NaBloPoMo 3/30: Halloween (part 2)

The weekend before Halloween, we traveled to NC to spend time with my family. We did this last year as well and it was a lot of fun! It's actually a good weekend to travel (since it's not as crazy expensive as many holidays are), and it's a great time of year to visit. I always took the beautiful autumn leaves for granted as a child, but now I really appreciate getting to see them!

We flew out on Friday morning, and spent what turned out to be a drizzly afternoon hanging out at Nana's house. We picked Aidan up from school and he and Carter had a chance to play.



In this picture, Carter was pulling every toy out of the toy box and explaining to Aidan what each one was. I don't think he realizes that Aidan gets to play at Nana's house a lot and is very familiar with the toys!

Later that evening Donna and Emma came over and the kids had a lot of fun playing. Papa Rick scared them with flashlights in the dark, and it was a great beginning to our Halloween weekend.

On Saturday morning we headed up to Mount Airy, where we saw my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle (Papa) Lane, Carter's great-grandparents (Nana Anna and Papa Marion), and my Uncle Scott and Aunt Pam. Scott has a landscaping business, and he had been promising to take Carter for more rides on his equipment. Carter had been looking forward to this for a long time, and was so excited!

Here they are on the skid steer:





And after that they got on the excavator and dug a big hole in the ground:



I think Carter was actually helping work the shovel in this picture:





Here are Carter and Uncle Scott hanging out on the couch together afterwards. Carter had so much fun! I mean seriously, it's not every little construction-vehicle-obsessed kid that gets to ride on that equipment for real!



After the visit, we'd planned to stop by the awesome Mount Airy Tractor Company Toy Store in downtown Mount Airy. Carter had also been looking forward to this for a while. But when we got there, it was closed! At 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon! We were shocked, and Carter was simply devastated. He melted down right at the door, and was inconsolable for several minutes. I felt so awful for him -- I knew how much he'd been looking forward to it. Heck, I'd been looking forward to it, and it's not like we get to Mount Airy that often.

So we got back in the car and decided to go to WalMart in the hopes of finding a tractor toy. We passed a Tractor Supply on the way, and I remembered that they have a great toy section, so we went in there. Carter got to play with some awesome toy tractors and picked out a couple of little ones to buy. We are definitely making a point to go back there at Christmas, and I'll call to check the hours first!

I'll continue with pictures and such about our Halloween weekend tomorrow. Right now I'm tired and it's getting late. :-)