Bluegrass Weekend

On Friday night we went to a BBQ and Bluegrass young adult gathering for the church (thanks to Park and Ashley for the babysitting services). It was definitely the first church function I've ever attended where everyone was required to bring either a six-pack or a bottle of wine. Then yesterday we went to a Chili Cookoff in a neighborhood called Cabbagetown - complete with bluegrass music, a cabbage shredding competition and lots and lots of chili.

This is our 6th weekend in Atlanta, and we've been to 4 festivals - Arts&Music, Halloween, NASCAR (we happened upon that one while shopping) and Chili. During these last 6 weeks we've also missed at least three festivals in our own neighborhood.

I'm not sure if this is just festival season because the fall weather is so lovely or if there is just always a reason to celebrate in Atlanta.

Halloween!

It was a successful Halloween evening (even though Thomas thinks that everyone thought Carter was a girl).

It took a few houses, but Carter more or less got the hang of trick or treating. At first he was taking candy out of the house bowl, waving it about, putting it back in the house bowl and saying bye-bye.

We did trick-or-treating in Carter and Donna's neighborhood, which is very nice - and very hilly. Below, Carter's thinking, "I have to climb up that hill -- for candy? I'm not even allowed to eat candy!"

But he did climb the hill.


He didn't mind because he got a sweet taxi ride from house to house...

Pumpkin Carving

Playground

The picture below was taken at the playground by our house this past weekend. Two things of note:

1- All the toys you see in the picture live at the playground. The first time we visited, the playground was pretty crowded (by Georgia standards), and we kept trying to keep Carter off of all the other kids' toys. It was only the second time we went back (when the park was empty and all the toys were still there) that we realized that they are for anyone's use. The toys just live there. Out in the open. Not locked up. It's remarkable. Plus, it is nice that you don't have to buy any big hunk-o-plastic toys to keep at home, because you can just go to the playground to get your fix. This is especially important to us because...

2- Carter is obsessed with the police car and the police motorcycle. He is uninterested in any of the other riding toys. While he does enjoy the slide, the swings and the large plastic house, he mostly just wants to sit on or in the police vehicles.

Another Halloween Parade

We took Carter to a little neighborhood kids parade this afternoon (the kind for walking, not watching). It was just a short walk through the neighborhood, ending at a playground at the school down the street from our house. Carter walked most of the way (we brought up the rear since he has a hard time staying on task, but we were proud of how far he walked).

The parade was a good excuse to try out his Halloween costume. He did a better mummy walk a couple of months ago when he was less steady on his feet, but he can still make it work!

Okay People

Several new postings below for your viewing pleasure. Just so you know, complaining isn't really the way to get new posts out of us. We like praise, flattery - and candy.

House Pics

Here it is!

The outside of the house

Carter running outside of the house

The front door to the house

The garage

A bit of the deck outside of the house (including the fence that Thomas put up last weekend, and that I sanded and sanded...)

Want to see the inside of the house? Come visit!

The inside won't be ready for blog viewing for, oh, probably a year or so...

Recent Boy Pics

At Piedmont Park with Aunt Ashley

Playing in a puddle at the Halloween parade
More puddle fun
Playing in a freshly swept leaf pile

Miscellaneous

At the Halloween parade (Carter is pant-less due to the earlier puddle-play).

Fun time with leaves on the deck.

Culture Shock: Halloween Parade

Yesterday, we hit the Halloween parade in Little Five Points. For the last several years, we've been going to the Village Halloween parade in Manhattan. Let me just give you four little reasons why Atlanta's parade is WAY better than Manhattan's (at least for us).

Here's what Atlanta's Halloween parade has going for it:

1 - The Atlanta parade is in the day time - and it is NOT on Halloween day.

2 - In Atlanta, they throw CANDY at the parade (err, they also throw condoms and other assorted things - but the point is - you get takeaways!).

3 - In Atlanta, you can actually SEE the parade.

4 - At the Atlanta parade, there are sanctioned beer vendors.