Addie Kate's First Trip to the Fair

Last Friday night, Addie got her first taste (literally - Fiske French Fries!) of the SC State Fair. I was quite hesitant to take her on a Friday night, but there were no catastrophes, and she did great! Addie Kate's grandparents, Maw Maw and Grandaddy Chuck, joined us there, and I think they had fun too!

Addie enjoyed meeting some of the animals (she dearly loves animals - who she gets that from I don't know - but these animals didn't do much, so she wasn't very interested - she likes animals that move around and make a lot of noise!) and got to pet a rabbit that was bigger than she was. (Her first experience with a real rabbit was when she was about 6 months old and was getting her Easter portrait taken - she grabbed that poor sweet bunny's ears and held on for dear life! At the fair she really wasn't wild about touching it at all - possibly because it was so big!)

We then had something to eat - Addie Kate had some kind of baby food that we had left in the pantry, which she was not wild about, and the rest of us had Fiske French Fries and corn dogs.... mmmmm! (My entire reason for going to the fair - nothing else gets me there!) Tommy did give Addie some vinegar fries, which she enjoyed for a little while - cracked us up! We then went into one of the buildings, where we let Addie Kate walk around a little bit, which she was quite happy to be doing. She just doesn't like being confined to the stroller that much, and who can blame her? Chuck and I were on a mission to find the fried corn on the cob, so in that search we walked down the midway and Addie enjoyed some of it - she enjoyed looking at the lights, but by this time she was tired and getting cranky! (By the way, we never found the fried corn!)

Our next stop was the carousel. Tommy's mom and I took her on it, and she enjoyed about half of it! She'd get happy, then cry, then was laughing, then would fuss... I think she was just beyond tired. While we were waiting in line for the carousel, Addie had her first taste of a cinnamon-sugar doughnut - she liked it but wasn't wild about it, which surprises me completely! Lastly, Tommy and Chuck went on one last search for the fried corn while Janice and I took Addie Kate into another building. She loved this as we let her walk the whole time, then I climbed up on a huge tractor with her, of which she proceeded to "drive!"

All in all, we name the trip a success and enjoyed ourselves! Next year will be completely different, and mom will probably have to take a valium to endure it! Below are some pictures of our fun night!

Addie Kate and her grandparents outside the carousel

Addie on the carousel:



Addie and Mommy on the tractor:

Addie Kate and Daddy

Addie Kate checking out one of the animals:

Addie and Mommy:

Addie almost petting the huge rabbit (it was a Flemish Giant!):

Addie and Granddaddy Chuck playing one of the games:

(I was hoping for the Curious George!)
Addie walking around in the first building:

Tasting the doughnut:

Daddy and his girl outside the sea lion exhibit:

Enjoying the lights:

Pumpkin Patch

It was a blast taking Addie Kate to the pumpkin patch this year. I love fall and all things orange, and I've always wanted to do the pumpkin patch thing. Now that I'm a mommy, I get to every year!

I had looked around up here for some patches. There was the annual Pumpkintown Pumpkin Festival, but we didn't go. I don't think we could quite get past what we used to do at Pumpkintown each year in college (Gamma Phi Moonshine Date Party!), to take our little girl there! Maybe next year. I couldn't find any others, so as luck would have it, I was talking to our dear friend Jenny and she mentioned Lexington's local tree farm having a pumpkin patch now, and we were both (and all the kiddos) going to be in Lexington this weekend. Elliott, Laurie, and Aiden were also in town over the weekend, and Heather, Lawson, and Steven joined us there. It was a huge bunch of kids and I think they would have enjoyed each other had it only been them there. It was just too many other people there for them to really be able to play together.

The highlight of the trip for all the kids (and the adults, as we were finally able to sit down!), was the hayride! (And we lucked up to get a hayride with seats! The poor fools in front of us had to literally sit on hay on the floor of the trailer!) Addie Kate did so good. She was still young to enjoy most things, but she loves watching kids, so she was quite content. She had also only had a 10 minute morning nap due to church and errands afterwards, and a five minute afternoon nap. It was a really good time - time spent with all our closest friends, having a great time together, with our families. How lucky are we?

Oh, and I rarely get pictures of Addie Kate and me together. A huge thank you to my sweet husband for having camera control on that day!

Here are some pics of our fun day!

Sweet Addie Kate enjoying some hay...

Hey!

So sweet!

Aiden, Addie Kate, and Lawson

(no, their mommies didn't plan for them to match, but how cute is it?)

Mommy and her girl on the hayride:

Mommy, Addie Kate, and Aunt Laurie:

Hanging out in the patch:

(It was too hot for her Halloween outfit, but this was precious anyway!)

Mommy picking the perfect pumpkin for her little pumpkin:

Yep, this is it Mommy! (and Daddy bought it for her!)
Sweet Aiden enjoying the hayride!
(and no, Heather and Elliott didn't plan to match themselves either, but how cute again?)

Jason and Carter

Harrison

Giving Aiden some love:
Mommy and her girl:

Aiden playing in "Thomas"
Lawson on the tire horse swing thing...

Aiden on the tire horse swing thing...

And Addie Kate on the tire horse swing thing.... do we notice a difference?

Yes, she still does the piggy!

The piggy had taken a little hiatus, but now it's back in full force. And it's cuter than ever!

Little Walker

Last week (or maybe it was the week before?) I got out one of Addie Kate's Christmas presents from last year! Her Gam and Pop gave her this little walker, knowing she'd need it eventually. She loves it and took off walking very quickly behind it! Notice in the videos that she has her cell phone in the basket and likes to take it out while she's "driving," much to her Gorga's dismay! (who thinks no one should talk on the cell phone while driving!) Enjoy the videos of our sweet baby girl, who is too quickly getting out of that baby phase, but that we are relishing every minute of until then!

A Super Fun New Game (and tour of a few rooms of our home!)

The other day I was working in the office/playroom and Addie Kate escaped. I just stretched my head back and saw her at the base of the stairs. As I immediately got up to stop her from crawling up them, I realized that she wasn't. She was, instead, playing with a pair of shoes I had left on them - taking them on, taking them off, throwing them behind her, putting them back on the first step, then the second, repeat, repeat. It was hilarious! I guess she was trying to see how far she could reach, and had a little bit of joy in the fact that she was somewhere she shouldn't be!

Once she realized I was recording her, and I guess once she got bored, she crawled to the playroom/office (you'll know it when she's there in the video - it's the room with ALL the toys EVERYWHERE!). I kept recording it because I think that crawling stage is so sweet, and it's coming to an end quickly with our sweet girl!

My New Favorite Place to Play

The dishwasher, of course! Don't all babies love this thing? Then, when they are old enough to help load and unload it, they all of a sudden hate it. Funny how that is.





And this is what happens when Mommy and Daddy make me stop:

Addie Kate's 2nd Clemson Game

Addie Kate made it to another Clemson game this past weekend. This one was extra special, as she and Lawson got to go to the Tiger Cub's birthday party before the game! (At 9 AM, let me add - it was a blast getting 6 adults and 2 children out the door by 8, find gas, and make it to the birthday party in game day traffic on time! We did it!) Neither Addie nor Lawson really knew what was going on with the chaos of the party, but Heather and I are sure by next year they will love it! We did get some cute pictures though...

Here's all of us waiting in line to see the Tiger Cub:

And Addie Kate with the Tiger Cub... she was NOT impressed!
Lawson trying to figure out what the fuss was all about...And, he wasn't so sure either!
He did much better with the ladies!
Addie did too - she's thinking, "I can do this one day!"

We then proceeded to introduce the kids early in life to TD's. It's not a noon game without TD's for lunch for us! Addie wasn't quite ready for TD's for lunch though, she played with Aunt Laurie and tore up things on the table instead!

Finally, we headed to the game. And just as we started the climb to the upper deck, Addie Kate fell asleep... naturally! So, Tommy had to beg the "stroller monitor" for us to take it up to the top, where I proceed to watch my baby sleep as the Tigers ran down the hill and started the game! She stayed asleep for a while, then woke up as Lawson, Heather, and Laurie came down. Addie and Lawson enjoyed playing in the shade, then we all headed back up to the game until halftime! Addie Kate had fun playing with all of us, as we all tried to watch the game!

See my paw?

Playing in the concourse with Lawson (I know, I know... I can't believe it either - I let her get on that nasty floor! She didn't give me much of a choice, but yuck!)

And at the game... watching intently!