NC Hot Air Balloon Festival

After church on Sunday, we drove over to Statesville, NC to the annual hot air balloon festival. The sky was incredibly clear and blue, so the balloons looked beautiful as they ascended. The wind prevented all forty balloons to safely go up, but we were pleased with seeing the ones that did succeed in getting off the ground.

There were lots of other things to see and do while waiting for the ascension of the balloons, such as a children's area with inflatable jumping beds and slides, craft booths, old war airplanes, and lots and lots of food to eat!

JD jr enjoyed sitting in the helicopter and pretending to use the controllers. We bought a kite for him, and he laughed as he watched it fly overhead while JD Sr helped him hold the string.

It was a very fun and relaxing afternoon, and a great way to finish JD's vacation.

Asheboro, NC Zoo

On Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out the door to the zoo in Asheboro, NC. It was a gorgeous day, and because we went during a less popular time of year, there wasn't a crowd, so we got great views of the animals.

I don't have many pictures to post because I chose to videotape most of the trip.

JD had a wonderful time, and I think his favorite thing to see was the elephant! A lady walked up and stood right beside him while he was watching an elephant that was very close by, and he turned to her and squealed, "Elephant!" and pointed it out to her. Too funny!

JD was fascinated by the large snake in the reptile section of the zoo, but he didn't want to get too close to the glass and would nestle up against his daddy each time the snake slithered by.

We ate lunch and then called it a day. I gave JD a sucker for the ride home, but he passed out as soon as he got in the car and only got a taste of it before falling asleep with it still in his hand.

Goin' out dancin'!

On Friday night, we decided to take JD jr to a BBQ restaurant in a neighboring town. We chose this particular restaurant because they advertise as having bluegrass bands every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, as well as a dance floor. JD loves bluegrass music, and JD Sr and I have really grown to like it a lot also since we've been living in NC.

We dressed JD in his finest over-alls :^) and were on our way!

After we finished eating, I took JD to the dance floor and he started shaking his little hips to the music. There were adult men and women as well as some older children on the dance floor also, but JD was by far the youngest dancer out there.

After a couple of songs, the announcer picked up the microphone and declared JD jr the winner of the dance contest and brought him a prize! We were quite proud! He danced to about 5 more songs and then it was time to go.

We had a great time, and I only wish that I had gotten pictures of him dancing so that I could post some for you to see, but I was too busy getting it all on video!

By the way, that's a comb in JD's mouth, but I think he might have been hinting that he would like a harmonica for Christmas so that he can start his own bluegrass band! Ha Ha

A Rainy Friday Morning...

Friday morning was cold and rainy, and some friends from church called to invite us to go to the Children's Museum. JD Sr had a presentation to work on for a couple of hours, so we decided he could benefit from having the house to himself while JD jr and I went to the museum.

JD had a great time, as usual, exploring all of the interesting things that the museum has to offer. I even got him to milk the giant stuffed cow (see photo)! :^)

It was very funny to see him in the pretend grocery store, pushing his cart around and picking out different foods. The first item he selected was a banana, which didn't surprise me one bit!

JD continues to baffle JD Sr and me with his ever-growing vocabulary and his counting and recognition skills. He counts from 1 to 10 with no trouble at all, and then continues into the teens, although he hasn't quite learned the correct pronunciation of those numbers yet. He ends up saying, "twelve, nineteen, nineteen, nineteen, nineteen, and twenty!" He's got nineteen down pat, so he just uses it in place of all of the other teen numbers. Ha Ha! He has also almost completely learned all seven days of the week, and loves to say, "Saturday!" with great enthusiasm. He is obsessed with the mailman coming to deliver the mail each day, so every afternoon he goes to the front door and says, "Check it!" letting me know that he would like to go out and check the mail. On Sundays, I have to explain to him that the mailman doesn't come. The other day, we were practicing our days of the week and when we got to the word, Sunday, he said, "No mailman." I could NOT believe that he was then trying to explain to me that the mailman doesn't come on Sundays!!

The most recent word that he has picked up, from listening to his mama ramble on and on, is "actually." However, he pronounces it "actuallaly". :^)

JD Sr had 5 vacation days, which began on Thursday, so our trip to the museum Friday morning kicked things off for the other fun things we did over the weekend. I will post pictures from our other adventures soon!

Fall Festival

Last night, we went to the Fall Festival at our church and had a great time! JD initially got very upset when we first arrived because he was convinced that I was dropping him off. His separation anxiety is at an all time high right now.

He immediately started to explore the gym when he saw all of the fun activities, but as soon as he started noticing all of the people wearing costumes, he starting crying hysterically and ran back to my side very quickly. I had to spend about 5 minutes explaining to him that I wasn't leaving him there, and once he realized that I was staying, he relaxed and really started to enjoy himself.

He took a ride on the tricycles, which surprised me because that was the first time he had ever ridden one before, and he hopped right on as if he was an old pro! His feet just barely reached the pedals, but if he had had better contact, he would have been a pedaling maniac. He also enjoyed the fishing game as well as digging through the leaves to find a prize.

We returned home, he had a bath, was in the bed by 7:45pm, and slept until 8:30 this morning!

I'm HUNGRY!

JD has definitely figured out how to let me know what he wants and when he wants it! Every morning when I get him out of bed, one of the first things he says to me is, "Eat!"

This morning, we went downstairs to the kitchen, and I apparently wasn't moving fast enough for him, so, fuzzy red slippers and all, he tried to help himself. He began by pulling on the refrigerator door to hopefully get some milk. I had the camera nearby, and when I saw what he was attempting to do, I decided that these would be funny moments to capture.

Then he spotted the box of cereal bars on the counter, and started pointing to them and saying, "C-bar" (cereal bar in his language). I handed a cereal bar to him, and he immediately began trying to tear the wrapper open, which he was unable to do. Upon realizing this, he handed it back to me and said, "Open?" with a voice as sweet as syrup. I guess he realized he's not quite ready to handle his own breakfast yet afterall!

Oh my!

This afternoon, I was folding laundry in our bedroom, and JD was playing contentedly in his own room. After a while, I heard him giggling and saying, "Jump! Jump!" I quietly tiptoed to his door, and when I peeked into his room, I saw him standing on top of his Leap Frog activity table trying to convince himself to jump off!

Without him seeing me, I snuck back to my room to get the camera, hence the pictures from this post.

He, of course, saw me when I returned with the camera, and he then said, "Hand?" and reached for my hand. He had decided that jumping without the assistance of his Mama was probably not the best idea! Thank goodness!

A visit to the pumpkin patch!

JD jr and I ventured out to a nearby pumpkin patch yesterday to meet some friends from church. JD was running around full-speed, so I definitely got my exercise as I was staying two steps behind him the entire time. This particular pumpkin patch is at a farmhouse that sits on a major road here in Winston-Salem, so it made me a little nervous that there was not a fence to separate the busy road from the yard in which all of the children were running around.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I must say that when JD Sr. arrived home from work yesterday afternoon, I met him at the door and asked him if we could please live on a farm! Even though the pumpkin patch is technically in the middle of town, the old white farmhouse with the pumpkins and apples and land and trees just made me feel like I had been transported back to such a serene and middle-of-nowhere location.

We will be attending the Fall Festival at our church this coming Wednesday evening, so I will be sure to post some pictures from that event.

In case I haven't already said this about one hundred times already...I LOVE autumn! :^)

Just a Variety...

Just thought I would post a few recent pics of all 3 of us, as some of you whom we don't get to see too often have requested. Of course, I had to throw in a handful of JD jr all by himself, just because I can't help myself! What can I say? I am one proud Mama!

I hope that everyone is doing great and is gearing up for the holiday season that is quickly approaching!

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz

Here are some pictures of JD jr's Halloween costume for this year. JD Sr gave specific instructions that his costume is not to be referred to as a "Bee" costume, but rather as a "Yellow Jackets" costume!

I had a great time taking these pictures, as he thought we were playing some sort of game where I dress him in a strange outfit and chase him all over the yard with the camera. He was running full speed and cackling, which was hysterically funny trying to keep up with this fuzzy little munchkin -- stinger, wings, and all!

Yellow Jacket, Bumblebee, anything you call it...he is truly a delight!