Why We Love Chuck (reason #186)

We moved in to our new house knowing that the backyard was pretty much a dirt bowl (mostly due to the previous owners lack of maintenance and the fact that they had 3 large dogs). Thankfully Chuck could see past all the dirt and envision greener days ahead. Not without lots of back breaking work! After much research Chuck headed to the garden store to find just the right combination of top soil, fertilizer, and seed to ensure a beautiful green backyard.

The following Sunday Chuck headed out (all on his own!) to spread 100 bags of top soil, followed by fertilizer and grass seed. Then we waited (and watered and PRAYED!). Low and behold we began to a haze of green start to appear! And now four weeks later.....we have our a beautiful bowling green!

Thanks, Chuck! Charlotte and I will sure enjoy our backyard come spring :)

Here's the process.......first layout 100 bags of dirt.....

Next, open bags of dirt.....
Spread dirt......
Spread seed and fertilizer....

Wait & water......viola, grass!!

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

Everyone enjoyed our hike at Calvert Cliffs so much that we thought we'd make it a Sunday tradition this fall. So this past Sunday we went to Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, only about 20 minutes from our house. It was really neat, with all kinds of boardwalks over the marsh. Plus, a pretty hike through the woods to the other end of the marsh. Once again Charlotte had a ball! I even took a turn carrying her. I had a tear in my eye walking through the beautiful fall woods with the sounds of Charlotte babbling away on my back. It was one of the sweetest moments, I'll never forget it.

Mom's turn!
My ponytail was used as a handle.

We saw this beaver dam, but not its resident!

Outtakes

It's always hard to pick just one picture for her b-day month....so here's a few more funny ones from our baby photo shoot. I am sure Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kelley and Aunt Lisa will appreciate all the extra photos of Char :)

Happy Seven Month Birthday, Charlotte!

First Pumpkin Patch

I love this time of year. Even before Charlotte was born I was looking forward to our first fall with her, the chilly weather, leaves changing colors, football season, yummy local apples, and, of course, pumpkin patches! These pictures were taken at our local garden store which had a Fall Festival this weekend. They had lots of pumpkins and all kinds of activities for little kids (I have a feeling Charlotte will really love the pumpkin bowling, pony rides and corn maze in the years to come!). This year it was mostly about sitting in the pumpkin patch and taking pictures. Charlotte did pick out a gourd which we bought for her. She carried around that gourd the whole time, not letting go for a minute (she cried when we took it away for a just a moment!).

Fun with Paper!

It looks like Christmas will be lots of fun this year......if this is any indication!

(Thanks Grandma Babs for the awesome care package for Charlotte, which included this fun pink tissue paper!)

Calvert Cliffs State Park

Today was the perfect fall day for a hike. Chuck, Charlotte and I decided to check out Calvert Cliffs State Park. We took a four mile round trip hike through the woods out to a beautiful, rugged Chesapeake Bay beach. Along the way we came across a very cool marsh with hundreds of turtles! Charlotte loved riding on Chuck's back. She babbled, laughed, squealed and smiled the whole four miles. She was interested in everything around her. At the beach I let her down to play in the sand....she loved that too. Charlotte is a little nature lover :)

Charlotte playing in the sand (all the background noise is the surf!).

Turtles in a row! There were probably 100 logs like this in the marsh....several hundred turtles!

Turtle on the trail.
BIG snapping turtle....it was about 18 inches long!