Mike's Farm with Moses and Daddy

Moses went on his first field trip Friday - a journey to Mike's Farm. I went along and we had fun going on a hay ride and picking out a pumpkin. When a singing cowboy walked passed us before leading the kids in some songs Moses tugged on my arm and said, "Dad, there's Tim McGraw." Needless to say we had a good time - here are some pics.

Listening to Cowboy Earl play some Johnny Cash

Yeah, this is my bus.

Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch!

Selecting the Perfect Pumpkin

Little Princesses

Cousin Zion came over to play yesterday and these two girls played so nicely together. They went upstairs to Sarah's room and were quiet for a LONG time. When they finally came down they were all dolled up and very pleased with themselves. Here are a few pictures of the little princesses!

The last picture is my favorite. I love the sound of children's laughter. And for those of you who know Sarah...she has got quite the laugh! Another side note: I later found out that another reason it was so quiet up there was that they decided to powder their babies and various other things in the room like books, her bed, stuffed animals, backpacks, you name it. Needless to say there was baby powder everywhere!

Our Little Pumpkin

Yesterday we found out that we are having....a GIRL! We are very excited because that was what we were all hoping for! When Moses found out he started screaming for joy and jumping up and down! Sarah was not too surprised. She has already been telling me for months now that she was going to have a little sister. Every time we went shopping she would find the baby clothes and pick something pink out for "the baby". Silas just smiled and pointed to his belly and said "baby". He's still not sure what this is all about. Anyways...we are excited and can't wait to meet her in 5 more months!

This picture is a bit cheesy but last night we read a book about a little boy whose mommy had a baby and it was a girl. It sparked a lot of interesting questions and discussion with the kids! Fun times!

Early Morning Sunrise

One morning last weekend Sarah & Moses were up at the crack of dawn (literally) so Mark let me & Silas sleep in and took the two early risers down to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Can you guess which one of these two is the morning person?

Happy 30th Birthday Mommy!

I celebrated my 30th birthday on Thursday. It felt like a milestone and I was blessed to spend it with my kids and husband. Mark, Sarah & Silas and I hung out in the morning and drove to Beaufort, a town on the water, to look at boats and walk around. Mark & I then got to go on a date night in the evening. We ate out for dinner, went to the movies and ended the night with a game of bowling at MacDaddy's! :) It was a fun evening and a good birthday!

The 30 year old & almost 19 weeks pregnant!

Silas & Sarah watching the boats at Beaufort. "Boat" is Silas's new favorite word!

Grandma and Grandpa's Fall Break

This past weekend my parents and sisters came to visit. It was great to see them again and we had a good time enjoying beautiful fall weather and touring the coast. We went on a walk in the Croatan Forest, swam in the ocean, and took a ferry ride to Cape Lookout National Seashore. We also ate at RuckerJohn's and just enjoyed each others company. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from our time together.

The lighthouse at Cape Lookout

We had a great time collecting shells on the island

Grandma and Sarah on the ferry to Cape Lookout

A quick story about our ferry ride: Sarah was curious all day before we got there what the ferry was going to be like. Later that night as I was tucking her into bed she turned to me and said, "Mom, we never saw the ferry". "Yes, we did" I said, "that was the boat we rode on". "Oh, I thought the man was the fairy". It was only then I realized she was looking for a fairy princess and she was very surprised to find a down east southern speaking boat captain instead!

Aunt Liz and Moses collecting hermit crabs


Our very own "Carolina Princess"

Silas hamming it up!


Grandma & Grandpa and the kids

I love my grandma!


Sisters

Downeast Journey

With Moses in school and Heather, Sarah and Silas heading for the library I had a few hours to myself today so I filled up my tank and went for a ride. I headed along the coast through Morehead City and Beaufort to Harkers Island. It was an awesome ride- perfect weather- no traffic. I hit a local Downeast spot for some Fried Chicken and spent some time relaxing under a shade tree and talking to a local about his '46 Harley before taking some pictures and heading back to Emerald Isle. It was a great day.

Surrounded by water in the heart of Cape Lookout National Park

The End of the Road.

Perfect Storm

Last night we were enjoying a beautiful sunset on the beach and having fun playing with the kids when a storm came up on us very quickly. This image captures the unique clouds and colors that quickly swept over the sky and sent us pedaling for home. We managed to avoid the lightening and Moses set a new speed record on the bike ride home.

New Season

I love the change in seasons. As we start off a new month a few days into Autumn I wanted to share some images I captured from a field in Cape Carteret this morning.

Silas, Sarah and Daddy

With Mommy on her way to a Dr. appointment yesterday Sarah, Silas and I decided to walk to the beach. We found some cool shells and had a great time. Along the way we met an Amish woman on the beach who was visiting Emerald Isle from Ohio-we had a good time talking to her and later she brought some friends into RuckerJohns for dinner.

Sarah was also thrilled to see a woman riding her horse along the ocean. We had fun comparing our footprints with the horses. Besides making a new friend we had some fun taking pictures and watching the Pelicans and Sea Gulls fly. Here is a taste of our morning.

I love playing with my sister.

I'm right here!

Time for something new - I'm outta here.

Silas proudly showing off his latest find - the home of sand crab.

Sarah proudly displaying her favorite shells from the morning along with a "butterfly flower" that she picked for me.