Badger burrow!

Fonzie is never tired of playing. Sometimes, I put his toy inside of the blanket, wrap it up and tie in a knot to keep him occupied for a bit. It's so funny to watch. The other day, I finally thought to get it captured on the camera.

Happy birthday Bill!

I worked yesterday morning then we headed down to Rainier for Bill's birthday/Father's Day celebration. Allyson went to Uncle Jason long enough for the picture until she started getting fussy. She's at the stage where sometimes she likes you, other times, not so much. Jason is in the not so much category right now.
I was lucky to be in the BFF category yesterday. I think she hung out with me for close to 3 hours yesterday. A first!

We had a great dinner and Bill opened his presents. Gloria bought him a shirt for the kids to put their hand prints on. Bryce went first in red paint, I am guessing he picked red for Lightning McQueen!

Alexa went next with the blue paint.

Allyson was ready to pass out she was so tired so Carrie opted for foot print rather than hands.

We had a great time and came home and passed out with the dogs.

Mother nature vs our camp site

We went over to check out our summer camp site yesterday to see if it was any less under water. Fortunately, we could get across in the 4 wheeler. If you look off to the left, you can see the end of the trail with a now 5 ft drop off with water flowing through to get to the sand bar we usually camp on.

This is the view looking back towards where the river now Ys.

Looking across the ever shrinking site for tents....

It's gonna take some work to get the site into shape for the big weekend in August.

Kimmie's having a baby!

We made the drive to Ellensburg yesterday for Kimmie's baby shower. It was a beautiful drive over the pass. We got to see the new Oergel Homestead, it's a beautiful house. We got to see all of the kids most of which we had not seen since a wedding last year in March. Marcus was just a baby then, he sure has grown up. He's the spitten image of his daddy.

When I asked Ceci to pose for a picture, Emma wanted in on the action....

Soph was a ham as always for the camera....

The Oergel Creek, the kids sure loved playing in the "Springs."

During the shower, Allyson flirted with the other Marcus. We told her that her Daddy would not approve of this. She didn't seem to care though.

Kimmie scored quite a bit of loot. The Cirque de Soleil toys looked pretty cool. I of course have no idea what they do!

The manly burp cloths are always a hit....

Terry made a very cool baby blanket for Kim out of her old crew shirts on one side and WSU fabric on the other side.

The girls gave the cake an enthusiastic thumbs up. We did the best we could getting a shot of all of the kids. I am sure they all slept really good last night!

Even bigger mountains than last week

It was a beautiful day driving over Snoqualmie Pass yesterday. I had to take some drive by pictures of the mountains.

The dogs' vacation....

Our dogs stayed home with Ryan, Amanda and Jack. They appear to have had a great time playing with them. Jack is apparently sexually inappropriate with Duke, Duke refused to have pictures of that sort taken of him. Thanks Ryan and Amanda for taking care of our babies!

Goofy dog

We took these pictures awhile ago but I just found them on our other camera. Roscoe likes to run and bark at the food bowls if we clang them together. I don't know why. The one night, I had him going so good that he actually ran up the stairs to get away. I went on the stairs to see what he would do, he just kept sitting at the top of the stairs barking, not wanting to run down the stairs past the scary clanging bowls. What a meathead! It was hilarious.............

The real reason for our trip....

My dear friend Jay got married yesterday to the love of his life, Amy. I seriously have never met two people more suited for each other. I met Jay in 9th grade so we go way back. This is the look on his face the first time he saw her.

Both Jay and Amy are really into music, she walked down the aisle to a John Lennon song as opposed to the regular "Here Comes the Bride." Their wedding programs are actually a DVD case with a CD of "their" songs and explanations of why they are their songs. On the cover is a rendering Amy did of the day they met. She worked in a Hallmark store and Jay was shopping for greeting cards. They hit it off, Jay had to go and walk the mall a couple of times to get the nerve to go back and ask for her phone number.

Mr. and Mrs. Konstantaras!

So, yes, Konstantaras is a Greek name. Jay's dad is from Greece, he lived in the states but moved back a few years ago when he retired. Jay insisted that he lead a Greek dance. You've seen it in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It's a lot harder than it looks!

The four of us....

The bride and groom wore wedding Converse sneakers. All of the groomsmen also wore Converse with their suits. It was really cool, it is such a Jay thing to do!

The bride and groom dancing.... They were nice in their cake feeding, they just did an icing smear on each other's noses then did some eskimo kissing. It was too cute!

I actually made a speech at the reception. Since I have known Jay forever and we have been such good friends all of these years, I wanted to say something. My husband did not take a picture. I am so happy for these two. Jay never believed anyone when we told him that there was someone special out there for him. He agrees that she was totally worth waiting for!

We're home now, I didn't want to come back!

Blue Ridge Parkway

We stayed the night in Boone on Friday night and had a few hours to kill before the wedding at 4:00. After hitting the outlets in Blowing Rock and scoring some killer deals, we had a couple hours to kill so we decided to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a beautiful day and a nice drive. Unfortunately, the lookout points were blocked by trees so we didn't get how they could be lookout points.

This is the Moses Cone Craft House, formerly an actual home but now occupied as a gift shop type place for local artists.

We had a great day!

Back in Charlotte

We drove back from Michelle's to join my aunt for a monthly spaghetti dinner with her friends. We walked around the lake at sunset. I really don't want to come home ever.

Domino

I got some really cute shots of my aunt's spastic dog, Domino. Now that Jason's here, he's actually minding a little better since Jason laid down the law. We think Domino and Roscoe would get along well, they're both just misunderstood. :)

Visiting with Grayson

I hadn't seen Michelle's house yet so after picking Jason up from the airport at the crack of dawn and taking a power nap, we headed up that way to see the house and spend sometime with Grayson. He is such a sweet and happy baby.

Dinner at Liberty

I always try to organize a group dinner when I'm in town. This time, I was able to get one of my favorite people of all time to join us briefly, Dr. Warde. Dr. Warde was my Physics professor and my sorority faculty advisor. He is seriously one of my all time favorite people.
Denise and Lindsay

Me, Michelle (my sorority little sister) and baby Grayson

All of the local sorority sisters I could rustle up - Bethany and her daughter Tori, Michelle and Grayson, Me, Denise, Lindsay and Brianne

I had a great time at dinner. I wish I got to see everyone more often!

High Point University

Every time I'm in town, I go by my old college campus. They have been adding on to the campus for years. I was stunned by how much different things were from just under 3 years ago. This is the new Commerce Building.

The new communications school......

This building is old, Roberts Hall. But I love taking pictures of it and its large steeple. The bell rings on the hour. I can remember running to class when the bell would be ringing and cursing about being late.

This is the renovated student center - with a Chick-Fil-A inside, an indoor/outdoor swimming pool, it's amazing.

Me and Denise, self portrait of course.

Spending time with D and the kids

After I spent the night with Sean and crew, I headed back west to Winston-Salem to spend the night with one of my best friends Denise and her family. Her kids are a crack up, this is me laying with Riley and Elli on their oversized chair.

Like any good Auntie, I came with presents. Everyone got new shades. Elli and Riley are wearing the outfits I got for them. They were pretty excited for the presents.

I made them go out front to pose for pictures before Elli left for school. I wasn't sure if what I got her was a dress or a top. It was a top, she loved the little blings across the top.

I told them to strike a pose, this is what I got. I was laughing so hard. You can tell Riley's not at the age yet where he won't do everything his sister does. I am keeping this picture for blackmail someday!

And here's baby Carley wearing the dress that I got for her. She wasn't too sure about me, I don't blame her!

My visit to Durham

I have known Sean for almost 20 years, we went to high school together and always spent time together during the summers in between college. I had to pick on him, he's been close to a career student and is now a professor at UNC. When I asked him how many degrees he had, he wasn't even sure. In any event, I got to hang out with Sean, his girlfriend Kathy and his friend Q. It was a great time. I love hanging out with my old friends only to realize that nothing at all has changed between us!

First order of business

I am more than willing to admit that I take kinda crazy trips. If I am in the state of North Carolina, I will do everything that I can see everyone that I can while I am in town. I might have to drive a bit but I figure that I am closer to them being in the state somewhere than if I were at home.

I got up on Sunday late AM to head to see my friend Sean and HAD to get off the freeway to eat at my favorite place for breakfast. Alex's House was our late night meal spot during college, sometimes sober, sometimes not so much. They have the best hash browns of any place I have ever eaten. Every time I get to eat them again, it's like a religious experience because they are so good. So this was my breakfast, now I'm drooling and want to lick the computer screen....