Ama, Grandpa, and All-You-Can-Eat Candy!

The day after cousins headed back to the big city, Ama & Grandpa made the trip south.  They arrived on Halloween.   It was great having them here to trick or treat with us - especially since Ama even brought a costume (she dressed as our very own Nora Cate!).  It was a very dark and stormy night, and we only were able to get out to a few homes on our street.  But our little shorty didn't know the difference.  Besides, that left less candy to have "disappear".  We did have a free-for-all on the night of Halloween and who knows how much chocolate the kid consumed!  

Welcome, Ama!

Our two Nora Cates

Heading out to trick or treat

  

Our little monster.

"Get this hat off of me!!!" says Nora Cate

Sharing candy with Grandpa

No need to stop eating candy for photos!

Feeling better once the costume is off.

Back to the library for a magic show.

The world's most annoyed bunny.

Lunch downtown

Ama and Grandpa both bonding with the newest grandbaby!!

Again, it was another lovely time.  We were so glad that family could come down and spend some time with us.  We can't wait to make it up there sometime in the spring!!

Cousins!

At the end of October, we had a great visit from Ed, Theresa, Isla and Ashley.  It had been way too long since we'd been able to get together...in fact, a year had passed!!  Max and Isla had a lot of fun when we got together to celebrate a family wedding back in Oct 2012, so we hoped that they'd have a great time this time too.  I almost couldn't stand how cute they were together!!!  They're little besties.  It definitely made us realize we'll have to make the visits a more frequent occurrence.

We had fair weather while they were here...not perfect, but we got to spend a lot of time outside.  It's crazy for us southern-non-city-dwellers to imagine what it was like for our Manhattanite cousins to walk outside to a huge backyard.  I am sure Isla wondered where the trains, sidewalks, etc were.  We can't wait to introduce Max to the big city - hopefully in the spring.

Without further adieu...a photo dump of all our shenanigans.   

Outside playtime

Ashley being very interested in baby NC

Max & Isla taking a "rest"

Shelby Park!!

Monkey's Treehouse

big helpers

airplane, and the shirtless southern cousin

wagon ride

story time at the library

more outside play

Teesa with the kids

one of a million attempts to get a photo of the kids.  I think capturing a group of wild monkeys on film would easier!!!  Maybe next year :)

We absolutely cannot wait to get together again!!