Pumpkin Picking

Today we met up with the Haugen family (including the au pairs Lara and Ricky) to go pumpkin picking. We arrived at the Patch at about 11:00 AM to much warmer weather than what we had when we left the house  an hour earlier. Thus Bea's outfit change towards the end of the trip (you'll see what I'm talking about in the pictures). We had a great time checking out the animals at the petting zoo and picking out pumpkins. Elliot's favorite part of the trip was the hay ride. Bea, on the other hand, was not a big fan of the hay. Neither was Mommy, my allergies are still bothering me. It was all worth it though to spend a wonderful fall day with my family and our good friends.

Fall in Charlottesville

A couple of weekends ago we all (Lara included) spent the weekend in Charlottesville (just outside of c-ville to be precise). We were there to celebrate the wedding a dear friend. My sister (Aunt Lindsay) and her family (Uncle John and Natalie) along with Mimsey and Gramps were also there. We rented a lovely house for the weekend (SOOOO much easier than a hotel when traveling with kids) and had a lot of fun at the wedding festivities and hanging out with each other at the house.

Natalie and Bea loved the rocking chairs on the deck... 

Especially when gramps rocked them. 

Both girls were very interested in this flower dog at a local shop. 

Four!

Elliot celebrated his 4th birthday with a party on September 10th. Per his request the party had a Superhero theme. I still can't believe my little man is 4! He tells me daily that he is a big boy now. Elliot continues to amaze us with his kindness, curiosity, creativity, and happy go lucky personality. He has developed quite the vocabulary at 4 and regular uses words like fantastic, similar, amazing, and specimen. He knows the names of most dinosaurs and loves learning about nature. One of our favorite activities is to take nature walks and collect specimens for our nature/bug boxes. Elliot has an incredible attention span for a 4 year old and is content sitting quietly and listening to books on CD. I picked up Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories at a Garage sale a few months ago and his aunt Lindsay gave him Frog and Toad and Winnie the Pooh for his birthday. He listens to at least one CD every day during quiet time.

Elliot's birthday party was a lot of fun. His buddies Gus and Conor were there with their parents and younger siblings. Family in attendance included Mimsey and Gramps, and Mommy's cousin David and his son and youngest daughter (Joey and Phia). It was a nice day and the kids had a blast playing in the yard. Elliot got lots of fun toys and all of the kids went home with super hero themed gift bags.

Elliot's gift from Mommy and Daddy was a bike with training wheels. Elliot has been enjoying riding ever since. Beatrice also loves the bike and wants to ride it just like her brother, helmet and all.