New Favorite Song

After hearing this song the first time, Cooper couldn't stop singing it - and shaking his bootie ;-). In fact, we all enjoyed hearing Rising Appalachia so much on Friday night at LEAF that we made sure we saw their second performance on Saturday morning as well. Their music falls into no single genre, so I won't even try to describe it. Their website gives some background, though: "Born to a fiddlin' mother and a folk-sculptor father, they were raised with old-time mountain melodies as their lullabies. But, having also grown up amidst the underground hip hop and spoken word movements of the urban South, the group has heavy influences in indie-folk, vintage jazz, political hip hop, and roots music from around the world.".

Here's a quick glimpse into their musical stylings, political leanings... and acute sense of humor.

LEAFing around

Bundled up for an early morning walk.

A foggy mountain morning.
Happy LEAFers.
Contemplating one's dewy shoes - an early morning distraction.
And, speaking of LEAF...

Another Great Year at LEAF

Once again, the good people who host the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) provided an amazingly enjoyable experience for the whole family. Whether it was hula-hooping on the lawn by the lake, dancing to the fantastic music of any number of artists, or playing with the other kids in the Kids' Village, LEAF was non-stop entertainment.

The view from the campground just above our campground - complete with artwork from some of the kids in attendance.
Our home-away-from home for the weekend. Not a bad view, eh?
Our little musician got in on the act.
The nights and mornings were a little chilly. We all slept with our hats on Saturday night. Luckily, the days warmed up pretty quickly.

Great Pumpkin Pillow

Hey, Charlie Brown. I hope you're not still looking for the Great Pumpkin. He's all mine, now...

Punkin' Patch

Cooper, Carter and Louisa recently hit the local pumpkin patch for a day of fun.

If you're gonna get lost, who better to have with you than your best friend.
Sometimes it's fun to just flop down in the hay.
We even got to ride a train.
If you look back at posts from last October, you'll see a similar picture. Look how much our little guy has grown!

CROP is for Family and Friends

Mommy - looking good!

Cooper appears to be enjoying the day.
Family portrait
After the walk, our friends came over to join us for a delicious pizza dinner. After dinner, the boys decided to take in a movie.

What a great day.

CropWalking with Carter

On October 12th, we joined Carter and his family for the 2008 CROP Walk (scroll down the linked page to see a photo of us from last year - hey, we made the front page!). Aside from raising money for a good cause, we had a great time. We joined the drum circle beforehand and helped make some music to get people excited before the 4-mile walk.

From the pictures below, taken after the walk, you would never know that these two walked almost the entire 4 miles (at least 3.75 miles of it - we had to take one shortcut so that we weren't left too far behind - walking with 3 year-olds, after all, can involve a certain amount of dawdling...).

You Gotta Love This Song

Just Hanging Out

During a rare weekend at home, it's nice to just lounge around the house...

... or find a good place to curl up.

Bug Fest 2008

The fun at Bug Fest 2008 was as varied as the colors on a butterfly's wings. One of the highlights was the Arthropod Olympics. The two boys faced this challenge head-on (and thorax-on and abdomen-on). Here the busy bees gather pollen in preparation for making honey.

After the competition was over, the victors show off their medals.
In addition to the Olympics, there were plenty of other activities to keep us occupied. There were lots of neat exhibits (the bee beard was quite a hit!), and some cool "jumping things". Among the more popular features at Bug Fest was Cafe Insecta. It offered quite a few culinary delights. I'll give you one guess who gobbled up the Hush Grubbies and the Ant-chilada...
Mmmm, Mmmm Good
Whether you ingested insects or not, everyone agreed that Bug Fest was a good time!

Anniversary in Asheville

We spent a wonderful weekend in Asheville celebrating our fifth anniversary. Our hosts at Bent Creek Lodge were fantastic, even calling around to find a gas station for us in the midst of the Great Southeast Gas Shortage of 2008. Delicious breakfasts and a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere mean we'll be back as soon as possible.

A back deck made for afternoon reading (or relaxing).

Bubble Man

With his faithful canine sidekick, Bubble Man (note the cape) is always ready to protect the homefront.

Pullen The Train

A recent outing to Pullen Park meant that we got to play on the trains. First we got to ride the perimeter of the park on the small-scale version.

And then we got to play on the full-size version.
Sorry, but it's hard to resist an orange and red subject in the evening sun.

Settling for Bronze

A little bit too much enthusiasm meant we were not able to defend our past hot dog toss gold medal at the Dog Olympics. We had our form almost perfected, but a little too much forward lean combined with a high toss resulted in a spot on the podium two steps below where we wanted to be. Luckily, we don't have to wait another four years for our next chance, the vet school does this every year...

We're Getting The Band Back Together...

... and it's a good thing we put that addition on the house - we needed the extra room for band practice.