Happy Birthday, Miss Laurie!

Laurie is such a special friend to all of us Chitesters! She has been in our lives for several years now and recently moved to Durham to pursue her masters at Duke Divinity. (She has great taste in schools, I might add!) A faithful member of our community group, Laurie joined us for the camping trip this weekend and that made it possible for us to celebrate her birthday on Sunday morning. The boys love any excuse for a party and I love any excuse to have champagne in the morning and celebrate Laurie!

We love you and miss you so much, Laurie! Thanks for spending your birthday with us!

Happy Campers!

This past weekend, we went on our 3rd Annual camping trip with our community group from church to Morrow Mountain State Park. Fourteen of us went and had a blast - hiking, playing games, chatting, and sitting around a nonexistent campfire. The state issued a fire-ban due to the drought in the SE the day of our trip. We had make-shift s'mores by roasting marshmallows over a propane ring. Delicious and resourceful! This was Cole's first time camping with this group. The boys had a blast with their "big friends" and had the joy of getting thoroughly covered in dirt! It's been a long time since I've laughed that long and that hard. Our dear friend, Matt, was talked into breaking out some songs from his days in the band, WAMP. Amazing. Thanks to everyone for such a fun trip!

10 Months!

I cannot believe how time has flown. Our sweet Addison is 10 months old! She is such a joy to each of us -- adored by her brothers, her parents and so many who know her.

She is up to so much these days... Crawling everywhere, getting into everything, pulling up, chattering, waving, smiling, squealing with delight at her brothers or the dogs... She has a precious 7-tooth grin that melts our hearts.

It's never dull these days... Addison is so fast - we've "lost" her several times and have found her with lots of interesting things in her mouth. The latest -- a dead roach. Truly horrible. I guess she's ready to audition for Survivor or Fear Factor!

Addison Page, we love you SO much and are so blessed by your every day!

Father's Coffee

This past Thursday was Father's Coffee at Caleb's school. For three weeks, he has talked non-stop about "Fadder's Coffee". He was so excited to show Todd his classroom, enjoy some doughnuts, and do a few projects together. All the kids made bow ties for their Dad's to wear that morning. When they arrived, Caleb went up to his teachers and informed, "My Daddy doesn't like coffee. Could you please give him some juice or water?"

Children of the Corn

Our hands down favorite thing on the Vollmer Farm was the Corn Crib. It's essentially a huge "sand box" filled with dry corn. The corn conforms to your body and is so fun to play in and unbelievably relaxing. All the adults wanted to sleep out there -- it's better than a Tempur Pedic mattress and has spa-like qualities! We spent hours in there over the course of the weekend. Caleb told me last week that the next time we are there he wants us to fill a jar with the corn so we can show all this friends. Who knew corn could be so fun?!

Fun on the Farm

This past weekend, Jeff and Jess invited us to join family and friends on her family's farm in Bunn, NC - the Vollmer Farm. It was AMAZING! We had so much fun enjoying everyone, celebrating Owen's 3rd birthday, and playing on the farm. Jessica's parents and brother Russ and sister-in-law Mary have created such a special place. I've never seen anything like it. In addition to all the usual farm activities, they have a tractor-pulled cow train, corn maze, HUGE jumping pillow, zip line, several really fun playgrounds, a corn crib (more on that later), an underground slide, pumpkin sling shot, and terrific food - especially the pumpkin ice cream! We along with other friends had the honor of staying at Grandma's house, the original farm house, right in the middle of all the farm action. When I showed the boys where we were staying, their eyes got so big. It's the equivalent of staying at the castle at Disney.

Some favorite parts were having the farm all to ourselves Sunday morning before it opened to the public, Owen's birthday party and personal hay rides from Farmer John (Jessica's dad) - the boys each got to "help" drive the huge red tractor.

If you are anywhere near the Triangle area, you MUST go for a visit. You will be so amazed!

Thank you Jeff, Jess and the Vollmers for an unforgettable weekend. We loved every minute!

Field Trip

Cole and I went on his first preschool field trip to Riverbend Farm. We had a great time playing on the playground, going on a hayride, petting farm animals, and picking pumpkins from a field. The highlight for Cole as a super fast slide -- Cole couldn't get enough of it! His buddy, Clark, came with us - they have so much fun playing together.

Adventures in Frewsburg

We were in Frewsburg, NY this past Thursday through Monday and had a blast seeing family and watching all the cousins play together. The boys loved the airplane rides, insisting on sitting next to each other on all four flights. They were so well behaved. Addison charmed fellow passengers with her constant smiles.

Some highlights from our trip: watching the boys play with cousins Reagan and Riley, meeting our newest niece -- sweet Amelia, a big family BBQ with Aunt Doris, Dick, Cousins Jill & Dana and their boys, the Frewsburg homecoming football game, rides through the woods on Grandpa's four-wheeler, a family trip to a local nature center, and the world's best pizza (truly). Caleb loved the big family gathering at Chad and Jackie's house on Saturday with all his cousins and second cousins. When it was time for folks to leave, he kept yelling "Goodbye Cousins". That kid loves a party - especially when food, people and playtime are in abundance. Let's just say Saturday was his dream! The kids roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on the bonfire while the adults ate their way through Chad and Jackie's amazing offerings.

Mike and Amanda celebrated their first anniversary while we were there -- this year has flown by! They had such a beautiful wedding - it was such a delight to be with them on their anniversary.

Thanks to everyone for such a special trip! We love you all!

Pump It Up!

Birthday parties are the best - especially when it's our dear friends Anna Riley and Porter who are being celebrated! Their party was at Pump It Up, a terrific indoor inflatable play area complete with a bouncy slide, bouncy obstacle course, bouncy basketball court, and bounce house. It was tons of fun. A highlight was going through the obstacle course and down the slide with both boys. We were all exhausted by the end!

En Garde!

I love our neighborhood! There's always something fun happening. Last night, when we got home from soccer practice, Abby (our 9-year old soon-to-be-famous neighbor) was giving sword fighting lessons to the kids on the block. Check out Cole's hand position!

Clang, Clang!

I get plenty of alone time with the other Caleb and Addison, but Cole and I spend little one-on-one time together. In an attempt to fix this and hopefully change the terrible-threes rut we are in, Cole and I are spending every other Monday morning together while Caleb is in school and Addison with a sitter. The fun part is that he gets to decide what we do. This Monday was our first outing. He was SO excited. After deliberating several options, he opted for riding the "trolley bus" (a free bus-like trolley that circles Uptown), popping in to Discovery Place for a bit, and having lunch with Daddy outside at his building. We had a blast and are both looking forward to more Coley-planned adventures.

Polite Trash Talking

After years of marveling at the football stadium from afar, Caleb at last was able to watch a Panthers game in person. Todd took him yesterday to watch our Panthers get slaughtered by Tampa Bay. Caleb had a blast in spite of the Panthers' prowess.

Carolina's one decent play was recovering a fumble. At which point, Caleb turned to the Tampa Bay fan sitting next to him and said, "Excuse me, Sir. Things are about to change."