like he's getting so big, but then he can still sit in a chair like this:

Uh Oh

We haven't installed baby gates at our new place. The little guy is big enough to not need them and the baby hasn't tried to go up the stairs... until tonight.

Apparently she really wanted that kazoo.

We were THRILLED when the little guy figured out stairs. I guess this time we know what we're getting into. Look at how happy she is!

Because she followed this by climbing even higher and then standing there without holding on (WHAT?!!?), baby gates have moved to the top of our to-do list.

Say What?

So, this video is apparently THE BIG THING in pre-kindergarten. The other big thing is wearing your shirt backwards (reminds me of Kris Kross).

Back to the video-- it's amazing, and I love it. I'm thinking we could make some awesome family Halloween costumes from it, too. We were watching it tonight after dinner, and Eric filmed us. I'll go ahead and quote him here-- "Enjoy the amazing cinematography."

Official Family Photographer!

The little guy is still really into taking pictures. He snapped this adorable one of Eric and the baby yesterday.

He also took this amazing self portrait last night.

Sunday, Sunday...

The kids did this at the playground for a while without hurting each other (a miracle!).

We also snuggled and watched the Noles whup on Nevada.

Proud Daddy

A hand-me-down Cincinnati Reds onesie came to us in the mail yesterday, and baby girl wore it all day today. I even found a matching hair bow in my stash!

We went for a walk after dinner, but ended up chatting with some neighbors for a while. It got dark while we were still out-- kind of exciting! The little guy marched along with a maraca.

The baby fell asleep in her stroller.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Superhero!

All the kids at daycare have been wearing "capes" around school. They draw on sheets of paper and then tape the paper to their shoulders. I even saw a dad wearing a cape on his way home yesterday.

The little guy brought his cape home and wore it on our evening walk. It was hard to get a clear picture because the cape makes him run so fast!

Couscous, Take 2

Well, the baby enjoyed some couscous and chicken kebabs last night, just like her brother used to. This was a new recipe-- we're up to lemon-pepper in my A to Z challenge-- and it was pretty good!

Pre-K

The little guy started pre-kindergarten yesterday. He's still at the same daycare center with the same kids, so it's not a huge change. But-- he is thrilled.

He told a friend of ours that he would go to kindergarten next year because he's SO SMART and he already knows EVERYTHING. Except how to be humble, I guess.

Kites!

The little guy got to fly a kite for the first time this weekend. It was REALLY windy, so although most of the time he looked like this...

... he did occasionally get to do this!

Here's one snapshot of the kids and Eric playing on the beach. My camera died early the first morning of our trip (boo), so this is what I have.

Fun and Games

We are usually homebodies, but we went out of town again this past weekend-- this time we headed to the beach! The little dude and I started our vacation with a rousing game (or three) of Candyland.

The baby enjoyed her game piece, too. These pictures crack me up. She looks like the Godfather.

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.

Seriously, she's terrifying!

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

Anyway, we wrapped up our weekend by playing three rounds of Old Maid. This is our newest game, and it was a hit. I liked it a lot better than Candyland, so hooray!

While the three of us were playing cards, the baby played with a rattle and chewed on whatever cards were within reach. She'll be able to play more soon enough...

See? She's not always scary.

Charleston, SC

We spent Monday morning in Charleston, South Carolina. It was HOT, but it's a really pretty (and yummy) place to visit. We spent some time walking along the waterfront to the playground.

Then we played.

We also wandered around some of the more historical parts of the city-- our main goal being to wear out the kids before getting back in the car.

Mission accomplished! I took this picture less than four blocks from our hotel!