First Halloween

Of course we took our traditional first holiday bib photos this morning. Mommy had a hard time getting Graham to be still!

Trick-or-Treat!

Graham had lots of visitors come see him in his puppy costume. He got a lot of treats too! We had fun visiting with everyone. Thank you for all the fun stuff for Graham. It was more like Christmas than Halloween!

Here's out little puppy with Les Miles "The Mad Hatter" and Alice in Wonderland (aka Uncle Jared and Aunt Ginny).

Graham and Nana (Papa was at home sick.)

The Franks Family (Mommy and Daddy were wearing doggy ears to go with Graham's costume.)

Graham with Mommy and Daddy

Graham and Granddaddy (Grandmother had to work.)

Graham with Mrs. Julie and Mr. Joey

Graham wasn't too sure about Uncle Kevin in his Fred costume.

Graham had a good time clapping with Uncle Doug. He learned to clap in early October.

Eating puffs

At Graham's last well check-up the doctor said that within a month Graham would start eating puffs and probably cheerios. So at around 7 months we tried puffs and he'd just gag like he was choking every time. Recently, I noticed other kids a little older than he is could pick up small bits of food and feed themselves. Of course, you know this made mommy paranoid. Why won't my baby eat puffs? Why is he not picking food up with his hands yet? So we tried puffs again. This time he tried chewing them with his front teeth. He would also pick them up out of Mommy's hand and eventually get them in his mouth. Mommy was so proud!

Costume Parade

On Monday, the Baby Birds at the daycare did their costume parade. They put all the babies in strollers and took them in every room of the daycare. Graham was a happy trooper and didn't seem to mind his costume at all. Each day this week a different age level is doing a parade. What is amazing is how still and perfectly behaved the other kids were while the babies were on parade.

Here is Graham with his buddies...The monkey started daycare the week before Graham and the pig started on the same day. They are both older than Graham and walking but the teachers say that Graham keeps up with them!

I took this picture just to show the cute tail on the back of his costume.

Fall Pictures

This past weekend I took Graham to get his picture made in his first Halloween costume. You know Mommy is all about the firsts! He is one cute puppy! We got some other good picures too. The little pumpkin is the one he got on his fieldtrip.

This is Mommy's favorite.

First "Fieldtrip"

Yesterday Graham took his first fieldtrip. Each year his daycare blocks off the back of their parking lot and fills it with hay and pumpkins. Since he was going to the parking lot, I had to sign a fieldtrip permission form. Each baby got a tiny pumpkin. Here are some pictures of Graham playing with his pumpkin when he got home. It rolled like a ball. =)

Also, in other news, Graham now has his eye teeth. We have a little vampire just in time for Halloween!

Blue Ridge Day 3

On day three, we decided to get up early and beat the crowd to the apple house, Mercier's, which we later learned is the largest apple orchard in Georgia. We got up a little after 5, but of course on this morning when we wanted to leave early, Graham was still asleep at 7. We ended up getting him up and ready quickly and were at Mercier's around 8. There was no crowd yet! We ate breakfast in their cafe which was good, shopped, and tasted apples while waiting on the orchard tours to begin. (Graham and Daddy got matching camo John Deere caps). Most of the people on the tractor ride were doing "U Pick" but we just went along for the ride. Our guide, TJ was very enthusiastic and loved his job. (That is not sarcasm. He really was a good guide.) The orchard was very pretty and Graham fell asleep on the ride. It was our kind of tractor ride...no hay!







Since Graham was sleeping peacefully, we decided to go for a drive. We drove to Blairsville. The old court house is pretty but we didn't see much else and avoided the sorgum festival crowd. I then realized I had a driving tour printed off of the Blue Ridge website with me in the car. All I have to say is, we were not impressed. I told Brian that I think it is because we grew up in the country and we've seen prettier things in Blount County, AL. (I'm telling you, if Blount County hired Blue Ridge's marketing group, they could pull this off.) After that drive, we went back downtown and ate at one of the finer dining establishments, Harvest on Main. I decided to take their kids menu as an invitation for children and babies. There were several other small children there and while we did not have to wait on a table, we did have to wait on a high chair. The food was excellent! (finally, the kind of food we like to try on vacation). We took a nap at the cabin and went on another uneventful drive to McCaysville. Then we settled in for a relaxing night in the cabin.

The next day it was time to come home. We got back to Birmingham around 2 pm and watched the movie Cars on the Disney channel. Graham lost interest quickly but Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it. That brings us to the end of the vacation. The biggest lesson learned on the trip: Don't believe everything you read on a website! ;) Even though it wasn't everything we hoped for, we still enjoyed our time together as a family and making memories.

Blue Ridge Day 2

There was a German bakery that served brunch on Saturday. We went seeking schnitzel again with success this time. (Klingler's in Birmingham is better). We had planned to go to the apple orchard, but it was PACKED when we drove by it on the way to brunch. They had to get police to direct traffic due to all the people. So we decided to just walk around downtown Blue Ridge and head back to the cabin for football. It is a cute little town with a mixture of upscale stores (think Homewood type stores) and mountain souveneirs. It is also home to the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. There were TONS of people there to ride the train and downtown was also packed. (Who would have thought this little town would be this crowded?) My guess is that in its hayday, the town was a lot like Blount Springs used to be based on what I read. People used to ride the train to stay at the inn and bathe in the mineral water. It was called the "Switzerland of the South." Of course, when the railroad died out, so did the town. I must say that they have a fantastic marketing agency that really did a good job with their website. There are a lots of good restaurants in downtown that we hope to go back and try when Graham is old enough to stay with his grandparents. =) Graham wore his first pair of blue jeans for the first time.

Blue Ridge Day 1

Mommy and Daddy were in desperate need of a vacation so they planned a trip to Blue Ridge, GA thinking a mountain trip in October to see leaves, pumpkins, and apples in cooler weather would be fun and relaxing. Little did we know Blue Ridge is not really mountains and it was over 80 degrees. Our cabin didn't have a view, but it was extremely nice. In hind sight, we really could have done all of this on a staycation, but it was nice to get away. At home I would have been worried about cleaning or something around the house. Also, Graham was quite a handful for most of the trip so we didn't get to do that much relaxing! Technically Day 1 was spent packing and driving. By the time we found out cabin and unloaded the car the only non-fast food restauratn was Japanese with a lodge motif. Enough said. So I am going to officially call Day 1 our first entire day in Blue Ridge.

Here's Graham in our cabin...

We ate lunch on the Toccoa River and tried the local trout. Then we decided to drive to the pumpkin farm that advertised "pick in the field" and that was also recommended. It was not pick in the field as you can see in this picture.

Graham was asleep when we got there and never fully woke up. Needless to say, Mommy never got the adorable smiling pumpkin picture she envisioned. (I may just have to do a redo in Hayden. He's only a baby once...) Due to the extremely warm weather, the crowd, and mommy and daddy's allergy to hay, we decided not to do the hayride to see the pumpkin patch and the singing pumpkins.






We then drove to a state park that was practically next door to the pumpkin patch to see Amicalola Falls, the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River. Their website advertised a wheelchair and stroller accessible paved trail to the waterfall. The third time was a charm and we finally found the correct trail. The first trail was paved...although roughly and seemed very uphill to be wheelchair friendly. We finally got to a spot where a man kindly informed us the stroller was not going to work due to the 400+ stairs ahead. (They had also turned around upon that realization.) Hot and tired we decided to follow the signs for the waterfall overlook. That had to be the advertised trail. On the way up we saw the sign for "ADA Trail" or something to that affect. Mommy said she bet that was the trail (American Disability Act Trail). We went on to the overlook. Here's some pictures from the top.



We came back and stopped at the ADA trail. Sure enough it was paved with recycled tires and put a spring in your step. It was a pleasant "hike". Here are some pictures at the falls.



After the drive back to Blue Ridge, it was time for dinner. We went to a restaurant that sounded casual and good based on the name (Blue Ridge Brewery) only to discover it was white table cloth and reservations only. People were dressed casual but they sure did look at us strange with a baby in tow. Everything else on the restaurant list printed off the internet that sounded good also required reservations. We ended up a Sue's, aka "the best burger in town." It was a good old fashioned hamburger but not any better than Harry's or Hamburger Heaven for you Birminghamians.