Campfire

After Pumpkin Fest and dinner we had a campfire in the backyard and roasted marshmallows. This was Emmett's first campfire but not Eli's. He went camping last year, though he does not remember it. Eli had a blast and Emmett was mesmerized by the flames and trying to stay warm :-)

Emmett and Grandpa Vati.

Dada getting ready for a roasted marshmallow.

Doc playing with a marshmallow.

Eli roasting his own marshmallow.

I don't like eating marshmallows because
they are messy... Eli didn't seem to mind!

Mama, her boys and Grandpa Vati.

Grandma Mutti helping Eli roast another one.

It was a fun filled day and it knocked out the two little ones!
We had to take a pic of Eli sleeping with CG between his legs.

Pumpkin Fest

The first weekend in November we discovered the Statesville Pumpkin Fest!! It was very cold and windy but we had a great time. Andrea's parents also came up that day and night as well.

Eli Pumpkin Bowling.

Eli painting a pumpkin.

It was pretty good!

Eli golfing.

If you look at this one closely you can see the huge smile on his face!

Emmett enjoying the stroller ride.

Eli munchin' on some excellent Kettle Corn!

Grandma Mutti and Grandpa Vati eating some ribbon fries.

Eli enjoying Dada's corn dog.

Hillbilly soda in a tin can :-)

Mama and Emmett!

Emmett's First Solid Food

On 11/3 Emmett started solid food, Rice Cereal. He is now up to 7 different foods and is a pretty good eater! Eli however is in a poor eating stage, at least we hope its a stage.

Eli pointing out the cereal to Mama and Emmett.

First bite!

Open Wide.

Finger sucking helps it go down.

Oh... a spoon!

Halloween

For Halloween we went to the neighborhood where a bunch of our small group families live and ate dinner and then went Trick-or-Treating!! It was a blast. There were a bunch of cute costumes. Eli was a hand me down Bumble Bee and Emmett was a hand me down Pumpkin :-) Andrea and I re-used our flip-flops... hopefully they won't make the move :-)

Eli, Emmett, and Dada

David and a flower.

Emmett out Trick-or-Treating.

Flip Flop and a Bumble Bee.

Jim and a cow.

Very cool house that Eli actually went up to :-)

Katie and a fairy.

The Gwinns

Eli getting to eat some of the spoils.
You can also see his stinger in this pic.

Eli taking care of Emmett

This is a fun video of Eli talking to Emmett and then taking care of him. Eli loves his brother and they are starting to interact more and more, I think we are going to have our hands full when they are both running around!!

Bubbles

The drool is back on and the raspberries are flying at Camp Gwinn!!

Look at the drool soaked into his shirt and the bubbles on his face.

A few bubbles...

Tummy Time

Tummy time is something we are not great about doing, mainly because neither of our boys really like it, but Andrea had to start Tummy Time boot camp in preparation for some pictures we wanted to take :-)

A new toy was purchased in the hopes that
Emmett would like being on his tummy better.

As you can see in the background, a lot of times
Eli joins in on Tummy Time. He even
got a pillow like Emmett!

Emmett's Piggy Bank

Grandma Mutti likes to buy all of her grand kids a piggy bank and here Emmett got his!

Mama and Emmett opening a box....

OOH what is it?!?!

Emmett is shocked!

Small Group Bible Study

Our small group is one of the highlights of our week. We have enjoyed all of the small groups we have been in and the one at CCCM has been no different!! Our small group turned into a LARGE group, the number of children alone was more than the number of adults in all of the other groups we have been in :-) These pics are from our final get together, unfortunately I had to work so I was not there (three other families were not there either).



Small group is still one of the week's highlights, it is just a medium group now :-)

Park Benefits

One of the benefits of being a Park Ranger is that sometimes another Ranger calls you and tells you an Eastern-screech owl is roosting over his porch!! It was awesome, I was able to stand right below it and get some good pics.

If you look closely you can see two nails
of its right talon hanging over the edge of the board.


Close up, you can even see the nostrils.

Balloon Fest

Two days after our hiking trip we ventured to Balloon Fest in Statesville. We went spur of the moment because earlier in the day we found out that Friday was free, never pass up free!!! Other than the ridiculous traffic to get there it was a great time. I don't remember seeing a hot air balloon up close since childhood nor had Andrea. As usual Eli took a little while to warm up to them but once he did he had a blast. I think Emmett was indifferent :-)

The first balloons getting inflated.

Almost ready for take off.

The other side of the field.

Wow!! Look at that!

"A lot of 'em"

Lots of balloons!

Lots of balloons in the air. We have one picture of 26
in the air but this one was framed much better.

Emmett taking it in.

Eli and Mama.