Let's Go SEAHAWKS!

My Snow Bunny!

How I love her!

Icicles!

Yummy icicles, and playing in the snow with Cole!

Snow in PA

So glad we had a white Christmas in PA!  Had some snow, then Google Auto-Awesomed this pic with more snow!

Merry Christmas!

Biggest Gingerbread EVER!

Myra had a tribe meeting recently where the craft was to decorate these HUGE gingerbread men.  Pretty neat!

Annual Trip to Blue Jay Point

All the cousins, enjoying the 70+ degree weather two days before Christmas.  What a nice time, spending the day at Blue Jay Point.

More Bell Ringing!

Love that we rang the bells for The Salvation Army for the second time this year.  We changed Harris Teeter locations, but still did a pretty good job, with the antlers, cold, dude putting $100 in the kettle, and seeing Kerry's folks.  Good times!

Pullen Park Holiday Express

No, that's not Santa with the beard, but it's my dad.  Not sure what's up with that!  We did enjoy their visit in December though. We went down to Pullen Park for their Holiday Express.  Very fun!

Lucy's 5K

Lucy had the culminating 5k of her Girls on the Run program recently.  It was a Reindeer Romp, in case you couldn't tell with the red hair and nose.  Kerry actually coached as well, so it was pretty neat.  I got to run with Lucy, and I was quite impressed.  She ran the 5K in 36 minutes (great time for a 9 year old) and was SO excited to have a water stop on the course.  Then her sister Myra put her medal around her neck.  Very special!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Family Selfie!  Girls hyped up on sugar!!

Straight No Chaser

Quite the date month!  Hurricanes game, Straight No Chaser concert.  Now a movie date for Catching Fire when my folks come.

Straight No Chaser at DPAC was a pretty good show.  We enjoyed ourselves!

Meat for the Dads!

So hot dogs for the girls, and a huge hunk of terayki marinated meat for the dads.  So good!

Camping With Myra

Another weekend, another camping trip.  This time with Myra's tribe.  Fun time!  Lots of good food, good times, and time spent with my Little Bear!

Pretty Sweet Seats, Eh?

So far this year I am 2-0 in Hurricanes games.  And both games were free.  Can't beat free!  Very fun time with Kerry at this game, and SO CLOSE to the action.  Plus we were on tv!!!

Field Trip Dad

I do love the opportunity to go on as many field trips with the girls as I have.  This time I got to meet Lucy (and Kerry!) at Historic Oak View Park as we looked around a farm.  Pretty cool---they got to pick their own cotton, see how it was made into thread, see animals, how they washed and cooked in the day, and other neat things.  Cool!

And Lucy's Turn...

Lucy did not get as long an opportunity, but she got some climbing in too!!

Lucy the Organizer

So while Myra climbed all over, Lucy was selling things for Girls on the Run.  She sold some of her rainbow loom bracelets, which were the popular item.

Didn't I Say She's a Monkey?

Went rock climbing this weekend.  Lucy had an event for Girls on the Run, so Myra got the chance to climb some rocks!  She would make it up halfway, then stop and come down.  Once she heard there were prizes, though, she scaled this one pretty quick!

Christmas Approaches!

I always know Christmas is coming when the Christmas Cactus (from my Grandma) on top of the bookcase at work starts blooming.  Let the Holidays begin!

Fun Playdate

Girls had their buddies from their tribes over yesterday.  They had quite a fun playdate!

Yet Another Tribe Meeting

Lucy's this time.  Fun, cool fall afternoon!

Trick or Treat

Met up with some friends in the neighborhood to do some trick or treating.  Two witches, an angel, and the Cat in the Hat.  Fun!

Marine Corps Mom

Girls were VERY proud of their mother (and I was proud of my wife) for the Marine Corps Marathon recently.  Even though it did not end the way she wanted, she was amazing and showed amazing strength and courage.

So now the decision is mine for Pittsburgh in 2014.

Metro!

So we went up to DC two weeks ago for Kerry's marathon.  LOTS of time on the Metro.  You know I loved it, and the girls did as well.

From One Tribe to Another...

So we hosted the first tribe meeting of The Diamonds in the Sky.  Little Bear quite enjoyed it!  We camp with them in a few weeks.

Camping With Lucy

So Lucy and I camped out last month with the tribe at Falls Lake.  First camping trip with the 'wedding shower' tent.  Had a good time.  Smores, JiffyPop, a Hammock, and a cold, cold night!

Who Doesn't Like Cookies?

No sooner did I see Pittsburgh Dad cookies, then I receive a box from Eat-N-Park thanks to my Mom and Dad.  Pretty neat!

Camp Kanata

Lucy and I just made it down from PA with enough time to make it to the Y Princess outing at Camp Kanata.  This year we got to make the torch and serve as torchholders as 1st years were initiated.  Fun!

Something Awry at the Kroger...

Look What I Got in the Mail...

Pittsburgh Dad Smiley Cookies!

Ahhh...Fall...

Welcome to the family, Honey!

Lucy finally got her hamster.  We went for the cage, food, and things this past week.  Yesterday we went for the hamster itself.  Lucy is so excited!

Guess Who's Starting Y Princesses?

Myra and I, that's who!  We went for our vests yesterday and sewed them together.  We start by hosting a meeting here in two weeks.  Excited to spend a lot of great times with my Little Bear.

Beach Trip

How awesome to be able to go down to the beach (Wrightsville) in September?  Girls were tracked out, so we headed East for a day trip.  Beautiful weather, and lots of fun on the beach.

Preseason Hockey!

We finally made it to the Caniac Carnival.  The Hurricanes throw a large party with outdoor slides, vendors, and then a team scrimmage.  We definitely enjoyed it!

Fun At Pullen Park

Girls finished their track out with a fun afternoon at Pullen Park.  I had the lawn company come and aerate the yard in the morning, then we headed to Pullen in the afternoon.  Beautiful day to be outside with my family!

Date Weekend

Wife and I hardly know how to act.  Two date nights in one weekend.  Thursday night we went on a brewery tour of Aviator in Southern Wake County.  Great fun going through the tour, sampling beers, and bringing home some pint glasses.  Definitely something we would like to do again.  Then this evening we will go to a birthday party at a friend's house.  Fun!

Summer Tradition

So this summer we spent Sundays travelling around, bike/running parts of the Greenway and Neuse River Trail.  We would load the girls bikes, go find a piece of trail (anywhere from 4-6 miles), and run while they rode.  Lots of great times, and something I look forward to every Sunday.

Mario Kart

So Cole let us borrow his Mario Kart Wii game.  We have had quite a lot of fun playing it, as you can tell.  I just hope not to be the one to give them driving lessons.

New Couch!

Finally after being married for 12 years, living on my own since 1999, we recently purchased our first, my second couch.  And chair/recliner.  The first night, the girls claimed it, but we quickly rectified it.  LOVE them!

Pool Time!

Yes, we spent more time at the pool this summer than we probably have the last 10 years!

Lantern Fun

My dad found the paper lanterns that float up in the air.  As you can see, the girls and Cole loved them!

Bacon Donut at Sheetz

'Nuff said!

Myra Got Her Yellow Band!

Yes!  Myra got her yellow band at the Y.  We had just finished her second set of swimming lessons, and we were just swimming at the indoor pool.  She could swim the distance, but we needed to practice treading.  She kinda got it, so we figured we would have her test and see how it went.  And voila...she DID it!!!  So we have spent the entire month, every Sunday, at the outdoor pool going down the waterslide.  Like 5-10 times a visit.  Awesome girl!