BFFs

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we had the extreme pleasure of a visit from my college pal, Nicole, her hubs, Vinny, and their super cute kiddos, Olive and Griffin.  Olive and Griffin are twins and they were born 5 days after Arlo.  We jump at the chance to get together with them since they live in D.C. now and just come down for visits every now and again (I can't even imagine traveling with TWO babies!). 

While we anticipated their arrival, mommy attempted an impromptu photo shoot in this pile of leaves in our front yard.  I ended up with a baby with leaves in his mouth and a wet butt.  Oh, well. 

  

So then we went inside to wait for our friends. 

 Oh, how we love a good reunion!

 Appropriate that they chose that particular baby toy to play with, since last time they came over (at Easter), I snapped this picture of Griffin:

 And this one of the boys...quite a bit less mobile then than now!

Arlo got some quality time in with Olive, too. 

 

 And some quality time trying to climb into/onto his Lego table. 

I am thankful for many things, but time with friends, old and new, is certainly one of them!  It is the coolest thing when old friends have babies who then become friends themselves.  :)

-Katie

Basketballer

We finally got Arlo's birthday present from mom and dad put together - his college fund!  And by college fund, I mean this basketball goal to help him hone his skills for that big scholarship.  ;) 

He's perfected the slam dunk.

 

We had to raise the rim already to give him a little bit of a challenge.

"No problem, Mama."

He is in his clapping phase - absolutely EVERYTHING deserves a clap!  Here, he is applauding himself for the 360-degree-one-handed-dunk I *just* missed with the camera.  

 

Do you want to see all the slam-dunking and clapping in action?  Here you go:

 

But really, he's pretty into it and pretty good at it, too!  We, of course, applaud the "good try" in addition to the makes.  For now.  ;)

-Katie

Easily entertained!

Blowing Rock

I have very fond childhood memories of going to downtown Blowing Rock during family vacations to the mountains.  We would walk around, pop into the different shops, get ice cream and apple cider, and visit the playground.  I hope Arlo enjoys making those same memories! 

Arlo "at the helm".

The playground has come a long way since my childhood. They have several sections now for older and younger kids.  TONS of swings, several slides, basketball and tennis courts, climbing structures, and more!  All in the midst of quaint (albeit touristy) little downtown Blowing Rock! 

After the playground, we popped in to Kojak's Coffeehouse for some delicious hot apple cider.  (Just water for the munchkin, though.)

Yum!

After some walking around town, we had to stop at Kilwin's for some delicious fudge (toasted coconut and chocolate - to die for!) and some ice cream.  Arlo sampled the peach yogurt.

Peachy! 

-Katie

Extreme kitchen makeover

The kitchen in Linville recently underwent a major facelift.  Those of you who've been...do you remember what it looked like before?  Now check this out!  Gorgeous Hickory cabinets, beautiful granite countertops, and the wall between the kitchen and family room was removed to open things up a ton!  It is beautiful and functional and awesome!

Everyone had a job helping to get things cleaned up and put back together.  Arlo's job was putting the drinks in the cabinet.

And then taking them back out.

And putting them back in.

And taking them back out.

The dogs' job was to lay around. 

Didn't they do great!?  :)

-Katie

High-altitude swinging

Last weekend, we snuck up to Linville for an impromptu 3-day weekend getaway. It was pretty chilly up there (though you'd never know it since my husband is wearing shorts in all of these pictures), but we managed to get out to the playground for a bit! 

Getting excited...

...whoa, Dad, that's pretty high...

...yippeeeeeeee!!!

This little boy LOVES to swing. 

Especially with Grandeda cheering him on!

This picture is from our last trip to Linville back in August:

Back at the climbing wall in November for another round.

Still enthralled.

That looks like a long way up!

Someday I'll make it up there!

-Katie

Giddy up

A couple weeks ago, Arlo and I met up with Caroline and Gigi at Spence's Farm in Chapel Hill.  Do you know this place?  I'd heard of it but never been.  It is a hidden gem of a place out by Allen and Son's BBQ on old 86.  They have chickens, roosters, horses, free-range bunnies, a sweet kitty cat, gardens, swingsets, and more.  What fun!  I didn't take too many photos since I was trying to make sure Arlo didn't crawl through any type of animal poop (or eat it) so I stole most of these from Caroline.

Bring on the horses, I'm ready!

Our sweet lil' cowpokes.

Dangit, I can't stand how cute they are just chillin' on the gate.  Neither was frightened by the horses at all!  

"Goggies!"

We'll definitely be heading back to the farm sometime soon.  What a blast!

-Katie