Fall Series -- Last Race of the Season

Saturday was the last race of the fall series at the sailing club. We were out on the water as a safety/mark boat for the day's races. The day was cool but sunny. Not a lot of wind and waves, but enough to get in several races before the big oyster roast. Finn loves to be outside and loves to ride in the boat. For all you fussy mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, do not worry - we have a life vest just for Finn. Take a look at our little boater.

Charleston Aquarium

Finn made his first trip to the Charleston Aquarium last Thursday. A great time was had by all. Hopefully this will be the first of many excursions to see the big fish. I was shocked at how he really loved looking at the fish, otters, and rescued birds. Here he is looking at the big tank exhibit as we entered. All the lights filtering through the gigantic tank really grabbed his attention. I think he could have sat there all day.

Here is his friend Gus Twenge sitting by the big tank with his mama.

He loved watching the otters. They put on quite a show for all the boys.

Just a few extra shots from the proud mama.

--The End--

Halloween 2007

This was one of the most memorable halloweens ever.

We were a little behind the eight ball on getting a pumpkin -- Finn and I got to the pumpkin patch aka the Cataret Street Methodist Church front lawn, around 4 pm on Halloween (and we were not the only slack ones). The pickings were slim, but we managed to find a pretty pumpkin without any major leaking. We were so late getting our pumpkin that the volunteer gave us a little baby pumpkin for free. There was to be no cutting or carving of the pumpkin, but hey at least we managed to get one. The most important thing is that Finn liked his pumpkin.

We arrived home to get the house ready for all the trick or treaters i.e I put candy in a bowl, got out our evil looking witch, and moved the pumpkin from the kitchen to the front porch. The best part of the preparations was watching Finn take the candy out of the bowl over and over again. He would take out a piece (wrapped of course and not small enough to choke on) put it in his mouth, gum it a while and then drop it on the counter. (For proof take a look at the picture below.) It was quite entertaining for both of us. Warning for all you germ freaks out there -- I did not clean off the "gummed" wrappers before I put them back in the bowl. The assumption was made that most of our trick or treaters were going to be out of the gumming stage and into the eating stage. And what's a little shared spit between friends.

(Notice all the candy on the side of the bowl. Finn did that all by himself - no help from Mama.)

Soon we had him dressed and ready to trick or treat. We joined our neighbors down the street and proceeded around the neighborhood. We traveled in lowcountry style with a hay ride in a "mule". You could not ask for a better way to trick or treat, and it sure does beat walking all over the place. Finn made it to four houses then we headed home to put a very sleepy baby to bed.

Here are some extra pictures:

Finn's First Camping/Climbing Trip

We just got back from a 3-day camping/climbing trip up to Pisgah National Forest (just outside of Brevard, NC) and Finn did great. He loves being outdoors. We think that he just sees all the trees and sky as a really big mobile. It was a bit cold (40's at night), so we were concerned on how he would do sleeping. We put him in a very thick insulated fleece jumper with a hood and we never heard a peep out of him. Actually, he slept better in the mountains than he does most nights at home.

Between the baby and two dogs, we looked like the Clampitts, but we all had a great time. Our friends, Nick Guastaferro from New York and Genna Suggs from Asheville, joined us for the weekend and helped out with baby duties while we all took turns climbing.

Saturday, we headed up to the nose area and climbing the first pitches of The Nose and Sundial. That night we headed into Brevard and had dinner. The best part was the great little bar we found called The Square Root. It had the best drinks, and a really cool wood floor made from the center cross section of pine. (Too hard to describe, but if you are ever in Brevard take a look.) We soon retired to camp and lit a campfire. Well, Tripp lit the fire after several failed attempts by Nick and Lisa. (If you are ever lost in the woods make sure it is with Tripp, otherwise you are in for a very cold night.)

Sunday, we headed back to the southside of Looking Glass and climbed Bloody Crack and Short Man's Sorrow. A great day was had by all even though Nick got stung by a yellow jacket. It was all Hank's fault. He thought it would be fun to try an catch a few yellow jackets as they flew back into their nest. Needless to say, he was unsuccessful and poor Nick felt the brunt of Hank's effort. We soon headed back to good ole Beaufort.

Now that we know how easy it is to camp with the little man, we plan to try it more often. See the rest of the photos on snapfish.