Unexpected Snow, and holiday cheer!

Last Saturday night we got a quick snowfall even though they didn't predict it!  It was only 1", and didn't last very long, but it sure made the neighborhood look pretty with everybody's lights up.  Here is a picture of our house in the snow:

Both our kids, Avery (and Kylie!) are also in the holiday mood and like posing in front of our Christmas decorations like the tree and poinsettias.

"Singing" some Christmas carrols in front of the tree:

Avery is also starting to learn to crawl:

 She's so close to being fully mobile, she can scoot while on her back and has almost figured out the crawling thing.  Which means that crawling will lead to a lot of moments like this in the future: hmmm let's pull on this branch of the tree and see what happens!

Avery and solid foods

Avery has been eating more and more solid foods.  We like making food for Avery and trying different combinations.  Thanks to Mike and Lisa for the puree recipe book!  We make lots of combinations and freeze them in baby food storage containers so we always have lots ready:

Sometimes Avery likes the food, other times she doesn't like certain foods, it's fun to see what flavors and foods she likes!  Other times though, it ends up all over her face!

Avery meets Santa

We went down to Cameron Village in Raleigh to the winter festival and for Avery to meet Santa for the first time.

Avery dressed up in her Christmas outfit to meet Santa:

And then we headed out.  Avery had a very confused look for Santa!

Then the next day we worked more on eating solid foods, Avery was nice and clean

until the pea puree got all over Avery's face!

Monster Dash 5k

On Halloween day we took part in the Monster Dash 5k in Raleigh.

Everybody dresses up for the race so we did too!

Colleen was a cat, Avery was a kitten, and Jim was Waldo:

Where's Waldo in this photo?

Here is the family picture of us running!

Afterwards we went to dinner at nearby Cameron Bar and Grill:

Avery even offered to pay!

Road trip to the NC Mountains

Colleen's mom came into town

Two weekends ago we headed east to the coast of NC, so this time we took a two-day trip to the western part of North Carolina up in the mountains.  The weather was perfect so the timing worked out great.  The whole family went: Jim, Colleen, Colleen's mom, Avery, and our dog Kylie.

We started by apple picking at Sky Top Orchards, an apple orchard on top of a mountain.  There were neat views of the surrounding mountains.  The only thing missing was the foliage, it was still very green, which was ok too!

The apple orchard also makes cider donuts back at their shop, they are very popular back up in New England and Jim fell in love with them during trips up there.  However, Sky Top Orchards is the only place anywhere near us that makes them.  And of course they make them fresh, you can see them make them individually just for you when you order them.  We got a dozen of them to tide us over for a few days!

Avery also like the pumpkins at the apple orchard, both the small:

And large pumpkins!

Jim then tried his hand at driving a tractor, and it looks like he ran over a scarecrow!

After apple picking, we drove into Pisgah National Forest.  Transylvania County has over 250 waterfalls, including a 450' one that is the highest east of the Mississippi River.  We stopped by Looking Glass Falls, which is about 60' high.  It was a nice peaceful place to relax.

Then we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for some amazing views on way into Asheville for the evening as the road tops 6000'.

We ate downtown that night at Mellow Mushroom Pizza.  Yes, from the name one can tell it is a very eclectic place, just like the city of Asheville.  It was so nice out we ate out on the patio and people watched.  It was very happening and busy that night, there were lots of street performers, people dressed up for Oktoberfest, a wedding reception, we saw everything walking by on the street.

The next morning we drove some more on the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw some more neat views, including Mt Michell, the highest point east of the Mississippi River.  It was amazing how many tunnels there were along the route (there are 25 in NC and 1 in Virginia).

We also did see some areas with foliage beginning to change, but we knew in about one week it would even more scenic when the colors come out.

After that we went to Lake James,

a nice clear lake with mountains behind it.

Avery took a nice nap on the dock

And Kylie loved playing in the water chasing sticks!

We took a few more pictures and then headed on the road back home to Cary.

After we got back, Avery must have been worn out, she fell asleep sitting up in her high chair during a meal!