Happy Halloween 2010!

Due to Halloween being on Sunday, we decided to take Carter through our neighborhood early so that we could keep him on his routine for the night. We were the first family out in the subdivision but quickly were joined by several other families. We didn't know how long Carter would last because as you can see from the 1st picture below, he was not happy about his head being covered. He quickly forgot about his hood and enjoyed ringing doorbells for treats. He didn't realize what people were putting in his Elmo basket until he was given his 1st sucker and then trick-or-treating was over! He spotted his sucker and wasn't going to be happy until he had it in his mouth! We made it back home just in time to answer the door for all the late trick-or-treaters. Carter loved answering the door with Joe and looking at all the costumes. His favorite part of the night was getting to eat 5 suckers! (I think we were the suckers for allowing it but this was definitely a rare treat!) We had a wonderful evening at home with our little "Geoffrey the Giraffe."

Not too fond of the hood!

Daddy and Carter

Mommy and Carter

Carter's 1st trick-or-treating house!

Ding-Dong! (He looks so big ringing the doorbell!)

Our neighbor put their entire bowl of candy down for Carter to take whatever he wanted! This is proof that we aren't the only ones who spoil him rotten!

Discovering the sucker!

Courtney insisted on getting Carter a Halloween basket with goodies! He got 2 new books, a Elmo dvd, 2 pumpkin suckers, and a giraffe plate set with silverware!

Checking out his treats from Mommy and Daddy!

Halloween Family Picture!

Our little giraffe with all the pumpkins Daddy carved!

Happy Halloween!

It's Pumpkin Carving Time!

Carter had been sick with strep the entire week before Halloween so we weren't able to carve our pumpkins until Saturday, October 30th. We thought he would love digging into a pumpkin with a big spoon and getting all the mush out but... we thought wrong! He was over it after about 5 minutes! Joe worked so hard designing the pumpkins so that each family member had a pumpkin to represent them! Joe drew a perfect Elmo for Carter, a power T (Go Vols!) for himself, and a happy jack-o-lantern face for Courtney. Here are the few pictures we got of Carter before he took off playing outside!

Checking out the insides!

Helping Daddy remove the mush!

He liked spooning the mush out a few times but then he was finished!

His favorite part of pumpkin carving time was taking the lid on and off!

Checking the lid for pumpkin ick!

Carter with the finished product... his Elmo pumpkin!

Fun at Oakes Farm!

On Saturday, October 16th, we took Carter to Oakes Farm in Corryton. We hadn't been there in several years so we really didn't know what to expect other than the corn maze and pumpkin patch. Oh my, was there so, so much more! We spent 3 hours letting Carter explore all they had to offer. The weather was absolutely perfect and Carter surpassed our expectations! Waiting in line for 30 minutes was well worth it, especially since the people in line as we were leaving had been waiting for over an hour! We can't wait to carve our pumpkin and set it out on the porch for trick-or-treaters!

As soon as Carter spotted a pumpkin, he tried to pick it up! He gave this one all his might but it wouldn't budge!

He didn't know which way to run first!

He finally found a little pumpkin that he carried around most of the time we were at the pumpkin patch. We debated letting him keep it since he choose that pumpkin but when we got a hold of it, we realized it had a split in the bottom and would soon be rotting! ICK!

Carter and his little pumpkin!

He had so much fun climbing on all the pumpkins and running from one to the next!

Our little man looking all grown up!

Since we had him sit on the pumpkins for a few pictures, he started testing them all out... with his bottom!

We sat up front on the hayride back to the main farm area. He LOVED to watch the tractor wheels!

Courtney took him down the slide the 1st time to see how he would react... he had a BLAST...

so Joe sent Carter down by himself the next time!

Joe took Carter down the enclosed slide since it was a little more scary!

Oakes Farm had a giant balloon pillow that you could jump on so Joe and Carter tried it out. It was a short experience because after a few jumps Carter was over it!

Carter loved the kiddie corn maze! He ran the entire way through it!

Before we ventured into the actual corn maze, we took a pit stop for lunch and found this sign. We thought it was so funny how still Carter stood by it. (side note: Oakes Farm was covered with sticks and Carter had to touch, pick up, carry, hand out to others as many sticks as his little hands could hold!)

Ready for some corn maze fun!

Boo at the Zoo 2010

On Friday, October 15th, we went with our good friends, The Brantleys, to Boo at the Zoo! Courtney searched high and low to find the perfect costume for Carter. We decided to dress him up as a giraffe since he loves them so much. We were impressed that he left his hood on the entire time while we were there. Carter had so much fun running around and looking at all the costumes! He wasn't quite sure as to what to do when someone handed him a treat. He didn't like to have more than one thing in his "Melmo" basket at a time. After walking through the treat trail, we headed to the Kid's Cove tent to let the little ones play and dance. Carter and Matthew had a blast together! Boo at the Zoo will hopefully continue to be our Halloween family tradition!

Our Family Picture!

Carter with his buddy Matthew!

Our wild animal!

Getting a treat! Carter would just hold his hand out instead of letting anyone put something in his basket.

Our little "Ge=Ge" ready to have some fun in the Kid's Cove tent!

Carter loves to dance! He started doing the chicken dance after he watched the big kids doing it!

Carter loving on Katie! He loves to hug her! It's so sweet!

Carter tried to throw the balls but he just wanted to run around with them!

Playing with Matthew

The Brantley Family

Carter didn't know what to think about the light-up, talking pumpkin! He was trying to look inside the mouth! He finally turned around to face the camera and yell "Cheese!".

Old MacCarter played some golf... e, i, e, i, o!

After the Aquarium, we went to Ripley's Old MacDonald's Farm Mini Golf. We were excited to let Carter play putt-putt for the 1st time. He loves to use his bat like a golf club to hit his baseball like a golfball. We chose a course that didn't have many people playing so that our wait time was short. We didn't know how long Carter would last but we made it through the entire course. We took turns playing with Carter and once he put his ball in the hole, he was ready to move on to the next. God gave us beautiful weather to share a beautiful day together as a family! We had a great day!

Carter tried his best to hit the ball! He would get frustrated so he would just pick up the ball and put it in the hole. This is exactly how Courtney played putt-putt with her family when she was little!

"Hole-In-One!"

"Daddy tried to show me how to putt!"

"I didn't like his orange ball being in the hole so I threw it out and put my ball in the hole!"

"Mommy thought that she would try to help me, too!"

Carter is pointing to his hole-in-one! Can you believe it? Our little man threw the ball and it went straight into the hole to win a free round of golf on our next visit!

After putt-putt, we let Carter play in the arcarde. We played skeeball and whack-a-mole. Since we didn't win too many tickets, Joe played a few rounds of basketball so that Carter could pick out some prizes! He chose a ball and a snake! Carter was so proud of his prizes that we had to get a picture!