Christmas Dino

We bought a dinosaur for Christmas. Her name is Emily Bront(e)y because she is a brontosaurus, of course. She is so happy to be with us; see the big smile on her face?

O Christmas Tree..

 We had a leaky pipe back in November. The leak was fixed quickly but the house was not back together until this week. We were not sure it would be repaired before Christmas. We usually put our tree in the dining room but it was full of stuff so we had to go with an alternate plan. We moved the furniture around in the living room and put the tree in the front corner. The living room looks so cozy with the furniture close together and the tree right there.

 ...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Gingerbread Event Dec. 2013

 My friend, Kathy and I attended the Gingerbread House Event held at the Umstead Hotel. Gingerbread houses made by local chefs were on display and we could walk around and look at them. They were amazing. Hard to imagine the creativity and patience that it took to make these houses.
This first one is a hot air balloon. Some people did not like the displays that were not traditional houses  as much but this one was pretty cool.











I like the gingerbread shoe house. How did they get the gingerbread to be round like a shoe? and the laces are licorice.
















































 I liked this house with the minions ( from the movie Despicable Me) all over the house. The minions were made of twinkies.















This last house was a bird house and it was beautiful. There was a good variety of gingerbread creations.Very impressive!

Parents Weekend Oct. 2013

 We went to Columbia, SC to visit Joey at the Univ. of S. Carolina. It was parents weekend. It was a beautiful day though a bit warm. Dave found time to get in a quick nap at the parents tailgate party. We were able to see the USC band up close.

 

 We were able to visit with Joey for a bit. He is doing well but busy.

 We enjoyed the football game. The players entrance is something to see.

 

 Halftime show. The Gamecocks won so it was a good day all around.

Bonus Room Redo

 The carpet in our bedrooms and the bonus room is the original carpet from when we bought our house 18 years ago. It has been through 3 dogs and 2 growing boys and was showing its age. I knew replacing the carpet would be a big project so it took me about 2 years to get myself ready to do it. The bonus room needed to be painted so that would be the first phase. If you are not familiar with a bonus room - it is the room above our garage, bigger than a bedroom and I guess it supposed to replace a basement rec. room. Our bonus room is multi-purpose: computer room/office, craft room, Lego room and guest room - sometimes all at the same time.
So, it took me a long time to decide on a paint color. I had paint chips taped to the wall for at least a month. i decided on gray - it has a fancier name but in reality it is gray.
First step, take all the stuff out of the room except for the furniture. Since, I knew new carpet was in the future this meant taking everything downstairs to the dining room. I realized I have alot of stuff. Most of it was my craft stuff and 3 book cases of books.

 Here is the first set of stuff in the dining room.

Here is the bonus room painted and mostly empty.

 

 Again it took a while to decide on carpet but when the installation date was set, it was time to move stuff out of our bedrooms, too. This is our living room and dining room. Can you see Ben? We had to set up the computer in the living room.

 Finally,walls are painted and carpet is installed. The carpet is a gray berber. Time move everything back upstairs and reorganize. Most of the stuff is put away just need to hang stuff on the walls. I know still looks junky - still working on it. Glad this is done and we won't have to do it again for a long time.

 

MS150 2013 New Bern, NC

 Dave has been training for several months for his 17th MS 150 bike ride. The weather was beautiful in New Bern for the ride.

 Over 1000 cyclists participated in the ride. Quite a sight!

 While Dave was riding, his parents and Ben and I shopped at the Farmer's Market, visited the North Carolina History Center and enjoyed lunch at the Cow Cafe. Here Ben and I are enjoying a banana split. The History Center was quite interesting - it was interactive, so we went back in time in a time machine to what life was like in the 1800's. We had to make turpentine from pine sap. It is quite complicated. Here are  Ben and Granny ringing cow bells as the riders crossed the finish line. This was the view from our condo. It was very peaceful.

 Dave and his dad.

 On Sunday, after 75 miles.

Sophomore Year, already?

 In mid August, it was time for Joey to return to the University of South Carolina and start his sophomore year. He is in the same dorm with the same roommate but on the second floor. This is good; alot less steps to walk up for old parents like us.

 

 

 

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Today, continuing our trek across the state of NC, we were at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We climbed 248 steps to the top of the lighthouse and took a look around.  A bit windy but great views.

 

 

 

 

Our Summer Adventure Continues...

 Today, we are in the Outer Banks of N.C. soaking up the sun at the Wright Brothers Memorial. We met Diane and Matt, Bea and Charlie at the Memorial.
. Do you remember the Tie Dye Brothers? Well, they grew up!