Hill Ridge Farm with Oma and Oma

Oma and Opa came to visit the girls over Halloween weekend.  We took the girls to Hill Ridge Farms to see the animals, go on a train and hayride and pick out pumpkins.  They had a blast.  Natalie loved riding on the little horses, going in the corn pit, and down the huge slide.  Claire's favorite was watching all the animals.  Every time you picked her up to go another section, she got so upset and started crying.  She seems to really like being near animals.  Natalie tried picking up a bunch of the pumpkins and putting the stickers that are on the pumpkins on Claire's head!

That night we carved the pumpkins with the girls.  Natalie picked the designs -- happy face, ghost and cat.

Claire is 11 months old!

My sweet pea is 11 months old today!  She is becoming such a big girl -- almost a toddler!  I have so much planning to do for her party in one short month; I'd better get on it soon.  Claire is walking behind toys and while holding one of our hands all the time now.  She is determined to get where she wants to go and play with what she wants to play with.  She moved took one small step the other day but hasn't yet started moving both feet.  I'm sure she's going to be walking soon though.  She's also started "talking" more now.  She says "ah, ah, ah" when she wants your attention or wants something.  And she's now starting to point at what she wants using her whole hand.  And as always, she loves to wear a big smile!

Also, I've been wanting to show the following two videos.  The first is Natalie running like mommy according to her.  I love when she does this.  It cracks me up everytime -- and makes me question my form when running!  The other is Claire walking behind their shopping cart.  She's getting so good at walking!

Visit from Uncle Paul

Natalie and Claire's Uncle Paul and his girlfriend, Sharron, came to visit a week ago.  The girls were excited to see them.  Natalie kept talking about them coming days before they arrived.  We went to our neighborhood pig pickin' (pig roast).  They had the local fire department come by to let the kids check out the fire engines.  Natalie also enjoyed dancing around with her friend Dylan.

We also took the girls to the NC State Fair.  Natalie loves to look at all the horses when we drive around Wake Forest.  She was very excited to go on her first horse ride.  I thought for sure she would be scared but she loved it and wanted to go on again.  The girls checked out the farm animals and got some balloons.  We also tried some fried oreos.  Claire loved the macaroni and cheese.

We spent some time hanging out with Uncle Paul and Sharron at home playing and watching the Packer vs. Viking game.

Also while Paul was in town, we went to check out the Tobacco District in Durham, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University.  We were disappointed by the Tobacco District.  Although the area has been restored, there's really nothing there to do or see except for a large water fountain near the Lucky Strikes building.  We walked around Franklin Street near UNC and then explored the Duke Chapel which is beautiful.

Our Zoo Trip

We recently took the girls to the Zoo in Asheboro.  It was Claire's first time.  They both seemed to really enjoy it.  Natalie was of course much more into seeing the animals than she has been previously.

I took Claire and Natalie for a wagon ride together a few weeks ago.  Claire was so smiley as we were strolling around.  She definitely loves getting out to see things.  Natalie now enjoys getting out of the wagon, walking around, and exploring.

And of course, there is always play time around the house