O Canada!

I had to present at a conference in Montreal in late October. What a good excuse for us to go visit Marcus! Actually, we couldn't have made the trip without Marcus- he was essential in booking our flight, our hotel, and let us stay at his house while we were in Ottawa. Of course, we couldn't have made the trip without our parents either- Nana and Papa stayed with Tyler for the first 3 days and Grandmama and Grandaddy stayed with him for the last 2 days.

I went to the conference for a good chunk of Thursday and Friday and Andrew met me for lunch and hung around at the hotel going to the gym and taking multiple showers. Each evening we had free drinks (thanks to Marcus again!) at the hotel bar. Marcus and Michele met us in Montreal on Friday night and we all stayed there for the next day. They showed us around the town. Then they took us to Ottawa so we could see where Marcus lives.

This is the canal that runs through Ottawa. I can't quite remember the story behind it, but I think it has something to do with an escape route for when the Americans attack

Yes, this is a black squirrel.

The squirrels are black in Canada.

Here we are in front of Parliament in Ottawa

Before climbing Mount Royal in Montreal.

Had to get a picture of a maple leaf.

Overlooking Montreal

Marcus and Michele in Montreal

Also had to take a picture of this statue

No caption needed

Can't visit Canada without going to a hockey game!

It was a fabulous trip- it even snowed! It was great to present at an 'international' conference, but even better to get to spend some time with Marcus. 5 days was too long away from Mister Man though. Come day 4 Mommy started to break down. We missed our Mister and were eager to get back home.

A Fair to Remember

We had quite a busy October. November hasn't slowed down too much, but the end of my semester is in sight, so hopefully we'll get some much needed rest soon. Here's a recap from our fun day at the State Fair (last month). We started the day with an early morning breakfast of ham biscuits and hot chocolate.

I just had to take a picture of the newest "ride" at the fair- Hampster Races. There was loud techno music playing to set the scene.

We took Tyler to the petting zoo to feed and pet some of the animals.

Grandaddy, let's go over there and see that llama

Ahhhhkkkkk, it's going to eat me!

We've been working on 'gentle' for a while.

Looks like we finally got it

Is that a camel?

I thought we were at the NC State Fair.

Off to the Pig Races after the petting zoo. There were a few different types of pigs racing that day...

and some duck races...

But the best race was the Vietnamese pig race. Grandmama was chosen from the crowd as the "driver" of one of the pigs and her pig won! Lucky Grandmama! Her prize was to get to kiss the pig- isn't he cute?!?!?

Don't worry, Grandmama opted not to give her kisses away-

she's saving them for Tyler of course!

What a wonderful day at the fair- good food and good fellowship.

These last 2 pics were not taken at the State Fair, rather at a friend's neighborhood fair. It was lots of fun too.

Which way did he go?

Tide You Over....

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on- trip to the fair, trip to Montreal- but these pics should appease your appetite for Mister Man pictures until I get the chance to blog more about Life with the Johnsons..... (Many thanks to Terra's mom for taking such great pictures of us at tailgating and forwarding them on to me!)

Family pic-

if we were all wearing Santa hats this would be our Christmas card for this year

Tyler Head scoping out the scene-

Should I play cornhole? Dance to the music? Or give hugs to the little girls here?

Two handsome Carolina fans

Rocking it out at tailgating

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Fall is in full effect here in the Johnson household. Andrew and Leslie have been spending major amounts of time studying, but it seems things are starting to settle down a bit. Well, for the next week at least. Andrew passed his big Series 7 Exam- please feel free to see him for all of your retirement and other financial planning needs, as well as any life insurance needs. Now that we've gotten that shameless plug out of the way, here's how we spent some of our Saturday celebrating Andrew's big accomplishment. Let the search for the Great Pumpkin begin!

My what a difference a year makes!

(See Pumpkin Patch posting from 2009 to compare)

Mommy's Perfect Pumpkin

This one looks pretty good...

Nah, think I like this one better...

Having fun here, but it's a bit bright

Look at the pumpkins on that one!

Taking a break from the search for some pumpkin weight lifting to work on my biceps

I've found the perfect one

Fall Football

Here we are outside in the front yard playing with the Mistah. We're outside most all of the time now- walking, pushing toys, in the wagon, trespassing on our neighbors' properties- you know, the usual.

Outside baby = happy baby = happy mommy and daddy.

You think this tree bark will taste good? Guess not.....

Can't get him to put a carrot in his mouth,

but he sticks the pine straw in right away.

Wearing overalls, chewing on pine straw,

that's our country baby

42... 47...35... hike, hike! Coming through, make way for Tyler Head

Go long Daddy! Ha, ha! Not that long crazy!

Wagon Fun

Our best new purchase- a wagon. Tyler doesn't really smile that much or even really act like he's having a good time in the wagon, but all he wants to do is ride around in it. He looks like such a prince.

Don't worry, it has 2 built in cup holders for his sippy cup.

He's riding in style of course.

Take me that way daddy.

Awaiting a Win

Despite all the negative press so far this year, here in the Johnson household we've been geared up for football season and eagerly awaiting a win. I know, it seems we may be waiting longer than originally anticipated. Oh well. Here are some of our game day pics...

Daddy didn't get the memo we were going 'tough' for this picture

Aaahhhh.... back together again.

Mucho thanks to Grandmama and Grandaddy Johnson for keeping the baby so we could enjoy the home opening football game.

The ol' hat switch-a-roo trick.

Always good for a laugh.

Labor Day Weekend: UNC vs. LSU

We made the trip down to Atlanta for the UNC/LSU game. It was a quick weekend, but we had a good time. Well, except for a few hours during the actual game, but other than that we enjoyed our time in Georgia.

The game started at 8:00 and we got there around 1:00 to start tailgating.

Chick-fil-a sponsored the game and we got FREE, make that A LOT OF FREE, Chick-fil-a sandwiches while we were tailgating. It was the first time our Bojangles Chicken Biscuits didn't get finished off within the first hour.

Somehow, we ended up tailgating with all of Little Frat Court it seemed. I felt like I was 20 again. Well, not really. I actually felt pretty old. It was fun watching all the youngens and gave us something to do for the next 7 hours.

We finally make it to the game!

Happy Heels Fans. For a bit...

Upon return to the car-

We had cleaned up our stuff before we left (of course!), wish I could say the same for the rest of the tailgaters. I almost cried! (And not because of the end result of the game)

Can you find the grill?