Colonial Dorchester State Park

On Friday while Dana and my mom were wedding planning, the rest of us hit up Colonial Dorchester State Park, which is a few miles from my parents' house. Its an historic site that dates back to the 1700s.  Intact remains include a brick bell tower of a church, a fort used in the revolutionary war (in the begining by the Americans and in the end by the British), and a cemetery.   I loved the history -- the dogs and the boys loved the open space to run around.

Miles had fun playing photographer.  Was glad that my dad was there to capture it!

As always, Uncle Jason provided serious entertainment.  From shooting cannons (with tennis balls) to sword fighting (with sticks) to creating his own Swamp Monster, they boys were delighted.  Noah even let Jason deck him out (photo of Noah by my dad).

It was a fun spot -- look forward to running around there again!

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thanksgiving day was great. The food was delicious and the company - perfect. Yet again, so much to be thankful for this year.

The boys and I hung out at my parent's neighborhood playground in the morning. The boys love playing there and I love knowing that Lindsey played in the same spot when she was Miles' age.  

Griffin actually said, "mommy, take my picture!" and then posed on this little piece of equipment. Love it.

We walked back to my parents' house through the greenway. It was a beautiful day.

Love the face you can see in my dad's old birdhouse.

Lindsey and Jason were home. They just got a Nikon D3000 and a 35mm 1.8 lens.  We were taking similar pictures with similar settings and then comparing photos. It was fun.  If you guys move closer to Charlotte we can do stuff like this more often!  :)

While we were busy snapping pictures, Dana whipped up an amazing pie crust from scratch. Talk about rock star. (Photo credit to the Schuberts)

Dana is also in the double-digits of her wedding countdown so there was definitely a bunch of wedding chatter. (Photo credit to my dad)

(Lindsey and Dana are smiling, but are they really thinking - "stop being so bossy, Brooke?" I have sort of a know-it-all face here and am I really slightly pointing my finger?? I think its one of the curses of the the eldest-child-DNA... :)

More wedding surfing.  Mom with her tea...getting sleepy...but hanging on.... (Seriously, how were weddings planned before the internet? :)

The boys LOVED playing Wii. I have many more pictures of the fun -- but most are full of pjs and bed-head. :)

Here is some of my favorite artwork from the season. Noah's turkey said that he was thankful for "my dad; my baby; my jammies; my lovies; my mommy" (I'm sure he just ran out of feathers for Miles!). Miles' turkey said that he was thankful for "pop and gram because they have lots of toys; my mom and dad because my dad wrestles with me and my mom snuggles with me; and my brothers Noah and Griffin. I am thankful for Noah because I play with him and I am thankful for Griffin because he hugs me." Griffin didn't have anything listed on his turkey but I'm sure he'll be full of lists next Thanksgiving. This year we ate up his multi-colored hand imprint modified to be a turkey. Its the cutest.

Busy Browns

I'm not sure what happened, but life as has gotten insanely busy. Mike's been in Boston all week; I've been to Miles' school several times to volunteer; we've had play dates, after-school activities, Miles' school holiday program; my car battery died for 20 hours (my amazing friend Shawne figured out the jumper cables and saved the day -- which unfortunately didn't save me from an hour+ wait in the dealership with 2 kiddos this morning...just to learn that the battery is fine now, but will probably die again...but they can't replace it under the warranty unless its currently not working), and I got my first mammogram (I know, too much information -- but, dude, it was a big deal and thankfully much easier than I thought it was going to be).

Tomorrow I head off for on an annual dinner club weekend in the mountains. I cannot wait. I long for time with these precious girlfriends and soak up every moment that I get with them. Heading back on Sunday to help host a wedding shower for Dana. Can't wait to celebrate her hitching up with Brad! Love them both!

Who knows how long it will be until I begin to blog about Thanksgiving and everything else I'm snapping pictures of?! Until then.....

Here is one of the pictures that Hope Bray took of our family. Will post more next week.

Stay tuned to hear about our first visit with Lindsey and Jason's dog Nacho....

Stay tuned to see what Mike thought was so funny....

Stay tuned to hear about my crazy (I-love-him-so) brother-in-law....

Stay tuned for more i-n-s-a-n-e cuteness from Miles' 1st grade program (bottom row, red shirt). Thanks for joining us tonight, Aunt Dana!

Stay tuned to see how we're getting into the spirit for Christmas!

Ho! Ho! Ho!  From our busy house to yours!

I ♥ Faces: Tooshies

No faces this week -- just the buns.  :)  Check out more super cute tooshies at iheartfaces.com!

A Few More Favorites from the Weekend

LOVE these kiddos!!

Brown/Bailey Weekend

We had a great weekend with Mike's parents, his sister, Shannon, and our niece, Mason.  I couldn't ask for better in-laws or a better bonus sister.  My only wish is that we all lived in the same town so that we could spend much more time together.  Already counting the days until we'll be together again in December.  Here are a few of our weekend activities: 

Creating Sidewalk Galleries

Making Wishes

Playing with Grandma Peggy -- checking out moss, making "soup" out of acorns, leaves and rocks (yum!)

Awesome Cousin Time (super fun Aunt Shannon, too!)

Experimenting with Wax Lips and Candy Treats from Grandma (Noah and Mason got a kick out of it.  Check out his face for confirmation that Miles opted out.  Cracks me up that Mason's lips are upside down.)

Lots of Wedding Talk! Dana asked the kids to take part in the wedding ceremony. Miles is still processing the request; Noah was thrilled, especially after learning that it might come with a gift of sorts. Mason immediately envisioned herself in her fancy red dress (I have an adorable vision of the boys in black chuck taylors with their wedding gear). Precious, so very special, and so thoughtful of Dana & Brad. (As a side-note, Dana and I cracked up when she arrived wearing her new favorite sweater, which is also my new favorite sweater. Linds -- plan on a shopping trip, pronto.)

Watching Hilarious Videos. The kids checked out one of Shannon & Mason's favorite dance videos on youtube and Miles' dance video posted on our blog. Insanely hilarious.

Making Christmas Lists (I'm not sure that anything was left uncircled)

Hanging with Grandpa Bob.  Somehow this is the only picture I took of Mike's dad.  The funny part is that after I took it, Griffin asked to see it (on the screen of my camera).  I said, "who's that?"  He said, "that's bob!"  Way to skip all formalities, my friend.  Too funny.

You can see more pictures from the weekend on my flkr page.