Happy Halloween from the Clubhouse!

We took our little mouse, Minnie Mouse, trick-or-treating this year. We went to 6 houses (or close neighbors) and she had a blast. Her favorite score of the night... suckers! She was also very excited about the M&Ms and already ate her Smarties (a first). She had a great night despite the cold weather.

Ready to visit our first house. Alaina would say trick-or-treat when it was just us, but not at a single door we knocked on. She did say thank you at every house. 

Waiting for candy, and more importantly, to see the baby across the street. 

I think you could say that she enjoyed trick-or-treating. 

We had to stop Alaina from trying to open every door we knocked on. 

Alaina posing with her pumpkin. 

Awesome family picture.

We ended the evening doing what everyone should do after trick-or-treating... going through the Halloween candy with our cat.

Happy Halloween Eve!

Tonight we carved Alaina's pumpkin. She loves it because it is "silly." 

Tomorrow, she will dress up as her favorite character, Minnie Mouse, and go trick-or-treating. I can't wait.

Thompson Family Reunion

This past weekend Harry, Alaina, and I spent our time socializing with our family and eating plenty of food at the 31st annual Thompson Family Reunion. There was even a documentary film crew there record the events (the film should be ready by mid-November). 

Alaina wore her Minnie Mouse Halloween costume after dinner last night and ate her first ever dark chocolate truffle. It was messy and delicious.

Sliding

Alaina loves to play on the slides but she is a little afraid of sliding too fast so she uses her feet to slow herself down. 

It's so cute!

Tractor Show

Today Harry, Alaina, and I went to the Stumptown Tractor Show (a show that Harry's dad and mom help organize). She had a great time looking at the tractors, fire trucks, and pumpkins. 

Harry and Alaina with the fire truck.

Alaina got to "drive" the fire truck!

Alaina trying out grandpa's tractor.. 

Looking at the sheep and talking to grandpa. 

Here they are making molasses. It smelled amazing. 

Our sweet little girl on her tractor seat.

Fire Truck

On Thursday Harry, Alaina, and I attended Family Fun Night at my school. Alaina had a great time, despite it being very close to her 7:15 bed time, visiting the book fair and seeing the fire trucks.

Alaina seriously loves fire trucks so this was a big event for her. She made sure to wave bye-bye to the fire truck when we left. 

 

In other exciting news... Harry peeled his orange in one piece the other day at work. He thought this was such an accomplishment that he took a picture. 

We really live on the edge here. :-)

Lazy 5 Ranch

Today Harry, Alaina, and I took a trip to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville to feed and see various animals from around the world. This was not our first trip to the ranch, it is actually the first thing we ever blogged about (years ago) with our post, "Goats on a Durango."

The last time we went to the Lazy 5 Ranch we left with a scratched up car and a terrorized Madison (and me). This time we took the wagon ride through the park and everyone had a great time. 

Harry and Alaina ready to feed animals. 

 the deer

 Water Buffalo! Alaina couldn't wait to feed them.

Throughout the entire visit, Alaina just dropped feed off the wagon in hopes that some animal would come and eat it. 

My favorite, the giraffes. This is the "daddy" giraffe." He was 18 feet tall and the only male in the group. 

 

This picture is for Martha, Ed, and Madison. We saw the zebra again. They were much nicer this time. 

 

Alaina feeding the sheep and goats. 

porcupine 

Alaina loved the camels. She will get to see them again at Christmas time when they are rented out for various live nativities. 

Finally, the prairie dogs. Alaina liked them, too.

It's beginning to sound a lot like...

Every evening, Alaina picks out 3 (or 6 or 12) books to read before bed. Tonight, she picked out a large stack and Harry and I told her she had to pick 3 since it was already bed time. Alaina kept saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" as she held up a book telling the Christmas Story. What an amazing little girl.

Also, in an attempt to get just a few more crackers before bed, Alaina told us she wanted 4 more Cheese-Its. She then counted, 1, 2, 3, 4 all while holding up the correct corresponding fingers! I couldn't believe it; it is amazing to see what she picks up and how much she learns daily. 

She is getting so big; I'm so proud of how she learns and grows and I hope I can remember all of these milestones as she gets older.

Weekend in Wilmington

This past weekend, Harry, Alaina, and I visited my parents in Wilmington for some end-of-summer fun. Despite the uncooperative weather, we had a great time visiting the aquarium and the beach. 

The main bridge into Wilmington was closed for road work, so we decided to take the ferry to Ft. Fisher and the aquarium. Alaina really enjoyed being on the boat.

Yes, we made her wear her life jacket. I always used to wonder why my parents made us wear a life jacket on the ferry growing up, but when it was our little one Harry and I felt the same way... better safe than sorry. She doesn't mind, I can't get her out of it sometimes. 

After a delicious lunch at Big Daddy's, we headed over to the aquarium. Alaina was excited to see the alligators. The gators were quite active and this one swam up and gave Alaina a long look.

Next was the touch tank. Alaina tried to pet a baby shark but it was too deep. 

One of Alaina's favorite parts of the aquarium was the playground. 

Today was still overcast, but we were still able to go to the beach. 

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Alaina. It shows so much of her personality.

We really enjoyed our weekend; thanks to my parents for having us!

Alaina was exhausted afterwards and slept a good part of the way home.

Fishy Time

Today Alaina got a fish to put in her new fishbowl. She was so excited for, "fishy time!" She picked out a white and orange spotted goldfish that she declared was a boy. When asked what she wanted to name her fish, Alaina declared, "Fishy!!" 

Meet Fishy!