JDRF Walk for A Cure

On Saturday my family joined in the JDRF Walk for A Cure at Wake Forest University. The weather was rainy but at least it wasn't too cold!



Xander was excited to be bundled up and out in the rain!



We started walking in support of Shelby 3 years ago. She's such an amazing young lady!



This year she had a fun group of friends there with her...



...and Team Shelby was quite large!



Xander was excited to be free from his stroller after the walk. Tree climbing is a fairly new fascination for him.








Wake Forest University has awesome swings!





Looking forward to another fun time at next years walk - hopefully without the rain!

Grandfather Mountain

After the fair Saturday we woke up amazingly early Sunday morning for a day at Grandfather Mountain. We reached the Blue Ridge Parkway at sunrise.









After a detour off the Blue Ridge we finally arrived in Linville at the Grandfather Mountain Visitor Center.



I love the huge windows in the lobby.





After a quick tour of the Nature Museum and gift shop Xander was ready to start the hike!



It wasn't long until we could see the swinging bridge above.



And the views were amazing!





I'd love to know what was on his mind this high up.



Predictable Xander - climb up a mountain to a peak of more than 5,200 feet with the beautiful fall colors and his favorite part of the day is the construction at the gift shop!

Check back soon for Halloween photos!

Fair

The last Saturday of the Dixie Classic Fair we took Xander for his second fair experience. The first one last year was a disaster but this year was much better!

I love everything about the fair - the atmosphere - the food - the rides they set up in an hour and I would never trust to be safe...they look fun though!







My favorite is definitely the food!




Xander's favorite was the corn - but then we haven't introduced him to funnel cake and caramel apples yet!



He wasn't so sure about the crazy characters and was ready to bolt if Duck Man made any sudden moves.





Wish someone would let me ride around the fair with my feet up!



We had a great time and look forward to next year when he'll be big enough to ride the inflatable slide!

Virgina Aquarium

We had one rainy day during vacation so we took off for a day at the Virginia Aquarium.

Xander was a little nervous at first.


Photo by Jake

It took some work convincing him the 'fishies' couldn't get him through the glass.




But he loved the river otters! (He had me laughing calling the otters 'fishies' when they were swimming and 'doggies' when they were playing on the rocks.)







We encountered some scuba divers cleaning the fish and shark tanks. Jake thought this would be the greatest job in the world - Xander was terrified of them.


Photo by Jake

Jake made friends with the turtles.


Photo by Jake


Photo by Jake

And while Xander started the day nervous, by the time we left he was 'petting' sting rays like a pro!


Photo by Jake

Thanks to my wonderful husband for taking all the Aquarium photos so I could focus on chasing Xander - once he got comfortable there he was too excited to stand still!

Beach Landscapes

As I noted in my last post I enjoyed the scenery at the beach so much I took more landscapes than usual. 6 amazing sunrises out of 7 - can't ask for much more! Our one day of rain led us to the Aquarium - photos to come soon!

This was the scene that greeted us first thing Sunday morning.



Moments after starting our walk the sun climbed high enough to give this amazing pink morning light - I did not have a lens on hand to capture it appropriately but I am not kidding when I say there were dolphins jumping under this sunrise!



The days were pretty great too!



Morning sand rippled from the night winds. It's great to be the first on the beach!









Some thieves had run off with the for sale sign from this post - while I don't condone stealing, I loved the image they left me! (Just FYI - when the realtor returned later that day with a new sign we learned this particular plot of sand cost 1.1 million!)



Completely worth getting up at the crack of dawn.

Family Vacation

The beginning of September we took our first family vacation since Xander was born. Jake, Xander and I joined my mom and Ronn for a week at Sandbridge Beach in Virginia. It was Xander's first trip to the beach and we had a blast!

We arrived on Saturday as Hanna was finishing her coastal attack. (Yes we drove toward the Tropical Storm during a voluntary evacuation - did I mention how long it's been since we had a vacation?) The storm had left a great sand wall along the beach.

While I was looking left to photograph the wall Jake, a big kid at heart, couldn't resist jumping on it behind me.



It was late afternoon when we arrived and still very windy so we had a lazy evening. But early Sunday morning we got to enjoy our coffee with a beach view!

Every morning started with a sunrise beach walk. Xander unexpectedly slept in the first morning so Jake and I got to enjoy a married couples sunrise rather than a Mommy & Daddy sunrise. Thanks Grammy! (Note - I took so many landscape photos I decided to post them separately - coming soon!)

The second morning however, Xander joined us and I was thrilled with the chance to shoot my boys in the sunrise! The series following is under debate in my house.

My 2 favorites.

Jake's favorite.

Most morning Xander started out walking...

...but it usually wasn't long before he was begging for a free ride.

We found plenty of fun treasures that the tide had brought in overnight.

And had quite the collection by the end of the week. Xander loved the birds and their feathers!

Even though it was his first beach trip Xander wasted no time making himself at home in the sand...

...digging holes with Daddy...

...and just plain having fun!

Thanks to Daddy we even have a few photos of Xander and me this time!

Check back soon for photos from our trip to the Aquarium!