Fall pictures

 

 The boys at Wrightsville Beach Park on a nice afternoon last week.

 

Our little snacker.  You can tell he's the youngest (as in....spoiled!), as his eating habits are not nearly as good as his big brothers!

 Toilet paper pumpkins

 Science experiment to watch the "s" on the skittle float to the top of the water....you learn something new every day ; )

  Yesterday I went to Filson's classroom to hang out during their Fall Party.  They had a great time & loaded up on lots of sugar : )

 

The little guys dressed up this morning for Mom's Morning Out.

Trick or Treat Under the Sea

 We trick or treated at the Fort Fisher Aquarium Wednesday night.  The boys love getting to see the animals, decorations, watching the magic show, and most of all, filling their bags up with candy...of course : )

Elmo & 2 Spidermen

 Not too scared of the spooky hands sticking up out of the water tank

 Up close with the crocodiles

 Watching the little fish swim around the pumpkin

 The treats come from local businesses who decorate booths & dress up for the event.

 Up close with the mummy diver.

 Don't mess with Elmo when he's busy with a sucker!

 Spidermen doing the cake walk.

Elmo fishing for treasures.

Oyster Roast

 We spent Friday cleaning up & getting things ready for Saturday's oyster roast.  John brought home pumpkins for the boys & they had fun carving them that evening.

Love that little baby face ; )

 Oyster season opened Monday, so Saturday night we steamed up 4 bushels for our annual party.  This is our friend's adorable little guy, Garrett, rocking out with the band.  We had amazing weather & lots of fun with our friends & neighbors. 

 Possum Creek w/Big Al Hall.....so good!!!

 You don't see many of them in the picture, as they were all off running wild, but we had close to 50 kids here.  When we first started having these, I think we had about 3 kids at them, so we definitely have multiplied in the past few years!  Our boys love it, they spend all night running hard until they finally just crash out for a good night's sleep.  Nobody stirred at our house til after 7am, and that definitely NEVER happens here!

 Today was a pajama day at our house : )  Worked out well since Ian & Filson took almost 4 hr naps this afternoon!

 John worked hard this weekend, starting off by laying sod & putting in a small bed at the side entrance to our house.  The boys are disappointed that their digging spot is gone, but I absolutely love that we now have grass here!!

 And for all of you who have been to our house, you know that this car port usually resembles the home of Sanford & Son ; ), so I had to post this to show how it looks all cleaned up.  It seems so spacious!

 Grant loved all his alone time with his Dad while his brothers were snoozing.

Our littlest monster

Future Firefighters

 Ian got hit hard with a bug early last week, and spent 3 days lying around feeling bad. 

His little brother was missing his playmate & cuddled up with him: )

 Poor little guy couldn't even stay awake in the doctor's office.

  

Grant found ways to entertain himself!

 By the end of the week we were all back on track & the boys were out "helping" John with the tree-house addition. 

 Ian with his tool belt & measuring tape in hand.

 Finding time for some fun on the slide along with all the hard work.

 I'm still not sure what the plans are for this, and it's probably better that way.  Looks to me like we're increasing our chances of making runs to the ER for broken bones!

 Yesterday afternoon we met some friends to tour the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department. 

Always exciting for little boys!

 Fireman Boo

 Fireman Filson

 Hanging with a real Fireman

 The whole crew

I love how Grant looks really interested in what the Fireman is explaining. He never stands that still for me ; )

And here's our little Kindergartner.  He's having so much fun at school!

NYC

 

Erin, Katie, Brittany, Kelly

I flew to NYC last Friday & met my college roommate, Kelly, for a fun weekend.  Kelly & Lee live in St. Louis & have 4yr old & 2yr old daughters, so between the distance & the 5 little kids between us, it has been a very long time since we've seen each other and been able to have a real conversation ; ) It was my first time in the city & we had so much fun wandering around the city, catching up & not having a schedule. 

We began by meeting my cousin, Andee, who took us out for a very nice lunch.  I wish I would have thought to get a picture with her, we have hardly seen each other in the past 10 years, and it was so nice to get to catch up.

Lee's cousin, Katie, also met us for lunch & was our own personal tour guide for the weekend.  She moved to the city 10 yrs ago from Iowa & it was a lot of fun to see her apartment & all her favorite spots & to never have to look at a map!

Kelly & I visited the MOMA that afternoon & then met Katie, BJ & Erin for dinner & a Broadway show that night.  BJ is a very good family friend that grew up down the street from us.  He & Erin moved from Iowa this summer for his job with Ernst & Young.  It was great to see them & to hear all about their new life in the city.

 A Saturday morning stop at the Lego store in Rockefeller Center for souvenirs for the boys.  This was after the most touristy stop of the weekend - hanging outside NBC studios while they taped the Today show!  All the regular hosts were on assignment & the celebrity guest was lame,  so it was a pretty uneventful morning to be there, but John did see me on tv looking like a tourist while they panned the audience that morning.

 

 In the East Village after a delicious lunch at Catch de Fish.  

Kelly & I spent the morning walking down 5th Ave next to Central Park, peeked inside the Guggenheim & then back down Madison Avenue checking out the shops.  We then headed over to meet up with Katie & spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around neighborhoods.

 Washington Square Park

Kelly, Katie & I at Washington Square Park

 

 After all the walking, we worked up an appetite for dessert & drinks at this adorable cafe.

 BJ & Erin met us back out Saturday for a night out in Tribeca.

A shot of the Empire State building with the Macy's on 34th St to the left.

 On Sunday, we took our tired feet & hopped on a sight-seeing bus & covered almost every neighborhood in the city.  It was a great way to see all the "must see" sights & to sit back & relax after a fun couple of days!

 Empire State Building

 One World Trade Center under construction

 Pretty blue skies with the Statue of Liberty across the water.

 

 Back home, Filson was excited to put together his Lego version of the Empire State Building.

 

Biker Boo 

Wednesday afternoon we went to a birthday party where you bring your own bike/scooter to ride around on the roller skating rink.  They all loved it & were worn out by bedtime!

























Doing the Hokey Pokey

Little Grant showing his moves

 The boys were out climbing trees yesterday afternoon.  Wonder where they learn that from?!?