Fun Fall Pics

Nick has been learning about leaves, acorns, all kinds of fall stuff at preschool the last few weeks. He has been so excited jumping into the leaves every weekend as Brian rakes them up. Ben, who is walking everywhere, loved the leaves too!

Picking apples at Carter's Mountain
It took a while for Nick to realize that you don't pick one off the tree, immediately take one bite, then toss it in the bag. Lots of Pink Lady Apple picking to be done there if you can manage the hike. Which was approximately the exact same steepness of Mt. Everest. Approximately.


Ben's First Haircut!

Before
During
After
So handsome!
Typical sweet Ben, no tears, just happy as can be to be playing in the police car!

Halloween!!!!

Our little pirates in their fancy pirate ship, "The Scurvy Dog".
It poured the whole time during trick or treating, so good thing we had a boat!



Big Weekend!


We kicked off the weekend by going to "Touch a Truck" on Saturday morning. There were all kinds of trucks that the kids could get in, touch and learn about. They also had helicopters, and they were a huge hit as well.




Sunday we headed to the pumpkin patch at Chesterfield Berry Farm. It was pretty much freezing, but it was still fun feeding the bunnies, goats, chickens, cows, etc., riding the tractor train, checking out the "spooky stuff", corn cannons, pig races(A fan favorite of big city folk Mike and Siobhan who were with us. Turns out you just can't get these in NYC and Boston!) and going on the hay ride to pick out the pumpkins. Benjamin really didn't want to leave the pumpkin patch at all, but despite an all out tantrum, we decided to take him back home with us.






First Day of Pre-School

Nicholas seems to be adjusting to pre-school really well! It was a rough first few days, but today (day 4) there were no tears at drop off! This was a huge break-through! ;) He has a great teacher, and he loves all the painting, play doh and recess at pre-school. It's going to be a great experience once he gets the hang of his new routine.

Emerald Isle---The Sequel!


We were supposed to be going to the beach in Waves, NC with the Dahlquist's last week. It had been planned for months and months. Turns out, Hurricane Irene completely washed away parts of Highway 12, leaving Waves inaccessible. So, at the very last minute we booked a house on the ocean in Emerald Isle, NC. There was little hurricane damage there, and we were lucky to find a little house on the ocean just a few days before we were to check in. The weather forecast was supposed to be non-stop rain all week. Turns out, that couldn't have been more wrong! Sun every day with just a few storms one morning, giving us a chance to see the aquarium. Another beautiful week at the beach to close out the summer!

The view from our porch
Anna and all of her little minions looking on! They all LOVE her! And who could blame them?
Ben playing in one of the tide pools that formed after high tide each day.
Wading in the surf with Daddy. Adorable!
Brian set up several little races for the kids. This is Anna and Nick at the starting line.
A fun week with great company! What a great way to end the summer!