Fall at the farm

Yesterday we headed to a little farm just outside of Charlotte with the Masto family to check out some animals, pumpkins, and general fall goodness. We also met our friends (and neighbors) Paul, Traci and Greta to have a full-on kidfest (those boys need to hang out with some chicks anyway!).

Checking out the pigs.

Colin and Mike get a good look.
There's some goats Dadda.

Mike and Greta looking at some animals.
Goats are so cool!


Guthrie really enjoyed playing amongst the pumpkins. He looked like a little autumn poster boy in his fall colors.
Pumpkins make good seats too.

The Plaza Acres rascals hanging on a pile of hay.

Yuck! Hay doesn't taste so good...
Thanks, guys, for a fun outing!

Last minute weekend trip

This weekend we decided to take an impromptu trip to Charleston, SC for a long weekend visit. It's not too far- about 3 1/2 hours- and offers so much: the beach, historic areas, a downtown that is incredibly walkable and good food. We didn't have many plans besides definitely heading to the beach, seeing our friend Pat, and swimming in the indoor hotel pool (which was supposedly heated, but turned out wasn't- that didn't stop our boys from swimming a couple times though! The hotel staff, visitors, and I thank you, Brian, for not making me squeeze into a bathing suit!).

We didn't take many pictures of the trip, besides the time we spent at the beach- so, you get a beach-time bonanza:

This was Guthrie's first beach experience and he loved it. It was a little chilly that day, so we were all dressed in several layers, but that didn't dampen any of the fun. Digging in the sand with Dadda:
Checking out a dog passing by- I'd bet anything that G said, "Oooooo, woof woof":

Headed to the tide pool. Even though it was only in the upper 50's, the water was really warm. G got wet pretty early, so we just decided to embrace it and let him play in the tide pool and check out the ocean. Heck, it was his first time and he needed the full experience!

Headed into the ocean, carrying his all too important measuring cups!


Not too sure for a moment:

We're so excited to head back this coming spring/summer so we can spend even more time on the beach. G really seemed to enjoy playing in the sand and was quite fascinated with the water/waves coming and going.

Cute guy

The other day when Guthrie woke up from a nap, he was leaning over the side of his crib against the wall, making the sign for "help." I couldn't figure out what he wanted help with until I looked down the small space between the wall and his crib and realized that there was a rather large collection of socks hiding in a pile on the floor under the crib. Evidently, G had been tossing his socks down there for some time before or after his naps and we just hadn't particularly noticed his small stock of socks dwindling.

So....this meant that I had to squeeze my preggy body under the crib and collect the growing pile of socks. Sheesh. I handed them over to Guthrie and you would've thought it was his birthday and Christmas all at the same time. He kept his little collection with him everywhere he went for the next hour or so. Too funny. I just love these pictures of his sleepy, smiling face, so happy with his "new" toys. Nice bedhead too.
Guthrie has been really into any form of vehicles lately: trucks, buses, cars, etc. We got a great surprise in the mail from our friend Vanessa- a toy garbage truck!
What a perfect late b-day gift. Guthrie has enjoyed playing with his truck on the stretch of wood floor behind our chairs in the living room. It's the perfect little track to send the truck across the room. Thanks Vane!

Dixie Classic Fair

Over the past week, we've had the pleasure of having visits from grandparents galore! My mom came in town 2 Saturdays ago to hang out and help with Guthrie while the Circle of Eight had our fall pottery sale at our house. It was so great to have her here and G definitely enjoyed his time with her until....Saturday night when he initiated us into that special rite as parents: the restaurant vomit-fest! We were out celebrating our sale with our friend Ronan, mom, Bri, Guthrie and me, when low and behold, poor little G lost his cookies. We handled it smoothly and whisked the little guy out with little mess (besides down my shirt!), receiving sympathetic glances from other parents. On the bright side, Mawmaw got lots of cuddle time from a little guy who typically is constantly on the go and squirmy on laps.

Granny and Grandpa Sanders came through town to hang and wire a Habitat house just a couple of days after Mawmaw left town. Once again, it was a great visit with lots of playing and cuddling to be had!

We had originally hoped to go out to Shelby, NC for the Cleveland County Fair while the grandparents were in town, but that didn't work out for obvious reasons. So instead, this past Sunday we found out that the Dixie Classic Fair was still in the works up in Winston-Salem, so we headed that way. We just knew that Guthrie would be beside himself seeing all the animals, rides and attractions....boy, were we right!

Checking out the baby goats.
We didn't get any pictures, but one of the highlights of our time was the children's petting zoo area. Upon entering, we bought a small bag of little carrot slivers to feed the animals. There were goats, rams, camels, and a couple of other animals I wasn't able to identify. Guthrie was a brave little guy and immediately took to feeding the animals. He mostly was focused on the little goats, but when a camel klopped over, he stuck his tasty little hand out with a carrot sliver. Unfortunately, the camel liked the taste of his finger too and didn't want to let go! When we finally retrieved the finger, it had teeth marks on it...G cried just a little bit, but what soothed him most was continuing to feed the other animals. Such a brave little guy!
Checking out the cool BMX trick bikers. This was after watching pig races.
Next Bri wanted to take Guthrie on the big slide. There were all sorts of kiddie rides, but this one especially caught our eye. Heading up the stairs...
Loading up on the yellow slide:
Wheeeee! Sliding down with Dada!
Definitely the big-time highlight was a pony ride. Guthrie was so excited he was kicking me and bouncing in my arms as we approached the pony that he "picked."

Mounting up on the pony- oh yes, note the baby bump (it's so hard to believe that our belly baby is already 28 weeks along!)!
To say the least, Guthrie was delighted to be riding the pony. He was laughing the entire time- it was hard for me not to cry, he was so happy. What an amazingly warm feeling inside to see your child filled so much with joy- there's nothing like it.


Bye bye ponies!
What a special day! And little G slept the entire way home, dreaming of fried fair food and hungry camels...

Autumn popsicle

YUMMMMMM!