Charlotte's recent masterpieces

"This one is my favorite because I got to use glitter."

"Mom, before you take my picture I need to put my shoes on."

"Hmmm, mom, can you move that top one a little to the left."

Stroller Strides

All the kiddies dressed up in their costumes for Stroller Strides class today. I just put Charlotte in her Halloween outfit. Our instructor gave out mini Luna bars and Charlotte thought it was big treat. If only all halloween candy were Luna bars!

Neighborhood Halloween Parade

Yesterday, we had our annual neighborhood Halloween parade. It was perfect weather! Here's a sneak peak at my little lioness. She is doing her "roar". She loves her costume which is good. I figure this will be the last year that I can decide the Halloween costume for her. She originally wanted to be a puma (no idea where she got that idea from?!) but her second choice was a lion. Phew! Not sure how I would have pulled off a puma? All I could think of was a Puma jogging suit with matching shoes. That would have cost me a fortune!

We made a last minute decision to dress up as a family as "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". I know - completely cheesy! Eat your heart out Narnia fans. Have you ever seen a pregnant witch?!

Charlotte with her cousins, Bryn and Kellen. Bryn is a duck (duh!) and Kellen is a ghost. He told me that ghosts scare witches. I was afraid!

Charlotte and Kellen rode in the wagon for most of the parade just like last year.

Our neighbors and friends, Bob and Melissa, with their new baby, Caiden. Caiden is a chicken with a sign that says "Eat more cow". Their dog, Tasha, is a cow with a sign that says "Eat more chicken". Too cute!

More from the pumpkin patch in VB

Charlotte watched the goats very intently. You have to wonder what is going through her mind sometimes. You know she is really studying when the hands are behind her back.

Charlotte's favorite activity of the day was playing in the huge pile of straw!

Visit to Va Beach

When Dave goes out of town, Charlotte and I head for Va Beach! The weather was perfect for a pumpkin patch visit. Charlotte was getting chased by a huge turkey. She loved petting all the animals.

I'm happy that I finally got a decent photo of Poppy and Memme with Charlotte. It's hard to get Charlotte to look at the camera and pose. I'm sure I'll regret complaining about this later when she is making horrible faces instead of a natural smile.

We also went to a place called "The Jumping Monkey". We really hyped it up to Charlotte. I think she thought there would be live monkeys jumping up and down. She wasn't disappointed though. It was heaven for kids of all ages. They had at least 6 huge moon bounces including two big slides, a dress up room, tons of toys, a girly princess play room, and so much more. Charlotte was just running from one thing to the next. She loved trying on a couple costumes especially Elmo. We need a place like this in NoVa for sure!

Classic

Visit to Harrisonburg

We visited cousin Finley and Aunt Pam in Harrisonburg last Friday. It was a beautiful drive with all the changing leaves. It was nice to get away from the No.Va. craziness.

There are lots of fun things to do at Finley's house - play with playdough, jump on the trampoline, play on their swingset, and eat homemade pumpkin muffins (I think Charlotte had at least half a dozen!).

We took the kids to the Dayton farmer's market for lunch and some playtime at the toy store.

Back at home, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon so the kids snuggled up on the couch. Charlotte slept for most of the car ride home.

Aunt Pam sent Charlotte the cutest Halloween outfit with matching tights. I think it will definitely fit next year too. Thanks, Pam!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We just got back from visiting Va Beach for a couple days. It was too short, as usual, but we did squeeze in a visit to a local pumpkin patch (our third for this season!). More pictures soon but wanted to send a BIG happy birthday shout out to my mom. Charlotte woke Memme up this morning by running into her bedroom and saying "Hakky Birky, Memme". Miss you already! xoxo

Pumpkins!!!

We've been doing the fall festival circuit lately. We visited Cox Farms last week and Burke Nursery this week. So many pumpkins and so little time!

It's been a while...

Geesh, it's been a while since I've done any blogging. Charlotte's baby album is finally done (for the most part!). I still have to add a few finishing touches but all the pictures are down and in the book. Now I just have to catch up on our current albums. Ugh! I really don't like working on photo albums but I enjoy the finished product so I just muster through it.

A couple weeks ago, Charlotte emptied ALL of the bins in her toy shelf and lined the boxes up on the floor in a neat row. I had to take a picture. Charlotte got her camera out to take a picture too!