Family Fun Day

In October, Brett's company put on a Family Fun Day.

When we arrived, Hadley ran right in front of the big kids to be the first one down this GIGANTIC slide! 

There she goes!

She got her face painted like a dalmatian, after her favorite cartoon character, Marshall from Paw Patrol.

Daddy volunteered to work the cotton candy and Icee stand all day. 

We went on a hayride around the mill and had a tour of where Daddy works. 

...and Hadley and Daddy both won gift cards in a raffle!

We all had a blast, but we were so exhausted by the time we got home that all three of us took a nap in our bed.

To this day when we ask Hadley where Daddy works, she says he's eating lollipops and going in bouncy castles, just like she did when she visited Daddy's work!

Halloween 2016

Halloween is a multi-week event for us! We started off the fun by doing some indoor trick or treating. My Preschool Moms Bible study group had a little party for the kids with snack, stories, and trick or treating around the church. I didn't even have Hadley's costume ready at this point, so we made do with a Halloween dress!

Hadley met up with her best friend, Ryan, from her preschool class there. They had so much fun trick or treating in all the church offices!

When they got to the head pastor's office, they plopped down right on his couch and tried to dig into their candy! 

A few days later, Hadley's costume came and she tried it on right away! She decided all the way back in September that she wanted to be an alligator, and she was so good at playing the part!

Here's a picture Hadley's preschool teacher sent me of her shoveling popcorn in her mouth at the preschool Halloween party. 

We met up with some friends at a nearby nursing home one morning, and the residents handed out candy. Hadley's friend Ryan met us there, and the two had a ton of fun! 

We finally made it to the actual Halloween! First we trick or treated with some neighbors around our  little neighborhood, then we all met up at a big neighborhood close by. 

Hadley was the only reptile in a sea of princess costumes.

We ended the night on the early side, with a pantry FULL of candy!

Fall Fun

We've had a busy fall, with lots of fun things going on around town!


We kicked off fall in mid-September by driving to a farm with a hayride, pumpkin patch, sunflower fields, and a large and borderline-dangerous corn maze.

This was a huge sandbox structure filled with dry corn for the kids.

 

Here we are, entering the corn maze, with no idea what we were getting ourselves into!

Never again!!! 

Picking out a pumpkin after we finally crawled out of the corn maze, filthy and exhausted.

We took one last trip to the beach and enjoyed the calm and clear late-September ocean.

We went to another pumpkin patch with some friends and did a hayride, listened to stories, and enjoyed walking around looking at all of the different sized pumpkins. 

I found a fun mommy and me class at a nearby church that runs every other Monday. It has  Montessori type activities that Hadley loved. The theme this day was fall. The kids started with songs and stories with the teacher, then moved to different stations. There was a section for the kids to hammer golf tees into a pumpkin, a big pile of fake leaves and kid-sized rakes, a sensory bin full of dry corn and gourds for the kids to explore, and a pumpkin painting station. 

Here is Hadley working in the sensory bin. It was such a cool experience. 

We've settled into a really nice routine now that summer is over. Our mornings are always spent venturing into town for pre-school, a playground, story hour, or some type of social activity. We get home around noon for lunch, then Hadley naps while mommy catches up on housework. In the afternoons we like to take a walk, then do arts and crafts to pass the time until daddy comes home. 

Here is Hadley enjoying a fun pumpkin painting activity sent to her by her cousins!

As we say in these parts, Happy Fall, Ya'll! Hope everyone is enjoying the cool weather as much as we are!

Our Move to the Sunshine State

Our Journey to Panama City, Florida!

Back in June (which feels like it was about 50 years ago) Brett began communication with a company called Enviva, located near Panama City, FL. Enviva is a mill that makes wood pellets that are used as an alternative to coal. The company is expanding rapidly, and was looking for someone to come to their highest performing facility and spend a few years learning the company, then be in charge of one of the many mills that will be opening around the country in the coming years. Enviva flew Brett down for an interview, and quickly made him an offer. They had spent over a year interviewing 15 people for this position, and they finally found their guy!

Enviva wanted him down there fast, so on July 4, we put our house on the market. July 6 we had accepted an offer and were under contract. The next Friday, Enviva flew our family down to FL to house hunt. On Sunday, we found the perfect house and made an offer. We flew back to Wilmington on Wednesday night, packed up our entire house, and drove to Florida on Friday afternoon! It was hands down the busiest week of my life, made ever more stressful by dragging a two year old through airports, house showings, and long mortgage meetings.


When we got to Florida, we stayed  in tiny, furnished rental house for a month. It was much nicer than this picture shows, and owned by a sweet elderly couple. It was in the country, far from everything. It was a long, long four weeks for mommy and Hadley, stuck at home almost every day! There is not an amount of money in existence you could pay me to re-live the months of July and August 2016.  ;)

On August 15, we finally moved into our new house! Woohoo!!!

Kitchen:

Great Room:

Bathroom:

Community Pool:

It took us a few weeks to unpack and settle in, but we are enjoying our new home very much!

Hadley is Two and a Half!

I thought I would send a little update now that Hadley is a big two and a half year old!

Two and a Half Year Old Stats:

Height: 36.25 inches, in the 64th precentile
Weight: 27.0 poudns, in the 31st percentile
Head: 49.0 (centimeters I think?), in the 72nd percentile.

I don't know how she doesn't topple over with that long lean body and big head! I jokingly call her my lollipop!

Likes:

• Animals...she is so interested in any animal she encounters whether it's birds, fish, or even insects. She will ask ants where they're going as they march along. 
• Swimming
• Running errands...she gets so excited when I tell her that's what we're doing. 
• Climbing on anything and everything
• Helping mommy cook 
• Playing doctor
• Playing with her baby dolls and "betty tears" (teddy bears)
• Picking out treats for daddy at the grocery store, then giving them to him when he gets home from work and demanding that he share. 
• Anything Disney-related, especially Minnie Mouse

Dislikes:

• Sun in her eyes
• Tags in her shirt
• Using the potty like a big girl

This age is so much fun, and Hadley is more of a handful than ever! She has endless energy and a curiosity that she will go to great lengths to satisfy. I love hearing all of the funny things Hadley says. She just loves life and experiences it to the fullest. She is extremely outgoing and makes friends wherever she goes. She is such a social butterfly. She starts preschool in late August and I am so excited for her to get to be around friends and have the stimulation that makes her a happy camper.