The Zoo

This past weekend since we were home and not at a football game, we took Avery and Carter to the zoo in Columbia.  See previous trips when she was one and when she was two.

The statues were a surprise hit this time around and she had to have her picture taken with all of them.

My two girls taking a gander at the elephants.  Between some of the educational cartoons and what she learns at school, she was shouting animal facts at us all morning long.

"Elephants are from Africa."

Carter was less interested in the animals and more interested in the large amounts of people walking by.

You get to get pretty close to the kangaroos.

Avery got to touch and help some stranger feed a giraffe.

And touch one of these furry things.  A lalalam?  Llalma?  Lllama?  Alapaca?  Yeah...furry thing.

And to pretend milk a pretend cow.  She was sure to make sure Laura knew that it was just pretend.

She got to hand feed some aggressive goats.

There was a carousel that we got to take a spin on.

Avery chose a tiger as her animal.

Carter was not so excited about the carousel as Avery, but he did a great job going along for the day.

Avery was braver than Mommy and touched this snake.

Working on her modeling pose with one of the monkey statues.

The last thing we did was the aquarium and it was her favorite part by far.  It may have been the air conditioning or it may have been the fish.

One of her shows that she watches is "Octonauts" and they learn all about underwater sea creatures so she had a great time telling us stories about some of the animals that she recognized.  In this picture she is excitedly telling us a story about this kind of fish that has some kind of special talent.

(Avery reminded me that this is a tiger fish that stings you if you touch its spikes)

Telling us all about the penguins.

Game #2

 So the weekend of the 12th we went to the second football game of the year.  During the first game, Avery noticed that the tickets indicate the game number. As we left the house on the way to Vass she made sure to ask (and as we pulled into the stadium) "Do you have Game number 2 tickets?"  I don't think she could me more like her father if she tried.

The game was a "blackout" so everyone was supposed to wear a black shirt as the team would be wearing black uniforms.  It took a little while to explain to her why we were wearing black (and to find a short sleeved shirt in September at Old Navy), but she was clearly on board.

My two girls snapping pictures while I unloaded the car and set up the tents.

Once I got the tailgate setup, Avery was eager to see the band and the cheerleaders as they get the crowd pumped up when the players get to the stadium.  Here she is running and dragging Laura to go see everything.  

 First up was a visit with Mr. and Ms. Wolf.  Avery was so proud that Ms. Wolf was also wearing a black dress to the game.

 In awe of the nearby cheerleaders being tossed up in the air.

 She kept pulling on Laura until Laura asked if she could get a picture with them.

 Once she got her pictures, she had to get on Daddy's shoulders to get a good view of the band.

 One the way into the game, we took her picture in front of the wolf statue.  We had to make up a story about each one of the wolves and what they were doing.  (There is an actual story about each one of them and what they represent, but we were in a hurry to get inside.)  So if she asks about Carl the wolf and that he is looking for popcorn....just go with it.

 Once in the game, she was her usual cheer all game long self.

 After the game we walked by some construction equipment so she had to get in.  Everytime we pass construction on the road, she always says "Mommy what's that over there??  CONSTRUCTION!!!"

5 Months

So Carter turned 5 months old 17 days ago and we did a photoshoot then, but I forgot to download the pictures off the camera.  Over the past month, Carter has discovered his feet and that he can put them in his mouth for a tasty treat at all times.  He has started to eat baby food and sleep through the night on occasion.  He is a pretty quiet baby, but gets excited when he sees his sister every morning.  He is getting bigger everyday and growing out of his 6 month old clothes.  He even noticed Charger last week and had a good laugh while daddy played tug of war with that brown furry thing.  

 Working on his modeling face.

 Do you think these two love each other?

 A goofy smile for a goofy little boy.  He is such a happy smiley baby, but when the camera comes out he is immediately fascinated with it.

Sunday Dinner

After last week's game, my mom cooked us lunch and Mark, Sara, and Anna came over to eat.  Since Drew and Ashley live about 2 miles from where my parents live they brought Austin and baby Allie over as well.

It is a bit hard to get a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a 5 month old to smile in picture all at the same time; so this is the best one we got.  Thank goodness for digital pictures.  I can't imagine spending $$ to develop 20 pictures to find out that one of them was playing with their hair or had their eyes closed.

 Everyone giving their best half smile.

Time for lunch!!!  Carter was a but underwhelmed by his rice cereal.  

 The kids had some pretty funny conversations at their table.  Mostly whining about that there were too many beans in their green beans or not enough greens in their green beans.  (Avery only eats the greens, Anna only eats the beans).

 Allie was an angel, but decided to skip the meal on account that she was only 8 weeks old or so.

 The girls and their little ones.  It took quite a few pictures just to get the adults looking at the camera, so we gave up on gettting Carter's attention.

 Carter was paying attention to the other 3 kids having a good time playing with all of the new toys at Gigi's house.

First Football Game of the Year

This past weekend was the first football game of the year.  Avery has been asking about once a week since Febuary when we were going to get to go back to see another football game.  Ever since tickets showed up a couple weeks ago, the excitement has been off the charts.  This past week we caught her up past her bedtime in her room reading an NC State baby popup book.  She was soooooo ready.

Before the game, we did a little bit of tailgaiting and got to go inside the new indoor practice facility.  I was hoping that she would get to run the field, but they had us roped off to a tiny corner.

Once we got inside the stadium, she was pretty excited about everything.

 Morgan and Macey were there to help join in the fun and make silly faces.

 My two favorite girls.

During the game she was a great cheerleader.

Someone had a great time yesterday.

A video posted by Robert Marshall (@ncsurob) on Sep 6, 2015 at 6:23am PDT

 In the second half, Avery spotted Ms. Wolf in the endzone and made Mommy walk her over there so she could get a better look.  Here she is watching the cheerleaders holding her new NC State Cheerleading bear.

 Avery got Ms. Wolf's attention and she climbed over the railing to take a few pictures, a few hugs, and a few high fives.

 Avery was also pretty excited about seeing the cheerleaders up close.  She kept on trying to get them to turn around so she could wave, but once she got their attention they ran over to take a picture with her.

 After the game, the band lines up on the concourse to walk out and Avery wanted a picture with the baton twirlers.