My parents and grandma were passing through near Charlotte visiting relatives and swung by our house one Sunday afternoon. It was a very short visit, but better than none! We took a few pictures since we don't often have the chance.
Four generations!
It rained so much this fall that we didn't take advantage of many fall festivals like we normally do. We had a beautiful weekend in September and decided to visit the pumpkin patch. Everywhere was muddy, so Mick and I were wishing we had galoshes like Em!
This is the place we go every year, and they keep adding more stuff for kids! Em enjoyed climbing on a fire truck and dressing like a firefighter.
She took her time picking out a few perfect pumpkins.
These are a few fun shots of Em's personality. I was doing a little work one weekend and Em was fascinated with my laptop. She wanted to have a turn at typing, so she went to town! By the way, the crow in the cage beside her is Squawky, the black crow we found at Target and needed to add to our Halloween decor!
She was invited to a friend's birthday party at a place called Sky Zone, which is essentially a big trampoline park. There was also an arcade, so she talked Daddy into a few video games. Look at that little smile!
I love that Em takes an interest in almost anything I do, whether it's cooking, crafting, reading, or even cleaning. It can make it a bit more challenging to get things accomplished, but it makes it more fun for sure.
I pulled out my sewing machine to start on Em's Halloween costume, and she was fascinated in all of the different stitches she could do. I have plenty of scrap fabric for her to use for practice.
Much earlier this year, we saw that Beauty and the Beast (the Disney version) live was coming to Charlotte, so we bought tickets and Em and I had a girls' Sunday! We took the train to uptown and had lunch before walking to the theater. It was a great show; Em continues to love every live production we go to!
Also in October, Em's class had a special project they had to complete. They went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and everyone took home a small pumpkin that they had to keep for a week, take pictures of it doing things, and make a journal. The Friday night she brought "Pumpkin Patch" home, she was working! Bath in the kitchen sink, pillow and blanket on the couch to snuggle,
and undeniably the sweetest and most responsible babysitters!
We really like the class that shes in, and both of her teachers seem terrific. We had our first parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Cole and heard a lot of good things about Em. Her beginning of year assessments were great--all of her test scores were above average and we have a goal of increasing them throughout this year.
The room mom in Em's class does a good job of trying to keep everyone coordinated, and she created a sign up for parents to volunteer for a "duty free lunch," where two parents go to lunch with the class and the teachers have a little while to themselves.
The first time I went in, I saw this outside of her classroom door. Em had told us she was the Math All Star, but then asked "how can I be good at something I don't even like?" Funny girl!
Silly girl at the lunch table with a couple of her friends.
In mid-October, we took a quick trip to Hunting Island, SC to meet up with Angela Shea, the photographer who has done photos of us since Em was 4 months old. It was a quick trip, but a nice little break from our day to day.
