State Fair & Punkin Pickin

The last three weeks of October have been fun-filled. For two of the weekends we got to visit with Victoria's family, and this weekend has brought Halloween festivities. Since we're behind on blogging, I'll just catch you up on the first weekend for now.

Jim and Sally came to visit two weekends ago en route to Charleston, SC and then on to Orlando. Normally, Victoria and I are lucky to have one activity planned for a weekend with family. That weekend we had three: parade of homes, NC State Fair, and a trip to a local pumpkin patch.

Here's Grammy Sally carrying Elaina around the State Fair on Saturday.

The weather was perfect for walking around outside with thousands of our closest friends. We enjoyed a funnel cake but refrained from trying the latest innovations in fair foods (e.g., fried butter, chocolate-covered bacon, etc.). Jim entered a number of drawings trying to win a lawn mower and a car and even entered a shooting competition to try and win a frozen turkey.

One of the highlights of the fair was getting to pose with a local celebrity. Barrelmonster has made national headlines this past semester thanks to an NC State student with a creative understanding of which laws don't apply to him.


On Sunday, we went to the early service at church (very unlike us) and then headed 45 minutes Northeast to Hillridge Farms to take a hay ride and pick out our pumpkins.




More Fall fun to come soon!

our little coyote

We finally made time to take Elaina's 11 month pictures. We thought it was appropriate to take her picture on the floors she helped us install last weekend. She is getting so big! She now says "hi", "I love you", and "uh-oh". My parents were visiting us this weekend, and my dad always manages to gain control of the tv remote and turn it to the hunting channel. (No, I didn't know such a channel existed either.) At one point, the hunters were hunting coyote and making a high pitched noise to call the coyote. Next thing we knew, Elaina was making a high pitched noise that sounded exactly like the coyote call. I think this was a proud moment for my dad.

Eleven Months

That's right! We're one month away from Elaina's first birthday. That is SO hard to believe! She is getting so big. She is starting to pull up and let go with both hands- standing completely on her own! She is now scaling steps like a pro. She has also started imitating us: holding a cell phone up to her ear, pulling Matt's glasses off and holding them up to her face, laying our socks on her feet, putting headphone ear buds in her ears, etc. This weekend we installed Pergo floors in our entry, and she would take her toys and bang them on the floor as we were pounding the floor into place. I think she enjoyed testing the floor's durability.

No pictures this time, but I hope to post some soon! Happy Fall!