Cox Farm

Since Halloween is just around the corner I wanted to get back out to Cox Farm so Charlotte could play and we could get some pumpkins to carve! Luckily Steve was able to take the afternoon off and come along with us. We also knew some of our buddies would be there as well and we were able to catch up with them at the farm.

Charlotte was excited to "moo" at the cows and look at the pigs. Her piggy noise sounds an awful lot like her doggy sound right now, but we are working on it. We were also able to go on a hayride with our friends Grayson, Brayden and their mommies. The kids were having a great time playing in the hay.





Family picture on the hayride


We found a few small slides to go down. I think Charlotte thought it was pretty fun!


Charlotte posing with her buddies at the farm

Autumn Pictures

Although I usually wait until 6 month intervals to go to Portrait Innovations, I wanted to get some Autumn themed pictures of Charlotte taken this year. My Mom bought a super cute turkey outfit for her in Williamsburg (after I told her how cute it was :)), and I also wanted to get some pics of her in her Halloween costume. Plus, I also took a casual pumpkin themed outfit! We took Steve's Mom along with us to help with outfit changes and keeping Charlotte entertained while I was picking the pictures I wanted. Thanks to her for footing the bill for all the super cute pictures!

Here are some of the cutest ones we got!















Thanks Portrait Innovations! We'll be back in a month for 18 month/Christmas pictures...

17 Months

Yesterday marked Charlotte's 17 month birthday! We can't believe how much she has grown, even in just the past few weeks. Seems like every day or two she is able to say a new word or complete a new action. And she is of course walking up a storm!

She can identify most major body parts. My current favorite is when you ask her where her hands are and she flips them palm side up and looks at them like they are the most amazing things! The mitten make it even cuter :)


Here are all of the words that she is able to say right now (in random order of appearance):

mama
daddy
nana
apple
hi
bye
up
ball
cat
mine
baby
cookie
shoes
sock
banana
tree
woof
neigh
moo
baa
meow
roar
quack
eat
bath
puff
cheese

And the latest one came up yesterday morning when I was making breakfast. I told Charlotte I was making a waffle, and out of the blue I hear her say "waff." So cute!

Clifton Day

Columbus Day weekend also means it is time for Clifton Day, the annual community fair in the Historic Old Town Clifton near where I grew up (and only about 10 minutes from where we live now...I don't stray too far I guess!). It was a beautiful Autumn day and going to the fair was a great way to enjoy it!



Now that Charlotte is a walker, she isn't always fond of sitting in her stroller. She'd rather be on the move all by herself. Carrying her around, however, can be quite tiring! Lucking there were things to keep her eyes entertained while we were walking around. Plus, a little snack to distract from the fact that she had to sit in the stroller always works!

They had a Bulldog rescue organization tent set up, and there was a "kissing booth"...we didn't partake, but it was pretty cute!

This lady decided to participate in the kissing though...


We took a quick look up and down the streets at all of the craft and other vendors, then headed to the park where they had a petting zoo and kid's play area. I wasn't too keen on venturing into the petting zoo, so I stayed on the outskirts to take pictures while Steve took Charlotte in.

Feeding the sheep

Charlotte getting slobbered on by the cow

No one wanted to pet this guy :(


We continued strolling around the town, bought some kettle corn, picked up a few items from a bake sale table (of course!), and saw a few things I could have bought but decided if I really wanted one I could make it myself. They had some really cute hair bows, but I'll wait until next year when Charlotte has more hair (hopefully) and might actually keep a bow on her head for more than 2 minutes! Honestly, we were really just killing time until lunch so we could get a hot dog and BBQ sandwich from the Lion's Club tent! We checked the clock and it was not even 11, so we headed back to the park where they had a playground and some other fun stuff to play with so Charlotte could get out and wander around for a while.


Swinging!


There was music playing, so of course Charlotte just had to dance!



We stayed at the park for about 30 minutes then decided it was time to eat! We headed back up the street to the Lion's Club tent to grab our food and then set up shop by the railroad tracks to eat. While Charlotte was finishing up, I decided I needed to take one last run up the street before we headed home. I left Steve and Charlotte and wandered back up the road. Purchased another few pumpkin cookies from the bake sale (I have to support the Boy Scouts, right?), then found some cute prints that i'm going to put up in Charlotte's room.

It was almost nap time so after I came back from my quick last minute purchases, we headed to the car! We passed by the funnel cake stand and decided we could live without one...this time anyway :) Maybe next year!

The Zoo!

My high school friend, Morgan, was visiting from NYC a few weekends ago and we wanted to do something fun while she was in town. We decided to go to the National Zoo with Charlotte for the first time. The weather was not the best, but it was almost better to have an overcast and crisp day so that most of the animals were out and about and not hiding in their caves from the heat!

Charlotte was not as interested in the animals as she was in San Diego, but she still had a fun time with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Kat and Aunt Morgan!

We saw lots of cool animals, including a new baby gorilla! I would say it was cute, but honestly gorilla babies are really kinda ugly, but I guess all babies are cute in some kind of way :)

OBX 2009 - The Journey Home

We headed home from the beach on a Monday to try and avoid any major traffic. Charlotte was once again a good traveler and actually fell asleep on the first leg of our trip this time around!



We made another stop in Williamsburg for lunch and a little exploring. Charlotte enjoyed her lunch at the Cheese Shop. It was a beautiful day to sit outside, eat and people watch!


The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful and Charlotte was, for the most part, a happy girl!




We're already looking forward to our beach trip next summer!!

OBX 2009 - Part 3

Towards the end of our trip we had a nice day or two to enjoy. We had planned on trying to get a family photo on the beach (and brought coordinating outfits for the occasion). So, we had to take advantage of the decent weather while we could and get out there and give it a try. I assumed it wouldn't be easy because of Charlotte's dislike of the sand, and, I was right!

Here are a few decent ones that we were able to get:




Charlotte didn't even really like sitting in a chair on the sand...


Ahhh, the pool! That's more Charlotte's style!



Family pool pictures


Compare to last year's family pool photo -


Relaxing poolside on her personalized towel courtesy of the Fetsch family!






A lovely end to our annual family beach trip!

OBX 2009 - Part 2

The weather forecast for our week at the beach was not looking too good. Our first day was nice and sunny, but beyond that, rain was being called for basically every day. Oh well...at least we were away from home and with family...change of scenery is always nice! As it turned out, there were a few decent days (or parts of days) that we were able to take advantage of.

We discovered that Charlotte was NOT a big fan of the sandy beach. I thought her dislike was more for the strong winds that we encountered on our first visit, but upon further visits, her opinion didn't really improve. I guess she is like her Mommy and would rather be at the pool!

"Ewwww, what is this stuff, Mom?!"

"Ah, the wind!"

"Another picture?!"

Momentarily distracted by a toy, allowing us to move away from her for a second and get a picture...



A cute little footprint, just to prove she did actually stand on the sand...for a second or two!

Gabriel really enjoyed the beach! He got knocked off his little feet by a mini wave, was soaking wet and sandy, yet still smiling...so cute!

Madeline also enjoyed her time down on the sand


Because of the rainy and chilly weather at the beach, we spent a lot of time inside the house just hanging out. The kids had fun playing with each other (between the families, we had brought plenty of toys to keep them entertained).

Gabriel hanging out with Grandaddy

Charlotte lounging around

Cousins playing "together"


Here is a cute video of Gabriel discovering how to use Charlotte's whistle!