Winter Wonderland

Who would have thought there would ever be a winter in the Carolinas? After 10 months of gorgeous weather the cold 'season' has finally arrived. No snow yet, but freakin' cold temperatures that call for a hat. As turkey leftovers and Christmas lights go hand in hand here, everywhere you go these days Christmas lights are guiding the way. We could have introduced Lia to the craziness of the Holidays light bulb by light bulb, sort of the gentle way. Instead, we brought her to a twinkling winter wonderland.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden has set up 600,000 lights in their trees, bushes, and exotic plants! You don't need to be a toddler to be truly impressed. Though no one can react more enthusiastically: "Wow! Wow! Wow!" is what Lia said before daring to step into the magical garden.

After recovering from temporary blindness we participated at a workshop for holiday crafts. Lia, an A-student in her art class, had no problem fixing two potpourri Christmas tree balls for her grandmothers.

A well spent winter day, I'd say.

Turkey Day

"Gobble, gobble!" That's the sound a turkey makes, and also our daughter while gobbling down the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner that Brandy had lovingly prepared all morning. Brandy, mother of two and host of eleven and a half hungry mouths pulled off a perfect Thanksgiving feast. And Lia loved every bit(e) of it.


And also her Daddy's bites...

Lorenzo and Lia drawing birds while digesting those they just ate:



What would Thanksgiving be without homemade pumpkin pie?

Aaaah.... the satisfaction after a perfect meal. Gobble.

Thank you, Brandy and Fabio, for making us feel at home. Burp.

For the Cardarelli's view of a great Turkey Day and pictures of the international group of gobblers as well as of a digestive football game click here: Gobble, burp, hut, hut, hut!!

Sweet memories portrait style

See the sand running through Lia's fingers? That's the way life runs, especially now with our departure getting closer. It's time to turn the page! Thanks to Tamara Lackey, we have some sweet, sweet memories to take with us and embellish those new blank pages.

Tamara has posted a couple of these gorgeous images on her photography blog! So please click on and check out
Little Lia in the Outer Banks

Creating memories

This Sunday I was documenting our weekly routine of hiking through the wilderness. Meaning: we were enjoying the walking trails of our neighborhood park, but that doesn't have the same venturesome ring as:


"Remember when we used to hike through the wilderness on Sunday afternoons?" Now that sounds just right.

A documentary snapshot of my two explorers:

And some gorgeous pictures by star photographer Brandy Cardarelli that add the perfect glitz and glow to our adventurous November memory:

And another sweet autumn addition. Lia's latest art project:

Lia has a new President!

is his name.

When Brandy finally cast her vote (this morning while the Peanuts and I had an awesome time at Kindermusik), a play voting station had been set up for children. Hurray for change!