Thanksgiving Fun

We went down to Atlanta to have Thanksgiving this year with the Grover's.  Charlie and I flew down the weekend prior which marked his first plane ride!  After a three-hour delay in the terminal and no nap, it was not a roaring success but the way back was much better... having Dad there was very helpful.  We had a great week visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, Gigi, the Tweedy's and several friends who we were able to see.  Below are some pictures of our time there!

First up, the Pink Pig! Grandma insisted that we partake in this Atlanta tradition (one which we never as kids partook in) so we hauled it down to Lenox Mall and stood in line a good 45 minutes for the lamest little indoor train ride I've ever seen.  Charlie, however thought it was AWESOME.  I guess it was worth it then.

"Mommy, can we do it again?!?!?"

We conquered it!

While in town, we met some new little friends and hung out with some old ones.  Below are pictures of high school friend Jill's little girl Loren and Charlie.

Showing their bellies

Charlie finally being sweet after being possessive over his toys for the first 20 minutes.

We met other high school friends Amanda, her husband Mike, baby Adam and Drew in Decatur for lunch one day too.  Adam was a real sweetie and we had a great time catching up on our new baby lives (Drew's wife is due next year too!).

Amanda, Adam, Sarah, Charlie and Drew

Below are just many of the gazillion other pictures I took playing at the house...

Striking a pose... the curls were out of control in the Atlanta humidity

Grandpa and his boys

Stud

Sam and Charlie chasing balls in the backyard

Gigi and her boys

A rare moment playing together with a toy (vs. Charlie ripping it away from Sam)

King of the castle

Playing peek-a-boo

Everyone is enthralled by the iPad

The best toy in the house

In a big boy chair

Clowning with Grandma

Of course, the bathtub shot

Cornhole!

James brought home a set of cornhole boards that the shop class at his high school made for him.  He has wanted these for years so was very excited to get them (and they look great!).  Charlie was REALLY excited too as you can see below...like father, like son I suppose.

Fall Fun

We've been enjoying our last days of nice weather and light evenings by playing outside as much as possible.  Below are some pictures I took the other night...

Boy genius

Checking out the neighbor's mustang

"Hey"

Walking down the block

Half-Marathon Saturday

Today, James ran his first half marathon!  It is just amazing watching him in less than a year go from not running at all to doing his first 5K, 10K, 10-miler and now 13.1-miler.  Charlie and I couldn't have been prouder and had a fun day following him around the course to wave and cheer him on.  He was trucking it faster than we expected but we were able to catch up at miles 6, 10 and at the finish.  James was pleased with his performance too running the whole time at a faster pace than even planned.  Below are some pictures from our fun morning:

Charlie is fascinated by the runners going by

"Mom, when is Daddy coming?"

"Go runners!

Here he comes!  Looking good at Mile 6.

Looking even better at Mile 10.

He made it to the finish!

Stretching afterwards

Trying on Dad's medal

The official race t-shirt

We waited to cheer on our friend Jamie who ran the marathon

Little Picasso?

I bought these new little non-toxic paint thing-a-ma-joggers for Charlie.  It is cool to see the technology advancements in coloring tools since the plain little crayons we used... they took me a minute to figure out how to start but we had a good time coloring with them.  And clean-up was super-easy too!!!

"Umm, they taste good too!"

"And I think I'll put another blob there"

A Masterpiece!

Little Picasso?

I bought these new little non-toxic paint thing-a-ma-joggers for Charlie.  It is cool to see the technology advancements in coloring tools since the plain little crayons we used... they took me a minute to figure out how to start but we had a good time coloring with them.  And clean-up was super-easy too!!!

"Umm, they taste good too!"

"And I think I'll put another blob there"

A Masterpiece!

Little Girls!!!

This is the week of the little girls!  Two new baby girls came into the world and we celebrated one coming in January.  On Wednesday, our next door neighbor welcomed baby girl Efa into the world.  Then on Thurday, Baby Isabella Rose Cammarata came!  After making James' sister Allison wait 41 weeks, labor for twelve hours, the doctors decided it was time to take her out.  We drove down Friday evening to meet her in the hospital and she was truly precious.  Allison and Phil seemed like naturals and Isabella was a perfect little sweetheart.  The family went home on Saturday where we spent the evening celebrating and rocking the precious baby girl.  Below are some pictures from our whirlwind trip:

Mom and baby

Baby Isabella

Wouldn't be a group of Lane men without basketball on the TV.  Even Charlie got in on the action in his very stylish outfit (had a leaky diaper in his jeans).

Proud Ganny and Grandpa

Family photo op

Charlie was interested... interested in poking her with his fingers

"Granny check out these remotes"

"Silly Grandpa"

While down in Raleigh, we stopped by the Tweedy's for a very short visit.  In the short time there though we managed to get a pretty good picture of the boys.

Cousins!

Trouble two-some

Sam showing Charlie one of his toys

Finally we hustled back to Richmond to host a shower for my friend Megan Sunday morning.  Thanks to the extra hour, we were able to get a good night sleep and still get everything ready.  Her baby girl Claire is coming in January and is already a confirmed prom date for Charlie in the year 2036.

Glowing mom Megan

The paint-the-onsie activity