Pumpkin Carving

We got 2 Pumpkins on our trip up to Burts Farm.  We decided to carve them Halloween weekend to make sure they were ready for the Trick- or-Treaters. Actually, Bryan carved them.  I just scooped out the mush & pumpkin seeds.  Bryan has always been a master pumpkin carver.  He found a couple of stencils online & just went to town.  Brody was as big as one of the pumpkins we got.  See if you can guess what characters he picked!

If you guessed Woody & Buzz from Toy Story, then you are correct!! Cool, huh??

Pumpkin Patch!

So, we did  your typical 'fall' activity & headed up to a Pumpkin Patch last week.  Bryan took the day off on Friday so we headed up north.  Really glad we didn't try to go up there on a Saturday! 
We went to to Burts Farm in Dawsonville (N. Georgia)& then went over to Amicalola Falls for a bit. We got some great pics!  I love getting to experience all of the new things with Brody!  I'll post some more pics when we carve our pumpkins!  We got a huge one!

Rice Cereal!

On Sunday night we decided to attempt giving Brody his first solid food.  On the menu: Rice Cereal.  He did pretty good! He swallowed the food, and towards the end was leaning towards the spoon.  Of course he got messy but that's the name of the game. 

The rest of the vacation!

The rest of the time we spent in Orlando, we went to Downtown Disney & Gatorland.  Gatorland was so cool.  We thought it was going to be laim, but we were quite surprised.  They had a ton of alligators, crocodiles, and exotic animals. Not only that but the things were scary!! We saw 2 shows, one where a guy wrestled with a gator and another where they dangled chickens over an alligator swap to see how high they could get them to jump.  That definitely had Brody's attention! 
Downtown Disney was awesome too.  We decided to forgo buying tickets to Disney World and Epcot this time.  We figured we'd wait until next time so Brody could at least partly understand what was going on.  Downtown Disney was fun because not only is it HUGE but there are tons of shops, restaurants and entertainment.  There were people everywhere, which surprised me being a Tuesday night in September.  I couldn't imagine being there during the summertime or spring break.   Anyways the rest of the time we drove over to Daytona Beach.  We stayed in a nice condo (courtesy of my parents being owners) right on the beach.  We just stayed at the pool & beach the whole time.  There's not a whole lot to do in Daytona & there are parts of it that are kinda trashy.  The beach is nice, but don't go there if you're expecting an exotic vacation.  Brody's first time on the beach was fun, and of course he passed out again!  Quite Funny.
Oh, as a side note, if you go anywhere on a trip, make sure you check Trip Advisor.  We ate at some crappy restaurants in Orlando (think nasty Seafood Buffets) becuz we were just tired & didn't want to look around.  But then we got smart & found the Trip Advisor App on our cell phones and found the most awesome local restaurants to eat at.  The cool thing about Trip Advisor is that they rate everything (restaurants, hotels, attractions, etc) for the place you are vacationing at.  Not only that but there are tons of reviews too.  For instance, Gatorland was ranked higher then Disneyworld on the list of things to do in Orlando.  Go figure.  We also found this great Thai place in Daytona that believe it or not was owned by a white guy.  Some of the best Thai food we have ever had, and we would've never found it had we not read Trip Advisor.  So there's my advice folks, USE IT!

Kacy got him this sunhat.  It didn't fit his head & he looked like a Redneck baby.  He had just spit up in this pic.

Rain Forest Cafe @ Downtown Disney

Daytona Beach

Water put me to sleep again!

Sandcastle Bryan made- a replica of his 300Z



Lazy River



Dear Sammy

Dear Sam-
4 years ago today I could barely recognize Kacy's voice when she called to tell me you were gone.  The subsequent minutes & hours over the next few days are forever etched in my memory.  I remember every single detail as if it were yesterday. The decisions that had to be made, the conversations, the tears,  the people that were around, all of this centered around the fact that you had died.  I rejoice in the fact that you are with your savior in Heaven.  The peace that this brings is truely beyond understanding.  I now know what it means to grieve with hope.
I understand that there are things that you will miss here on earth now that you are gone. One of those things is the opportunity to know 2 very special little people. And so I would like to  introduce you to your beatuiful neice, Linkan and your handsome nephew Brody.  I absolutley can't WAIT to tell them all about you.  We all love and miss you 'Uncle' Sammy. 

Brody Christian Ripple
May 22, 2010

Linkan Samantha Postlethwait
November 17,2009

Pool Baby!

This was the first time Brody was able to get in the pool.  We got him a pool floatie, which was way too big for him, but it worked anyways.  He loved the water.  It seemed to calm him down.  He loved it so much, that well he kept falling asleep in the raft!



Cousins!

 Brody got to meet his cousin Linkan for the first time!  The thing that is so cool is that they are only 6 months apart.  I'm stoked they get to grow up together, and hope they become great friends! We drove down to Orlando and met Ben, Kacy & Linkan for Labor Day weekend.
Check out the pics!  They are priceless!