Hil and Russ Visit

A few days after the State Fair Hilary and Russ came to our house for two nights and we had a blast. We played Eucker (cards), talked for hours, hiked, paddled, played with the boys, laughed and even cried a little. It was such a great couple of days!!

We paddled across Lake Tillery and up the Uwharrie River.

It was an amazing and calm day. This is the view upstream on the Uwharrie.

We went up a cute little stream and ended up at some dam ruins and decided to explore and found a great snack spot!!!

Russ and my shadow from on top of the dam on the pool below.

Andrea, Hil and the boys eating snack on the dam.

Eli loves to paddle and be outside!!!

Me and Russ.

The view down the small creek from on top of the dam.

While eating one of the boats got loose and headed down stream. Russ and I hurried off to save it. Russ made the save of the day!!

Russ and Hilary headed back.

Russ reading to the boys!

I mentioned we hiked too, well there are no hiking pictures but the hike is well remembered.... We hiked from our house to the top of Morrow Mountain. We made the hike but lets just say it took our best effort, especially with the boys in the hiking backpacks; but like all adventures it was so much fun!!!!!

Playing in the Kitchen

This is a video that Mama took while in Stealth Mode.... The boys were playing in their kitchen playing make believe. They both love to make food and bring food to other people. Be sure to hear Eli's crazy rhyme at the end of the video....

State Fair 2011

This year we hit up the State Fair and were lucky enough to be able to go with Hilary and Russ!! It started off rough with an early morning and getting the car stuck in the very muddy parking lot (we got it out easily at the end of the day!) but it ended up being a wonderful time!! The boys had a blast and were very good all day. We also loved spending some more time with Hilary and Russ.

Emmett and I with the chicks and ducklings.

Russ and Emmett looking at animals.

Eli at the PBS tent with Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

Playing with toys at the PBS tent... see the flying pig?


Emmett giving it a go.

Two words.... FRIED OREOS!!!!!

Emmett and I shared a foot long corn dog. Honestly I was dissapointed, it was more doughy, like a funnel cake, and less like cornbread...

There were some unusual vegetables too ;-)

Mama and Emmett milking a cow!!!!! See the stream?

Hil, Russ and Emmett at the pig races.

Emmett and Mama having a good time!

Okay, so we got fried Oreos twice...... If you look closely at this pic Andrea is covered in powered sugar on the right side. Lesson learned, don't stand down wind of Hil while she eats a fried Oreo :-)

Can I say enough about FRIED OREOS???

Towards the end of the day we got a little silly!

Cutest fishy ever!

Love bugs!

A random big Adirondack chair with Eli, Russ and Hilary.

Me and Wifey

Hilary and Russ

Naughty Monkey...

I hate to put up this pic but it was too cute to pass up. This is a pic of Eli in time-out straight from the bathtub wearing only his monkey towel.

Black Walnuts

We have some beautiful Black Walnut trees in our yard and they dropped a bunch of nuts. While at the Eno I thought about looking into collecting walnuts but never did, however having this many nuts in our yard inspired me to do some research... So, we collected and dried a bunch of Black Walnuts. It was a lot of work, but I think it was fun! These pics are from our first experiment, after this we filled wheelbarrows.....

Rolling off the outer hulls...

Eli and I collecting fallen nuts.

Eli used his dump truck to help.

Checking out the hulled walnuts, ready to be washed and dried.

A picture of the fallen nuts the
day after we collected the first batch....

Critters!!!

Eli gets "High 5" magazine and loves it!!! As soon as he gets a new one he reads it cover to cover many, many times!! Each magazine has a recipe section and this month Mama and Eli made "Critters". They are dinner rolls rolled in cinnamon and sugar with chocolate chip eyes, yum!

Cute Sleeper

A cute picture of Emmett sleeping in his crib in early October.

Emmett Talking

This video is from mid October, it showcases Emmett and his animal noises and talking skills. It is amazing how much his vocabulary and pronunciation have grown in the last 2.5 months!!!

Yet another neighbor...

Andrea had fun with another visitor, this time in the back yard. While letting Doc out Andrea was surprised to see grey fur flying in the air over his head after he darted into the yard. When she came out she saw an Opossum was on the ground not moving. Doc investigated and eventually Andrea got him back in the house. Andrea watched the Opossum play dead for quite some time then he popped his head up and looked around to see if the coast was clear. He then began looking for a way out, but then Doc got back out and this time the Opossum went for fearsome instead of playing dead!! Andrea enjoyed the whole experience, I wish I could have seen it!!

The Opossum totally played dead!!
Doc was all around and it never moved!!

I gotta get outta here!!!

Its blurry but you can see the ferocity of his look!!

Lookin' Tough

The boys love to play in our room (as much as we don't like them to) and this time Emmett came out with something pretty good!

Emmett in his new outfit.

Eli trying it on and Emmett not so happy about it...
sharing is always interesting with both boys!!

Emmett's First Hair Cut

On October 5, Emmett got his first haircut! Andrea cuts both Eli and Emmett's hair and it is done best in front of the TV. We don't have any good immediate "after" pics but when he has freshly cut hair he looks so big.... too big for comfort!

Shagster set up in front of Sesame Street.

Showcasing the length.

Hanging over the ears.

First cut!!!!

2011 Camp In

Our annual camping trip with Andrea's family was once again a "Camp-In" because we had a baby under one, Paige. Our big event for this weekend was a trip to the Museum of Life and Science. Since we (The Gwinns) had been there multiple times recently we intentionally saved a few things for this outing.

Some Sheep in the farm.

Claire checking out the pigs, they all were pointing out the poop!

Mama and Emmster

One of the things we saved was the train....
we all got to ride and it was a lot of fun!!

Emmett is excited to go!!

The rest of the gang on the train, with Paige under the blanket.

The engine.

We also saved the Dinosaur Trail for this visit, it was the highlight!!

Eli really enjoyed the Dinosaur Trail!

Halfway through the trail there is a fossil digging pit.

Wyatt examining his find.

Some of the other Dinosaurs.

The Stygimoloch, one of Eli's favorite Dinosaurs, he recognized them immediately.

The kids hurrying off to the next Dinosaur.

The museum also has animal habitats... Black Bears!!

Red Wolves!!

Lemurs!!

Alison and her load!

Eli and Emmett playing with sail boats.

Of course we had a fire and s'mores one night.

The kids get bigger and bigger each year.

Eli enjoying the headlamp and s'more.

Mama and Emmett.

Reading to the kids for night night time....
again having all three in one room did not work.