Turkey Day

This year for Thanksgiving we all headed to NC to see grandma and grandpa muffin. Peter and Kate were also able to join in the festivities. But first things first, nap time. Nick is so spoiled when he visits grandma and grandpa. Grandma took a nap with Nick and let him sleep in grandpa's spot in bed!

Nick had tons of fun playing with everyone. He loved all of the attention and the cool toys at grandma's house.

Grandpa muffin made sure to share of all his wisdom with Nick. Do you think that they're related? I see a lot of Dewey coming out in Nick in this picture...

Peter and Kate brought delicious macaroons from NYC with them. Yummy!
On Thanksgiving Day we decided to get a 10k (6.2 mile) run in before stuffing ourselves. So we bundled up and headed to the race.
Kate made sure to beat Peter across the finish line, winning a $5 bet from good old grandpa muffin.
Nick loves Uncle Peter and had tons of fun playing with him throughout the weekend.

Around Arkansas

We definitely enjoyed the mild fall weather this year. Nick loves wearing his sunglasses lately. He's one cool dude.

We decided to take Nick to Turpentine Creek, which is a large cat sanctuary. It's hard to believe but these animals used to be kept as pets....


Nick loved looking at all of the big cats, so much so that we could not really get him to look at the camera to pose for a picture. This is shocking, I know.





We were at the preserve for feeding time, which is quite the experience. For the most part the animals eat raw meat that has been donated by local companies. For safety, the staff throw the meat through a hole in the cage that is just large enough.
After the food is in the cage, the cats enjoy a tasty dinner...

Halloween 2011

This year the day before Halloween, we went to the children's party at my work. I was in charge of taking all of the portraits, so needless to say Nick wanted his picture taken several times.

At the party Nick got his face painted with a ghost! He loved it!


I even got a chance to pose for a few pictures with Nick while he proudly displayed the ghost on his cheek.




The next day, Curious George (that is what Nick decided he was for Halloween) and I went trick or treating. We went in our neighborhood and met up with some other boys that he goes to school with. He loved going around to all of the houses getting candy. He got so much candy in his pumpkin that I had to carry it! Happy Halloween!

West Oswald/Last Day

Earlier in the week some of our family had gone for surfing lessons at West Oswald Beach and they told us how amazing the walk down to the beach was, so naturally we had to check it out. The walk down to the beach has all of these huge trees that are lush and green - quintessential Oregon!

We all had fun posing by and in the different trees and tree formations. It's seriously crazy how big some of the trees are.

This was one of the most interesting beach experiences that I have ever had. It was incredibly foggy when we got down to the beach and there was not much visibility. There was a really cool overturned dead tree on the beach.
Nick decided that if I could climb up it, he could too. He seriously has no sense of fear...


Later that night, Gr'Auntie Becky spoiled all of the boys with ice cream sandwiches.
Nick, Andrew and Jeremy are seriously so cute together! Nick loved handing out with them, playing with them and trying to be like them.

The Nelson/Rudin/Hansen clan, and of course Nick is not looking at the camera...
The last night that we were at the beach, we had a bonfire. It was super foggy that evening, as it had been earlier in the day at West Oswald. Nick loved playing in the sand in his PJs.


He especially loved rolling in the sand... he didn't mind that it got all over him, his clothes, etc...
Thank you to our wonderful family for an amazing visit! We cannot wait to see you all again soon and spend more time catching up, hanging out and just plain relaxing!