Showering Kennedy

Last weekend the family loaded up and took a trip to Charlotte, NC to visit our very good friends the Crawfords. We absolutely love the chance to spend any time with them we can. This trip was centered around throwing a baby shower for Anna and her baby girl on the way Kennedy. We were fortunate to make it a long weekend so we could fit in everything Anna had planned for us.

 

First and foremost Avery got her ears pierced. I went back and forth on when to do this. After talking to lots of moms I decided it was the time and of course Anna insisted on taking her. She cried for a few seconds before receiving her very first lollipop which immediately ceased the tears and put a smile on her face. She has done remarkably well and doesn't even touch them or whine when I clean them. I am beyond impressed with how brave my little girl seems to be.

Watching her clean everything to get prepared...

Brave girl barely even shed a tear!

Yumm...my first lollipop!


Brave girl...

Next up was Miss Kennedy's baby shower that I threw for Anna along with her sister in law Mandy. The venue was so chic and Anna was beaming as we spoiled her and baby Kennedy with lots of family, friends, good food, and presents :) We cannot wait for the arrival of that sweet baby girl!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the weekend was spent going on our very first visit to Krispy Kreme, visiting a pumpkin patch, pedicures, cooking, lounging, and enjoying each others company. We had an incredible time with the Crawfords as usual and hated when it was time to leave. We would have way too much fun if we lived any closer :)

Courtney stuck around for the afternoon to enjoy a nice relaxing pedicure with Anna and I

Somehow I knew Krispy Kreme would be a hit for these two!

My absolute favorite picture of these two!

 

Off to the pumpkin patch with three little ones in tow...

Avery almost missed out by sleeping through the first half of the our trip to the farm.

 

He looks way to big in this picture...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Painting!


Someone really got into it...

 

Until next time!

Renaissance Festival

This was the second year we've brought Avery and Grayson to the Renaissance Festival but their first to truly experience it. Last year we just strolled them around and we had the fun. This year was SO much better because they were able to enjoy and take part in all the fun activities at the festival. It was oddly warm for October but that didn't stop us. They rode an elephant, ate LOTS of yummy food including their very own ice ball, got their face/arm painted, rode ponies, and went down a really big slide. They were absolutely exhausted and completely dirty by the time we left. I don't think any of us were able to stay up too late that night.

 

The frozen ice inside a orange peel may have been their favorite part. We got them one to split and you would have thought I had just hurt my child when I tried to get him to share it and give his sister a turn to taste it. I quickly decided to spend $3 more dollars so they could each have their own. They were in pure heaven...

Avery was holding on for dear life to let us know no one could take her ice away.

He was saying 'YUM' in this shot

Happy boy

 

Picking out what they wanted painted.

 

Grayson had a dragon painted on his arm.

 

Avery had a unicorn painted on her face.

 

The whole family rode the elephant.

Grayson loved the elephants.

...and playing games with Daddy.

Fun with Suz on the slide (just a little bit scared).

Yeah...pretty messy by the time we left. But I'd say they had a little bit of fun!

 

Our Last Month...

Another catch up…

In August we were thrilled to have my cousin Meredith and her family come visit us all the way from New Hampshire.  We had not yet met Dominick in person and we could not wait to get all the cousins together. We had a wonderful time that passed entirely too fast. The little ones enjoyed their time together playing and checking each other out. Avery was enamored by her little cousin, always wanting to pat him and give him toys. We were able to get off to downtown Annapolis for lunch and some sightseeing and even had some time to show Dominick our neighborhood beach. We can’t wait for our next reunion!

 

At the end of September we went to Virginia to celebrate our favorite Aunt Suzie’s birthday…

I couldn’t wait to get the kiddos to the National zoo now that they are so into animals. I have SO many fond memories of going there myself when I was growing up.  I was waiting for the weather to cool down a little and school to be back in so the crowds wouldn’t be as large. We found the perfect day in September to go on a Friday with our friend Reece and her mommy Abbey. The dads were able to pop over and meet us after work on Friday afternoon.

 

Next up was my birthday weekend…

I had been training for weeks to run my very first Half Marathon.  On September 14^th (why not do it on my birthday) I ran the Navy/ Air Force Half Marathon in Washington D.C. with my very best friend Ren and my co-worker Jennifer. 13 miles on my 31^st birthday! I’m not gonna lie, the training was pretty rough considering I had never really pushed myself beyond my comfort zone of running about 4 or so miles. Not to mention I was training in the months of July and August…ugh (H-O-T and H-U-M-I-D), but I did it. My long runs leading up to the race were pretty rough but the actual half really wasn’t so bad. The weather was amazing, a nice 70ish degree day, no humidity and the adrenaline of all the racers coupled with running alongside my best friend made for an awesome first half. I definitely got the itch and cannot wait to sign up for my next race…and maybe a full marathon someday…maybe! After the race we all met for brunch followed by a quiet afternoon of resting and hanging out with my family. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.

 

So, that about sums up the last month in the crazy life of the Hatchers. It doesn’t look like we will be slowing down anytime soon, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!