Dear Abby-Ru,
Happy Birthday! We are a very lucky Aunt and Uncle to have such a special little girl in our lives! We love you more than anything!!
Unkie Paul & "TT"
Countdown to Oscar Night (the sad conclusion)
3 years ago
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Abby-Ru turns TWO!
Saturday we had a Dora 2nd birthday party a little early for our niece, Abigail Ruth. Guests swam in the river, jumped in the bouncey house, played air hockey, and tried to stay cool. Dinner was a mexcian fiesta. The kids were great and a blast was had by all. A few pics below.
Dear Abby-Ru,
Happy Birthday! We are a very lucky Aunt and Uncle to have such a special little girl in our lives! We love you more than anything!!
Unkie Paul & "TT"
Dear Abby-Ru,
Happy Birthday! We are a very lucky Aunt and Uncle to have such a special little girl in our lives! We love you more than anything!!
Unkie Paul & "TT"
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Tryon Palace & the Beach!
Today we took Abby, Spencer, and Nicole to Tryon Palace in New Bern and the beach. I know what you are think, what were they thinking. Oh, well! It was great! We started our tour at Tryon Palace and after the guiding speaking in the first room, Abby lying on the floor, and Spencer trying to sit a chair roped off, the guide offered to get us our own tour guide that could move faster for the kids. Oh, what a relief! It was an older lady and she was a LIFE-SAVER! She found out the kids names and everything! If you take kids to Tryon Palace I would recommend asking for a separate tour. The kids enjoyed it, but they would have died with our original guide that talked for 20 minutes in the first room! After Tryon Palace we grabbed a picnic lunch and headed to the beach. The weather was a little windy and the ocean was rough so we mostly stayed at the pool. Abby did so good swimming, she is really growing up fast, I can’t believe she will be two in a little over a week! On the way home the kids was dog tired! I’m thinking we could handle 3 kids in the future! Just need to convince Paul! LOL!
Friends I met at Cragmont mean so much to me, I never will forget...
The first week of July I had the pleasure of serving as a camp counselor at Cragmont Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. There I worked alongside other “adults” to guide and direct activities for roughly 60 high school students. It was a great change from working with middle schoolers. The kids were great and other than keeping me up all night didn’t get on my nerves too bad. It was great to see these who are our future so on fire for Christ. I can’t finish up my post about Cragmont without a shout out to my roomie! Mrs. Jackie is a teacher at Cox with me and we have gone to Cragmont together two years. She is such a special lady in every way. Her hubby, Mr. Chip, says I’m like her just a younger version! LOL! That’s fine with me I’ll be Mrs. Jackie when I grow up!
4th of July: REALLY LATE!
Fourth of July:
We spend our fourth of July at the river with family. My parents were just returning from Vegas, so we enjoyed catching up and hearing all about their trip. Paul and I will have to get out there some day. My Mom rode the bull at Gilly’s and danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly. I need a bumper sticker that says, “My Mom is cooler than yours”! LOL! We also did the traditional slide down the hill at the river and set fireworks off on the pier. Great day! Here is a an award winning pic my Mom took of Spencer, I just love it! I hope she enters it in a contest!
We spend our fourth of July at the river with family. My parents were just returning from Vegas, so we enjoyed catching up and hearing all about their trip. Paul and I will have to get out there some day. My Mom rode the bull at Gilly’s and danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly. I need a bumper sticker that says, “My Mom is cooler than yours”! LOL! We also did the traditional slide down the hill at the river and set fireworks off on the pier. Great day! Here is a an award winning pic my Mom took of Spencer, I just love it! I hope she enters it in a contest!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
San Diego, CA Vacation
Day 1: Thursday:
For the first time today I flew by myself for the first time. I had lots of hesitations, but all in all I guess it ended up okay. My Mom dropped me off at the airport and from then on I was on my own. The flight from Raleigh to Memphis was nothing, no excitement. However once I got to Memphis the flight was delayed because of mechanics of seats being broken, yuck! So, we waited a little bit, they fixed the seats and we boarded the plane. It was HOT, HOT, HOT on the plane and the engines died twice, so they had us de-board the plane and get a new engine. By the time my plane took off I was almost two hours later than we were supposed to depart. I arrived at San Diego, finally. Paul has said he would come to the airport and meet me, but I didn’t want him to do that because his flight at left Greenville at 5:45AM and I was arriving in California at 2AM our time. So I jumped on the ‘super shuttle’ and headed to the hotel! Paul gave me the wrong tower of our hotel room so I walked around for a while but finally found our room and very sleepy hubby! ;)
Day 2: Friday:
Friday was ‘my day’. Paul was in conference all day long and had an entertainment/dinner event that night at the San Diego Zoo. I slept till around 11AM, trying to adjust to the time change. Then I headed down the front desk to try and get some info on what I should do. They suggested I walk to Horton Plaza Mall, it was about 3 blocks away. It was a open air four story tall mall. Love it! I walked around and browsed! FUN! FUN! I also grabbed some lunch and stopped by the grocery store to get some drinks. The drinks in the hotel vending machines were $2, omgosh! Back at the hotel I got to see Paul for a minute before he went to his afternoon session, then I walked with him downstairs. He headed to a meeting, I headed to the pool. I spend the afternoon taking in the great hotel amenities! For dinner I ordered a room service salad that was really good, but not sure it was worth the $20.
Day 3: Saturday:
Paul was done with his meetings at 12:00 today, so I had to entertain myself in the morning. I decided to walk down the bay to Seaport Village. This was a shopping center that kind of reminded me of ‘Barefoot Landing’ in Myrtle Beach. It was neat, I browsed around and walked the boardwalk all the way to the USS Midway. There I took some pictures and saw the really neat statue of the couple kissing in Times Square after they have heard of the end of WWII. When Paul got done we went to the Broken Yolk Café. This restaurant is feature in the show Man vs. Food. We split an omelet, it was really good! Then we walked through the Gas Lamp district and headed back to the hotel. During the afternoon we checked out the hot tub, sauna, and pool. For dinner we went to Kansas City Barbeque which is where some scenes from Top Gun are filmed! I love that movie and it was neat to see that restaurant. We called it an early night and watched a movie in the room.
Day 4: Sunday:
Today we changed hotels. During the convention we stayed at the Marriott, but we decided to switch to the Ramada for about $200 a night difference. Paul was convinced we could navigate the public transportation system to get to the other hotel and everywhere else we wanted to go, however that turned out to be a disaster. We had to ride two different trolleys then switch and ride a bus to our hotel. It took about an hour and a half to go to a little ways. Then when we got to the hotel we asked about taking a bus to the beach and she said it would take over an hour to go 3 miles. So we went and grabbed some lunch at a little seafood place on the water and headed to the airport to rent a car. So now we are driving a Kia! YAY! No more public transportation, too bad we already paid $15 each for four day passes. After getting the car we were head to the BEACH! YAY, I couldn’t wait to see the Pacific Ocean. Well, I was a little disappointed; it was not at all what I was expecting! It was dirty; the beach was covered with seaweed! YUCK! We laid out for a bit and then headed back to the hotel for a little R&R before dinner! We went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we are head to Sea World!
Day 5: Monday:
Today we went to Sea World. I cannot even begin to describe the experience it was to see Shamu. I have always wanted to go to Sea World and finally I was able to go. We went to several shows including: Believe, Blue Horizons, Pet’s Rule, and Cirque de la Mer. I was really impressed they were all so well done. The Cirque de la Mer was my favorite, those actors were sooooo talented. They even used someone from the audience for part of their stunts. We grabbed Chinese take-out and headed back to the hotel at dinner time I was beat. The weather could have been better, it was a little, chilly, but all in all, a good day! (Even though I had to buy a $30 sweatshirt to make it tolerable) Who would have known it was going to be 60 degrees in Southern California in June! Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo.
Day 6: Tuesday:
The zoo was great! Lots of really great animals and interesting sights. We walked and walked and walked! Did I mention that we walked A LOT? Hippos, pandas, elephants, and giraffes were just a few of the animals we saw. We left the zoo around 3 and I had the bright idea to go into Mexico. I figured since we were already so close it we would regret it if we didn’t go into Tijuana. So we headed south, BIG mistake. Going into Mexico was fine, the problem came when we decide to leave, the traffic was terrible! A disaster might would better describe it! Omgosh! We sat for almost 2 hours in the line at border control to come back into the USA. During that time we had some neat experiences. There were Mexican venders walking along the traffic trying to sell things (food and souvenirs). Paul got the bright idea that he would try some homemade potato chip things this one guy was selling. They were pretty good, then he got a little braver and we tried burritos! They were pretty good and we have gotten sick….YET! LOL! Then we headed to the Padres verses the Rockies MLB game. It was freezing, but I had my trusty sweatshirt I had bought at Sea World the day before. The Padres lost but it was a pretty good game! It only lasted about 3 hours, but I was prepared with my book, just in case! LOL! The guy at security that was checking my bag when we went in said, no reading in the stadium, you have to watch the game! Omgosh! So embarrassed!
Day 7: Wednesday:
Today I am headed home, we dropped off our cute little rental car and headed to the airport! Lots of excitement in the San Diego airport this morning. There was a fire drill. So Paul and I headed to the emergency fire exist, then we were told to go back in the building, where we were told to go to the other side of the airport! So we tracked down to the other side, to be sent back around to my terminal a little later. The flight left on time anyways, thanks goodness! I was ready to see Eastern North Carolina. Finally home! So glad to see my fury babies! Ready to see my Abby-Ru and give the Shamu, Monkey, and T-shirt Unkie Paul and TT bought her in California!
For the first time today I flew by myself for the first time. I had lots of hesitations, but all in all I guess it ended up okay. My Mom dropped me off at the airport and from then on I was on my own. The flight from Raleigh to Memphis was nothing, no excitement. However once I got to Memphis the flight was delayed because of mechanics of seats being broken, yuck! So, we waited a little bit, they fixed the seats and we boarded the plane. It was HOT, HOT, HOT on the plane and the engines died twice, so they had us de-board the plane and get a new engine. By the time my plane took off I was almost two hours later than we were supposed to depart. I arrived at San Diego, finally. Paul has said he would come to the airport and meet me, but I didn’t want him to do that because his flight at left Greenville at 5:45AM and I was arriving in California at 2AM our time. So I jumped on the ‘super shuttle’ and headed to the hotel! Paul gave me the wrong tower of our hotel room so I walked around for a while but finally found our room and very sleepy hubby! ;)
Day 2: Friday:
Friday was ‘my day’. Paul was in conference all day long and had an entertainment/dinner event that night at the San Diego Zoo. I slept till around 11AM, trying to adjust to the time change. Then I headed down the front desk to try and get some info on what I should do. They suggested I walk to Horton Plaza Mall, it was about 3 blocks away. It was a open air four story tall mall. Love it! I walked around and browsed! FUN! FUN! I also grabbed some lunch and stopped by the grocery store to get some drinks. The drinks in the hotel vending machines were $2, omgosh! Back at the hotel I got to see Paul for a minute before he went to his afternoon session, then I walked with him downstairs. He headed to a meeting, I headed to the pool. I spend the afternoon taking in the great hotel amenities! For dinner I ordered a room service salad that was really good, but not sure it was worth the $20.
Day 3: Saturday:
Paul was done with his meetings at 12:00 today, so I had to entertain myself in the morning. I decided to walk down the bay to Seaport Village. This was a shopping center that kind of reminded me of ‘Barefoot Landing’ in Myrtle Beach. It was neat, I browsed around and walked the boardwalk all the way to the USS Midway. There I took some pictures and saw the really neat statue of the couple kissing in Times Square after they have heard of the end of WWII. When Paul got done we went to the Broken Yolk Café. This restaurant is feature in the show Man vs. Food. We split an omelet, it was really good! Then we walked through the Gas Lamp district and headed back to the hotel. During the afternoon we checked out the hot tub, sauna, and pool. For dinner we went to Kansas City Barbeque which is where some scenes from Top Gun are filmed! I love that movie and it was neat to see that restaurant. We called it an early night and watched a movie in the room.
Day 4: Sunday:
Today we changed hotels. During the convention we stayed at the Marriott, but we decided to switch to the Ramada for about $200 a night difference. Paul was convinced we could navigate the public transportation system to get to the other hotel and everywhere else we wanted to go, however that turned out to be a disaster. We had to ride two different trolleys then switch and ride a bus to our hotel. It took about an hour and a half to go to a little ways. Then when we got to the hotel we asked about taking a bus to the beach and she said it would take over an hour to go 3 miles. So we went and grabbed some lunch at a little seafood place on the water and headed to the airport to rent a car. So now we are driving a Kia! YAY! No more public transportation, too bad we already paid $15 each for four day passes. After getting the car we were head to the BEACH! YAY, I couldn’t wait to see the Pacific Ocean. Well, I was a little disappointed; it was not at all what I was expecting! It was dirty; the beach was covered with seaweed! YUCK! We laid out for a bit and then headed back to the hotel for a little R&R before dinner! We went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we are head to Sea World!
Day 5: Monday:
Today we went to Sea World. I cannot even begin to describe the experience it was to see Shamu. I have always wanted to go to Sea World and finally I was able to go. We went to several shows including: Believe, Blue Horizons, Pet’s Rule, and Cirque de la Mer. I was really impressed they were all so well done. The Cirque de la Mer was my favorite, those actors were sooooo talented. They even used someone from the audience for part of their stunts. We grabbed Chinese take-out and headed back to the hotel at dinner time I was beat. The weather could have been better, it was a little, chilly, but all in all, a good day! (Even though I had to buy a $30 sweatshirt to make it tolerable) Who would have known it was going to be 60 degrees in Southern California in June! Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo.
Day 6: Tuesday:
The zoo was great! Lots of really great animals and interesting sights. We walked and walked and walked! Did I mention that we walked A LOT? Hippos, pandas, elephants, and giraffes were just a few of the animals we saw. We left the zoo around 3 and I had the bright idea to go into Mexico. I figured since we were already so close it we would regret it if we didn’t go into Tijuana. So we headed south, BIG mistake. Going into Mexico was fine, the problem came when we decide to leave, the traffic was terrible! A disaster might would better describe it! Omgosh! We sat for almost 2 hours in the line at border control to come back into the USA. During that time we had some neat experiences. There were Mexican venders walking along the traffic trying to sell things (food and souvenirs). Paul got the bright idea that he would try some homemade potato chip things this one guy was selling. They were pretty good, then he got a little braver and we tried burritos! They were pretty good and we have gotten sick….YET! LOL! Then we headed to the Padres verses the Rockies MLB game. It was freezing, but I had my trusty sweatshirt I had bought at Sea World the day before. The Padres lost but it was a pretty good game! It only lasted about 3 hours, but I was prepared with my book, just in case! LOL! The guy at security that was checking my bag when we went in said, no reading in the stadium, you have to watch the game! Omgosh! So embarrassed!
Day 7: Wednesday:
Today I am headed home, we dropped off our cute little rental car and headed to the airport! Lots of excitement in the San Diego airport this morning. There was a fire drill. So Paul and I headed to the emergency fire exist, then we were told to go back in the building, where we were told to go to the other side of the airport! So we tracked down to the other side, to be sent back around to my terminal a little later. The flight left on time anyways, thanks goodness! I was ready to see Eastern North Carolina. Finally home! So glad to see my fury babies! Ready to see my Abby-Ru and give the Shamu, Monkey, and T-shirt Unkie Paul and TT bought her in California!
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