NC State Beverage

Thanks to the trivia lady, I now know that the North Carolina State Beverage is...
A. Milk
B. Pepsi
C. Beer
D. Sweet Tea
What's your guess?
(see the comments for the answer)

Oyster Roast and Crab Bake

Today Mom, Dad, Harry, and I had a seafood feast. We purchased fresh oysters from the local fish market and dungeness crab. It was a messy meal, but delicious!

There was a lot of cleaning required to get the oysters ready to steam. First, mud needed to be washed off of each of the oysters. Then, mom, dad, and Harry scrubbed each oyster (I was rinsing with the hose and taking pictures). Then, the oysters were rinsed one last time. The whole process took about an hour.

Me, preparing the dungeness crab.


Dungeness crab cooking


Steaming oysters





All of us, enjoying our meal.


Dad and Mom, all cleaned up, after the meal.


Harry and I still eating.

Carolina Beach State Park

Today, Mom, Dad, Harry, and I went to Carolina Beach State Park. It was a cloudy day in Wilmington, but still beautiful.

Looking out towards the ocean.


Harry and I with the river in the background.


One of the many swamps on our hike toward Sugar Loaf.


We got lost along the way, because "the trails were closed" so Harry needed to stop and rest.


Finally, we made it to Sugar Loaf Mountain... "the highest point in North Carolina."


Dad and Mom at Sugar Loaf.


Harry and I at Sugar Loaf.

Thompson Christmas

The Thompson's at our house for Christmas Eve dinner.









Leaving for Christmas Eve service at DCPC.

Getting ready to tear into some presents.
(I'm actually the only one that tears. Harry and Laura carefully slice each piece of tape open; an event that takes about 15 minutes to open a single present... very annoying!)

Mom and Dad opening presents at a normal pace.



Our gift to Dad didn't quite fit.













Playing...

Sleeping....

More Sleeping

Christmas Cookies

Only in this family would Christmas cookies include Clemson Tiger Paws.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

On Friday Harry and I attended an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. It was awesome!

Our friend Shannon came over on Monday to create our Christmas masterpieces.
Here is what we came up with!


Harry and I at the party. My sweatshirt says "Have a Beary Christmas".
Harry's turtleneck has kittens in stockings and reads "Santa's Little Helpers".


The girls... Jessica, me, Shannon, and Allie looking lovely as ever!


Harry and our host, Bryan enjoying their festive outfits!


The gentlemen in all their glory!


The ladies... pure eye candy!


Enough said.

13.1

Beginning in September, Harry and I have began training for Charlotte's Thunder Road Half Marathon. Yesterday, we ran the 13.1 miles we've been working towards. It was exhausting, but also very rewarding. We finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes (averaging about an 11 minute mile). We don't have pictures to post yet (we were a little too busy running to snap pictures) but we did have some friends at the finish line, so we hope to post some soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Harry and I spent Thanksgiving in Raleigh with my brother, sister-in-law, mom and dad. This was the first year Clay and Karen hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and they did a great job. To add to the excitement of our Thanksgiving, Harry and I also found out that we are going to be an aunt and an uncle again... Martha and Ed are pregnant! As you can imagine, we had a great day.

We started the day by running the Ridgewood-Cary Turkey Trot. A 5 mile run is a great way to make room for lots of food!


Clay, Karen, and dad carving the turkey... yummy!


Clay and Karen celebrate their kill and carve.


Harry and I, ready to eat!
We hope all our readers had a great Thanksgiving!

Gonna Do The Things That I Want To Do!

It has been a very long and VERY stressful week. I feel like this Weezer song puts my attitude into perspective well.



The Weezer music video is great, but I can't embed it on our website.
You can view it by clicking here. Enjoy!

Carolina Renaissance Festival

Today, Harry, Joanne, Siggy, Jessica, and I went to the Carolina Renaissance Festival. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Joanne said it best upon leaving, "I've never felt more normal in my life". Yes, many of the Renaissance people make you feel very normal.

Harry and I enjoying the sights (sorry, nobody of interest in the background).

This group was called Barely Balanced. They were really good so we caught 2 of their acts. This was the first.


She is juggling knives standing on his shoulders. He is standing on a teeter-toter.


More juggling (and abs of steal!)


This was an odd site... camel rides. Very Renaissance!


Of course everybody rode around on elephants during the Renaissance.


Next, we made our way over to the jousting arena.
Here the knights are ringing targets.


Getting ready to joust to the death!


A hit!


He's not looking so good.


Next, the axe fights!


Then, the sword fights.


Don't ever trust a pirate.


Then, back to Barely Balanced for their fire show.


One of the guys is laying on the ground holding the girl up by her shoulders. She is doing the splits, upside down, while the other guy juggles fire standing on her thighs. Harry and I are going to start to practice this move, it seems really easy.


Another balancing/fire juggling stunt. Amazing!


Harry and I as king and queen.