Halloween at RCC

Every Monday Jackson's preschool class crosses the parking lot to visit their neighbors at the Goodwin House. GH is an assisted living development for the elderly and retired. To celebrate Halloween, all the kids dressed up in their costumes, and we had a parade for our Goodwin House friends.

There was Thing 1, Little Red Riding Hood, Robin, Woody from Toy Story, a princess, a blue dinosaur, a skeleton, and a construction worker.


After parading through the halls, we stopped to sing some songs for our friends. Jackson of course stuck to my leg, so you can't quite see him in the picture. But he did sing very loud and joined in with all the hand motions.


Here is the picture of both classes, the Block Room and Painting Room. Aren't they all just adorable?!?!

Cox Farms

We finally made it back to Cox Farms this year, and just like we remembered it didn't disappoint. Dee Dee, Jackson, and I headed out west to meet up with the Cote' family for an afternoon of fun. We could not have asked for better weather - warm with a nice breeze and lots of sunshine! The day before it was raining and the day after the high was 58!

Before entering the park, I made Dee Dee and Jackson stop for a picture. He was not a happy camper, but how can you pass up a picture with a 624 pound pumpkin?!?!?


Another cute picture opportunity, but this time he was up for posing as a scarecrow.


While we waited for our friends, Jackson climbed up the stacked hay bales and crawled down through the tunnels.


Since I couldn't ride any of the slides (next year little bambino) Jackson talked his Dee Dee into riding them with him. Now this is a big deal because my mom does not do slides or rides! It is amazing what you will do for you grandchildren.

Ready, set, go . . . .


Yippee they made it! It must have not been too bad because this is the first of about 50 slides they conquered together.


Jackson then decided to tackle one by himself! It was all fun until he spun around and bumped his head on the hay bale. Those slippery slides can be so tricky.


I also missed out on the hay ride - "may be too bumpy for pregnant women." Seriously, you miss out on all the fun being pregnant ;) Everyone had a blast, and I had a peaceful 20 minute break.

Before calling it a day we wound our way through the corn maze, pigged out on kettle corn, rode about 20 more slides, talked to the squealing pigs, and picked out one more pumpkin. It was a great day, and we are already talking about going back next year!

Patching Pumpkins

Jackson was so excited to pick out his pumpkins this year. We went to the same church pumpkin sale that we always go to, but this year they had wagons. Jackson grabbed a wagon, and we set off to find the perfect pumpkins.

Picking out pumpkins is a very serious task. You must look, touch, and hold as many as you can to find one worthy enough for the wagon.


Jackson had to master the art of maneuvering a pumpkin filled wagon through the piles and piles of pumpkins. He finally got the hang of it . . . just yell for mom to help.


Mark took over camera duties, so me and my little guy stopped for a quick picture with our three pumpkins.


We waited until the day before Halloween to "patch" or carve our pumpkins. My parents were here, so Jackson talked Dee Dee into patching her own pumpkin.


The finished result. Dee Dee's pumpkin has triangle eyes and Jackson's has the square eyes. The one in the middle is the one he patched at preschool. The inside is the funniest part . . . I don't think one pumpkin seed was taken out. You can see the pumpkin gunk coming out of the eyes. They truly let him do all the work, and I absolutely love it!


As you can see from our front steps, we definitely were not lacking in the pumpkin department. I love fall, and every time I walked up the stairs it made my smile.


Happy Fall Y'all!

Great Wolf Lodge

After leaving the beach behind, we headed to Williamsburg to finish up The Great Family Vacation of 2010. We stayed one night at The Great Wolf Lodge before heading back home. It is a great hotel geared aimed to please the kiddos complete with an indoor water park. Jackson is still talking about it and is repeatedly asking when we are going back, so I think it was a big hit.

We arrived early so we could have a full day at the indoor water park. While daddy parked the car, we paused for a quick picture.


"Wait mom!!!"


"Okay now we can go inside. Puppy really needed his picture taken also."

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and hit the water park. As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted by this:


A couple of minutes later we heard a bell chime and then this happened:


Every time the bell chimed, Jackson would stop what he was doing to watch the big bucket tip over spill the water.

Jackson started with the shallow water area first. He loved this water fountain area and the little slides.



After much convincing and watching daddy, he decided to try the medium slide.


He loved it! However, after about the third time down he somehow got turned around and came down on his belly. He wasn't too happy about that, and he decided he wasn't going to ride it again. Although the next day, he got up the courage to try it again!


He also rode one of the big inner tube rides with his daddy. I on the other hand didn't get to try any of the slides. We will definitely be going back when I am not preggers!

Jackson's favorite activity was the wave pool! He absolutely had the best time letting the waves knock him down and wash over his head.

Heading out to battle the waves . . .

Getting ready . . .


Here they come . . .

And he made it.

After we were all waterlogged, we headed back to grab a quick bite before trick or treating around the hotel. We didn't know about this before, so we didn't come prepared with our costume.


It was a great way to wrap up our family vacation. Now back to the real world.

Family Vacay

Earlier this year at Jackson's preschool's auction, we bid on a vacation house with another family, and we won! We weren't sure what we had gotten ourselves into, but it was such a good deal. Well, we hit the jackpot! After doing some research we found out that we won a weeks stay at a seven bedroom house right on the beach in the Outer Banks. You also needed a four wheel drive to get to the house, because there are no roads - strictly beach driving. Hmmm . . . we'll just figure that one out later.


The house was located on the northern part of the Outer Banks called Corolla, and they are known for the wild horses that roam the beach. We were hoping to see them, and almost every day they came to visit.


This horse is standing right on the path that we took to walk to the beach. And we all know that where there are horses there is horse poop. Jackson thought it was so funny to "dodge the horse poopie" on our daily walks to the beach.


We decided to book it for a week in October, and pray that the weather wouldn't be too cold. Again, we hit the jackpot! The first couple of days it was hot, and some of us (not me) actually got in the water. Later in the week it was cool and windy, but we were still able to walk and play on the beach.


Jackson even attempted to boogie board.


It didn't end well, but at least he tried! Maybe next year we will try again and have a happier ending.


We went with four other families. That makes 8 adults, 5 little boys, 1 little girl, and a 5 week old baby. With a house that big, each family got two rooms, and it worked out perfectly. The kids all played well together, and so did the adults!


Sand castles were built . . .


waves were jumped . . .


and memories were made.


We left a couple of days early to head to the next part of our vacation adventure, but that deserves a separate post. On the way out out of town, we stopped by Duck Donuts for a quick breakfast. Oh my yummy! We had some delicious donuts while enjoying this view . . .


It doesn't get much better!

Murder Mystery Party

My friend Sunny hosted a Murder Mystery Party - Killing for the Crown. All I can say is - So.Much.Fun!!!

You come to the party dressed in character and the rest of the night is spent acting out the mystery while also trying to identify the killer. Our dear friend Amie didn't quite make it through the entire night . . . .

She fell victim to the evil beauty queen who wouldn't let anyone or anything get in the way of winning the crown. Speaking of the beauty killer, Miss Arizona (far right) played the part perfectly. I think only one person guessed her true deadly intentions.


Miss New York, played by Meg, won the title of most dramatic. She played it perfectly right down to the New York accent - not bad for a true southern girl. And as for me, well I have never seen a pregnant beauty queen, but I guess there is a first for everything.


Maybe next time we will invite the guys along to play.

24 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby boy is the size of a papaya

Total Weight Gain: 12 lbs. (Yes, I realize my face is getting chunky along with my hiney!)

Maternity Clothes: Yep! And I forgot how much I love all my elastic pants.

Gender: Boy :)

Movement: Yes, and I love it! I can fell him wiggling around especially when I am laying in bed around 10:00. I hope the little man is not a night owl!

Sleep: Still sleeping like a baby

What I Miss: Grilled hotdogs

Cravings: Nothing much. I have actually lost my appetite.

Symptoms: Just a growing belly and uncomfortable back pain.

Best Moment this Week: Jackson continues to talk to the "bambemo" and I love it!

I can't believe this is the first belly shot that I have taken. I was so good with Jackson! Hopefully I can do better for the little guy from here on out.