2010: Q & A

I did this questionnaire last year and will carry the tradition forward.   I took out some of the questions that I felt were pretty lame.  It’s still a lot of questions! If you want to complete it too, please do.  You can link your post in the comments.  I’d like to read about your 2010.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Ran my first half marathon in March. And then ran a second one in November. I ran my first trail race in November. First son turned 5 and second son turned 3. Watched my first son go off to kindergarten. Had major surgery. Attended a funeral service with military rights.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?



From last year’s post:
• Run a half marathon – Check – twice!
• Incorporate more whole foods into our diet, and less processed junk – Sort of!
• Try to have a garden with more than just a tomato plant – Check - Chili peppers and tomatoes!

For next year I'd like to:

 * Run a full marathon
 * Run a 50K trail race
 * Find a way to volunteer or give back
 * Get the rest of my family involved in regular physical activities

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



My sister Erica had her second son, Dean, in February.

4. Did anyone close to you die?



My mom’s friend Joe passed away in the summer.  He gave Nicholas model airplanes and taught him the US Navy fight song.

5. What places did you visit?



Lake Ontario, Oswego NY side.  Cooperstown, NY.  Wilmington, NC.   All with family and all fun!

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

More time in the day because there is so much I’d like to do.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Completing my first half marathon.  Having my gall bladder removed.  Nicholas’ graduation.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?



Running farther than I ever thought was possible and connecting with a great community of runners.

9. What was your biggest failure?



I really can’t think of anything I’d call a failure.  There’s things I forgot to do like mail graduation cards to my niece and nephew, get the oil changed on my car before it had to be towed out of the driveway, pack juice in the kid’s lunch box.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

My gall bladder went bad, in an acute hemorrhagic cholecystitis kind of way.  It was removed and I got some cool scars and a week off work.

11. What was the best thing you bought?



Membership to the Y was the best decision of the year.  It has been life changing for all of us in such a good way.  I have a good community of runners and access to great fitness classes.  Nicholas is getting a huge benefit from the after school and camp programs.  Travis enjoys the child care and meets new friends.  We loved the pool over the summer and swimming lessons.

12. Where did most of your money go?



Daycare, Y, running gear, race entry fees, car repairs, and groceries.

13. What did you get really excited about?

Seeing my little sister three times this year!  And watching Nicholas venture into the big world of elementary school.

14. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? Happier, I’m staying more in the present.
– thinner or fatter? The same but more fit, again.


– richer or poorer? The same financially.  Richer in other aspects. 

15. What do you wish you’d done more of?



Snuggling with the boys in my life.

16. What do you wish you’d done less of?



Trying to change people or get them to do what I think is better for them.

17. How did you spend Thanksgiving and Christmas?


Thanksgiving we ate at Jared's house with his sister's family.  Christmas started at home and then to my mom's house to see the rest of the family.  Then we returned home for Christmas dinner.

18. What was your favorite TV program?


I watched a lot less TV this year.  Biggest Loser is still one of my favorites, followed by The Mentalist. 

19. What was the best book you read?
I’ve started to read a few good books this year and are still in process currently.  The only one I finished worth noting is “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”.

20. What was your greatest musical discovery?


Grooveshark.  I found that I can actually stand listening to current pop music while I’m working.  Maybe it's just the rhythm or the nonsensical lyrics.  It helps pass the time.

21. What did you want and get?
 Acknowledgment of the boring, pain in the rear work I do each day. 

22. What did you want and not get?
A winning lottery ticket.  Still waiting.

23. What was your favorite film of this year?

I did go to the movies a few times this year.  It’s hard to pick a favorite favorite.  Avatar in 3D was pretty cool.

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I got an ipod nano preloaded with some tunes.  Multiple cakes – cookie cake, ice cream cake, lemon pound cake, and chocolate peanut butter cake.  I turned 33.

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Seeing my husband meet his fitness goals.  He wanted to get more into bike riding and looked at mountain bike races in the area.  I would like to see him meet his goals.  He’s starting to get that it’s not about winning or placing, but about finishing what you set out to do.

26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
I added a few dresses to the work wardrobe for a nice change of pace.  Not much else changed – still a jeans and sneakers style outside of work.  I got some cargo pants to mix things up and that was a bad impulse purchase.

27. What kept you sane?



Running, frozen yogurt, coffee, and happy kids.

28. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Simon Baker is still pretty fantastic.

29. Who did you miss?


My dad.  On Christmas Day my uncle sent a link to an old video from 1983.  There’s footage of my dad that is very special.  And my mom is young and beautiful too.  I look a bit like a ragamuffin but I was very happy.

30. Who was the best new person you met?


I don’t have an answer for that.  How about I reconnected with and became closer with existing people?  

31. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.



Patience.  There’s no need to rush through life.  Things will settle down and find a way of working themselves out.

It's a White Boxing Day

I awoke in the morning from my food coma.  The weatherman got it right, albeit slightly off in the estimated delivery time.  We had a good blanket of snow everywhere and it was still falling.  The poor shrubs and saplings all crippled under the weight of fresh snow.  The power lines sagging with a couple of inches of snow.
Shortly after we were moving around the house and visions of biscuits with leftover ham were tossed around - the power went out.  Pretty hard to make biscuits without electricity.  Adrian reported the outage (pretty sure they know when it's out with their fancy technology stuff, but this way they call back with estimated times of power restoration).  The boys rocked out with the guitars, fired off the nerf guns, and made a mess with play doh.  I chatted with friends and family via text message.  Adrian surfed the web with his ipad.  You know, all the things people did before electricity was invented.  We ate cereal for breakfast and now we're out of milk.
The power came back on a couple hours later but it was at least another hour before the boys figured it out.  Adrian ventured out to find key survival items like coffee.  A Dunkin Donuts was open, score!
I cooked an omelet with leftover ham and cheese and baked some dinner rolls from the freezer for a late brunch.  And then it was time to check out the snow!  Snowball fight!  (For those keeping track, this is the third snowfall this winter.  I'm sure that's a record.  We really don't get this much snow in NC.  It must be global warming or the President's fault.)

He owns matching hat and gloves, but loses them regularly.

He owns a winter coat and vest, but refuses to wear them.

He starts the snowball fights.

Wrestling in the snow.

On another note, our teenage boy neighbor had a girl over to build a snowman.  Cute.

Merry Christmas

Santa came through this year and fulfilled the boys' wishes.  What a good guy.  The boys were up with the sun and very excited.  Thank you to all of our loved ones.  We had plans to drive to Winston-Salem and stay the night with my mom.  A big honey ham was on the menu.  Unfortunately Jack Frost had snow on the menu.  We got on the road mid-morning.

One of Travis' new guitars.  He's a rock star, you know.

Nicholas' theme for this Christmas: Nerf guns!

Christmas rocks!

 Snow was already sticking by the time we got to Winston-Salem.  We were the first in the family to arrive at my mom's.  Then almost everyone else arrived at the same time.  Mass present unwrapping ensued.  It was a lot of fun to see everyone.  My nieces and nephews keep growing up.  There's talks of college acceptances, dean's lists, graduations, braces, etc.

There was almost an inch by the time we left Winston-Salem.  The side roads were becoming slick.  We decided to go ahead and travel back east to Raleigh and beat the snow.  Halfway back it was just rain and we were safely home.
Since our original plans were thwarted by Jack Frost, we had a big ole honey ham to cook.  And I decided to make macaroni and cheese from scratch.  A friend gave me a recipe off the back of a noodle box and swore it was the best ever.  Every dish was ready at the same time, amazing feat.  Before we ate Adrian paused and said a big thank you for the wonderful meal.  It really was good.  Honey ham is awesome.  And that macaroni and cheese was the next level of awesome.  Sorry mom, you missed out.  Blame the weatherman.
Some lucky stray dog had a good Christmas present too.  We put the ham bone out by the curb.  It was a beauty and if I was dog I would have gone to town on that.

This is Why

we have kids.  So we can put their in pigtails and have a digital image to last forever.  Travis makes a cute little girl, I think.  Nick, not as much.  Also, Travis was quite taken with this style.  Over the past week he has asked for the single ponytail with a headband several times.
I took them for haircuts so these shenanigans have gone to the wayside for now. 


Editor's Note: Adrian does not condone this activity.

Me

I think I've mentioned before that I signed up for the endurance running program at the Y.  The coach set up a Yahoo group and we use it for email distribution purposes.  You can send out invitations for runs, pose questions to the masses, or make casual observations about our sanity or fashion choices.  There's also a shared calendar where you post your upcoming races.  This way we can all support each other with our goals.  I've joined a few group runs, and chatted with some of the runners by email.

Last night was the end of season social at a pizza/bar/grill place near the Y.  There were quite a few people whose names I had seen in emails but hadn't had the opportunity to hook up with for a run yet.  It was a lot of fun seeing people I had met before but this time we weren't all sweaty, stinky and unkempt.  And I got to meet people I only knew by name.  It was a lot of fun.

For the first time in a long time I felt like I was in a community.  I was myself.  Not someone's mother.  Not someone's wife.  Not someone's co-worker.  But just me.  I could be myself.  I'm slowly getting back some of my social skills and learning how to chat and make new friends.  It's not that I've been isolated.  Just going to work, shlepping kids to daycare and their friends' parties, doing family stuff.  I was neglecting to make my own connections outside of all that.  It feels really good to be able to step out on my own.  And with the added benefit of being around people who don't give a second thought to running at 5:30 am when it's 17 degrees out, or running long enough to burn 2300 calories - all for fun and the joy of being outside.  We know we are crazy and we happily accept others to join us.

And So It Begins

Lesson # 1:  The school cafeteria allows students to set up an account or pay by cash.  I created the account and placed some money in it.  At $2.00 per lunch I thought it would last a while.  He went through spurts of wanting to bring lunch everyday, and the occasional school lunch.  Lately he's been buying lunch most days.  It probably depends on what his friends are doing and not what's on the menu.  He doesn't ask me to look it up for him ahead of time. 

I logged into his account last week to see the balance.  I ran a report of the last 7 days, the maximum look back on the site.  That boy was buying cookies and extra snacks almost everyday with his lunch!  And one day he only bought a cookie, meaning he made the extra effort to go stand in line just to buy a cookie to go with his lunch.  And he bought lunch on a day that I know he took lunch with him.  How dare he, we discussed the rules.  We agreed to treats only on Fridays.

When confronted that evening he responded with a "how'd you find out?" and "it's my account".  I explained the website and that I was putting my money into it, and so on.  I set a spending limit of lunch only on his account.  And if he wants to buy a cookie he could plan ahead and take fifty cents with him.  He understood, I think, and has continued to buy lunch this week with no complaints of missing a bag of chips or a cookie.


Lesson #2:  The school PTA fundraiser of the month was some crazy shoelace things called Y Ties.  They're coiled and do not have to be tied.  The order form promised that they would save my life and only cost $4 with some unknown amount going back to the PTA.  What the hey.  I bought two.  Camouflage for Nicholas and black for Travis.

Nicholas came home a week or so later with his camouflage Y ties in his shoes.  A counselor at after-school put them on for him. 

Where's the other pair, the black ones?
I gave them to a friend.
What?! Those were for Travis.  So you could each have some.
Commence the water works and run away.

After we got him to return there was a talk about asking parents before giving things away.  Then a talk about if people are truly your friends it's because they like you and not because you give them things.

What's your friend's name?
I don't know.
Is it a boy or a girl?
A girl.
How old is she?
Nine.
And you don't know her name?
Her name is Evelyn.

No big deal, let's think of a solution.  The game plan - talk to her and let her know that he wasn't supposed to give them away, they were for his brother, he'll be in trouble.  If she's really a friend she will understand.   I don't know the child and who knows if her parents would question how she got them.  I had to hope he wasn't coerced into giving them up by an older child, a girl no less!

I picked him up from school the next day.  He was so proud and happy.  He got the Y ties back.  Evelyn had been very understanding.  She even wrapped them in a piece of purple paper and wrote his name on it so he wouldn't lose them.  We agreed that she was a true friend.  (I think she might have a thing for a kindergartener.)


The real task of parenting is here.  We need our game face on.  And a strategy for teaching him how to be responsible, caring, and independent.  He will make mistakes and we will all learn from them.

Turkey Lurkey

I don't remember exactly what was accomplished on Thanksgiving Day.  We lounged around watching the Macy's parade.  Finally it was captivating enough for both boys.  Score!  Then at some point later we were all dressed and ready to go to someone else's house where they had slaved away all day making dinner.  Score!
Jared was hosting this year after we had fed him in previous years.  His sister was coming to visit with her daughters.  He was very excited about the whole thing.  He suggested we all make banners.  My concept of banners is of the homecoming variety you hang from the top floor classroom windows in high school for the pep rally.  Adrian let Jared know that my banner was of the awesome nature.  Jared's response, "I didn't know this was a competition."  Hello?  Have we met?  Of course mine had to be the best.  He picked up our banner the day before Thanksgiving so it could be hanging on his deck when guests arrived.  Well we rolled up and ours was the lone banner.  No competition, they didn't even attempt to rival my creation.  Check it out:

The kids sitting still for a moment while dinner is still cooking.

The kids thank Jared for a wonderful dinner and a lot of fun - like whipped cream mustaches.

Pumpkin Recipe #2

With every healthy choice, there has to be a less healthy alternative.  Enter the pumpkin chocolate cheesecake bar.  The recipe is found here with a beautiful photo (let's pretend mine look just like those).
It was a lot of steps to create the layers and a lot of different bowls mixing parts.  Graham cracker crust.  Chocolate cream, cheesecake layer, sour cream topping.  I came to the conclusion that my kitchen isn't big enough to support a recipe like this all of the time.  Bowls and measuring utensils on every surface.
I think that pumpkin and cream cheese were born to be together.  And chocolate, a total value add.  It ended up like an LDS plural marriage going on in my oven.  Pumpkin and his sister wives chocolate and cream cheese.

Pumpkin Recipe #1

When we went to a local pumpkin patch last month we brought home lots of pumpkins.  Several were painted, one was carved, and one was baked.  I ended up with countless 1 cup bags of pumpkin puree in my freezer.  I am just now getting around to making things with it.  I hope to venture into the realm of pumpkin soups and other savory dishes.  It will take some courage.
Recently a good friend of mine and co-worker was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  We think it's just unfortunate genetics, she's otherwise thin, healthy and somewhat active.  She's been adjusting her diet and seems rather sad about some of the changes.
I reached out to my sister-in-law, which is cool to say because I only have one of those amongst a multitude of brothers-in-law, and asked her for a low sugar pumpkin cookie recipe.  She pointed me to a great website and recipe here for pumpkin spice cookies.  Of course I didn't have all the ingredients on hand.  I had to pick up some whole wheat flour, raisins, and molasses with my regular weekly shopping.  It was such an easy recipe to throw together.  And they came out great.  The texture is cake-like.  One comment on the site equated them to muffin tops which is very accurate.  No one would know they are low fat (no butter) and low sugar (only 1/3 cup light brown sugar).  I didn't tell Adrian and he kept coming back for more.
I sent my friend a text and told her she had to come into work because I made a treat she could eat.  She was so excited after suffering through an evening with her kids' youth group making s'mores but not eating them.
They were a fairly good hit at work.  Pumpkin and spice isn't a favorite of everyone's.  One lady didn't really like the cookie as a stand alone but thought it would work nicely as part of a whoopie pie.  Now that might need some consideration and could work.

Rumble Fish

I returned to the trails in late summer.  And immediately fell in love with it all over again.  My trail running friend, Steve, sent me a link to a local trail race, Raven Rock Rumble.  He and another friend were planning to do the 5 mile option.  Since I knew I would have a flat 10 miler and a hilly half marathon under my belt by race date, I selected the 10 mile option.  Silly, silly girl am I.
Leading up to the race I was very relaxed and excited about it.  Not nervous and feeling unsure of myself like I get with a road race.  I was looking forward to running with a crowd on new trails.  My biggest concern was getting lost or missing a trail marker.  Trail races seem to have more stories and a special camaraderie that is different from road races.  And there's less focus on records and speed.  It's more about finishing it in one piece and enjoying the scenery.
Race day came.  We carpooled down to Raven Rock State Park in Lillington.  The parking area was in a field 3/4 mile from the park so we had a chance to stretch our legs after the car ride.  We milled around - went to the bathroom, got our bibs and chips. 

Jessi and me zip tying our chips.

Then it was time to line up for the start.  The start lines were staggered and started 5 minutes apart.  The 10 mile course was a figure eight (the 5 mile course was the left hand loop of the eight) and we started with the right hand of the eight so theoretically when you came to the intersection of the loops most people were off the 5 mile course.
The first half was pretty amazing.  I paced behind a guy with neat red shoes for the first mile.  As soon as the single track opened up a little, I passed him and two ladies who were clearly planning to walk even the smallest of hills.  I paced behind another guy for the next couple miles.  The course was beautiful.  I kept thinking, "wow, I'm actually doing a trail race, finally!".  I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention.  Rocks and roots abound.  And the leaf cover made it tricky.  Mile four was ugly.  Big downhill made with stairs - you get no rhythm on these - and slick rocks.  The advantage here is that it's a turn around section so you can see the people ahead of you making their way back up.  At the bottom of this hill is a gorgeous overlook of the river, but you can't take too long.  That hill is waiting for you to ascend somehow, someway.  Steve was done with the five mile race which I had been hoping for.  I gave him my gloves and he snapped a picture at the midpoint. 

Pretty scenery.

He gave tips on the last half of my course - which was the course he just finished.  Super helpful advice!  I saw Jessi finishing up her race, she looked positive.  I told her Steve was waiting and kept on moving.  Because this race is at a state park it remains open to the public.  I did encounter people out on hikes with their dogs and such.  A group of teens was on a hike, moseying (spelling?) their way along the trail.  The guy in back would yell "runner!" and they'd scoot out of the way for you to pass.  They were not deterred from their mission by the 200 plus runners that would have to pass them that day.
I cruised along through my last few miles with no one around, I couldn't see anyone ahead of me or behind me.  The trail followed a creek.  I felt like I was exactly where I belonged.  That this was what I was meant to do.  At the same time I also felt like I missed a sign.  I was feeling uncertain in my solitude.  And then I recognized the hill I had come down for this loop.  Once out of the woods and into the open area I had a surge of energy.  The finish line!  And Steve yelling my name.  I'm sure Jessi was too but she doesn't have quite the same volume.  First trail race done.  And I felt fantastic.
I grabbed a PB&J and banana from the post race area.  We walked the 3/4 mile back to the car and cracked open some homebrew.  A very delicious way to toast our hard work.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience - good trails, beautiful weather, and friends to enjoy it too.

Tracked Out Together

Nicholas is currently tracked out.  With year round school they get 3 weeks off between quarters.  He goes to the Y for the day, pretty much like your standard day camp.  I took the day off work (to recover from my race, which surprisingly wasn't really needed) to spend quality time with just him.
We started the morning at It's A Grind - the coffee shop Nancy Botwin goes to in Weeds.  Pumpkin latte and hot chocolate, yum.  Then off to Durant Park.  Travis and I went last weekend and it seemed like a place that should have lots of geocaches.  I checked the site earlier this week and of course the park was loaded with them.  And some clearly marked as kid friendly.
Nicholas and I made our way to three caches.  The GPS I have is sucky at best.  One time I was 40 feet away and standing practically on top of it.  Another time I was 400 feet away.  So either the coordinates are off or I need a better GPS that can handle tree cover.  I have found more than a few over the years and have a general idea of standard hiding places. In a nature park a clue of "near a fallen log" is kind of cruel.  There are 8 more in that park that we will tackle another day.  No sense in rushing through them.  Nicholas was very happy to leave better prizes than the ones he took.  He hopes the next finder likes it.
Next we went downtown for lunch.  We went to Adrian's favorite restaurant, Spize, to make him jealous.  And it didn't disappoint.  We attempted to go to Marbles Kids Museum.  Um, it was closed.  What?  I never thought to check.  And Nicholas was not pleased.  We decided to go to the state museums instead.  We walked around the Capitol.  Nothing makes that boy happier than old canons.  He ran from one to the other.  Checked out statues and the veterans memorial.  Over to the history museum.  Luckily NC has a lot of history.  We started in the NC Sports Hall of Fame.  Then through military section.  He loves weapons and uniforms almost as much as canons.  By the time we got to the recreated old pharmacy he was getting creeped out by all the old stuff.  That can only be cured with retail therapy in the gift shop.  I made notes to myself for lots of Christmas ideas.
We had a great day spending time together, just the two of us at our own pace.

That's my boy!  He's picking trash out of the lake.

Whale Rock.  The creek has carved a channel over a bazillion years.

Yummy lunch.  I heart sweet chili sauce.

Doesn't everyone do a mirror pose with a statue?

A Civil War dude.  First fallen, I think.

WW I, WW II, and Korean War memorial.

Never Give Up!

Did you know football jerseys used to be onesies?  That gave us a big laugh.

City of Hills, I mean Oaks

I signed up for City of Oaks Half Marathon back in the summer.  This was before one of my race buddies injured herself dancing at a wedding reception.  Then my local Y announced their fall season endurance running program.  This race was the goal race for the program.  Coincidence?  Maybe. 
I pursued the goal knowing I would be doing it alone.  A little awkward.  Hi!  I'm the loner girl wandering around pre-race with no friends.
Well technically I did know one person who would be there.  One of the girls I carpooled with in the 10 mile race.  She volunteered as a pace leader for the 2:20 group.  So the plan became: I should only see Amy before and after the race, but not during.
I arrived early to get a parking space.  I sat in my car to stay warm for as long as possible.  36 degrees is just a little chilly.  I made my way to the start line and chatted with Amy, as planned.  Then I made my way to the pace group I wanted to aim for.  For the first time ever I had my ipod for a race.  I only use one ear when I run just in case.  (I have only used an ipod for one training run - ever.)  And off we went.
Mile 1 - 10 seconds too fast
Mile 2 - 20 seconds too fast
Then my friend Steve is on a random street corner with his bike.  Yay!  A familiar face and a real spectator who shouts my name.
Things are moving along fine but there sure are a lot of hills. 
Halfway through the pace is averaging 15 seconds too slow.
By mile 8 I was not feeling great.  Muscles were good, no pain there.  I just wanted to puke, that's all.  I started taking short walk breaks, only about 50 - 100 feet.  And then I was off again at normal pace for another mile.  I tackled the remaining 5 miles like this.  It was manageable even though I was becoming really cranky with myself. 
I saw Steve again.  I told him I just wanted to finish and be done.  He assured me a PR was in the bag.  I was no longer checking my time.  I didn't care anymore.  The goal had passed long ago.  I told myself I was never doing another road race ever again.  The pressure to meet a time goal and set a PR was stupid.  I enjoy long training runs for the joy of running.  (I think is normal self-defeating thoughts processes that occur during long races.)
Going into Mile 12 passes the Y water stop.  Finally my people.  It was very uplifting to see people I knew.  I was much happier.   I wanted to tell the random lady next to me, "those are my people." 
Mile 13 - Yes!  The final mile.  Something took over.  Those walk breaks had allowed me to build up a reserve of unknown strength.  And I suddenly remembered - I get a medal!  I think this mile was my fastest of the whole race.  No one passed me.  I was picking off people left and right.  Rob Zombie is a good motivator.  Finally...done...thank god it was over.  Got my medal.  Got a bottle of water, banana, and bagel quarter.  I waited for Amy to come in with her pace group.  That part of the plan did work out.  And I did have a new PR on a much more difficult course too.  So it wasn't all bad.  I'm sure I could've done better if I hadn't let those evil self-defeating voices take over and allowed myself to be comfortable with nausea.  Maybe there will be another time.  Or maybe not.

Halloween Eve

Nicholas was invited to a costume party with some of his old pre-school friends.  Pretty much all of the boys had gone their separate ways for kindergarten.  It was good to get them together again.  And many thanks to the parents who hosted the party and allowed the parents to drop off and leave their kids for a few hours.  Travis and I spent some quality time together and let Adrian have alone time at home.  Travis and I went to Durant Nature Park.  I had seen the signs for it plenty of times and always wanted to check it out.  It's a little pocket of preserved nature in one of the busiest areas of the city.  There's good trails including two miles of mountain bike trails.  Hardly anyone was there so it was even a better place to hang out.  Afterward we went to Target for popcorn and an icee, and to pick up a few things.  Then it was time to pick up Nicholas from his party.

View from the dock.  Not all of the leaves have changed color, and there's a lot of evergreens.  Still very pretty.

The play ground was all his and he was thrilled.

The trails were great.  We hoped to see wildlife but only get squirrel sightings.

"Mom, take my picture."

Nicholas and friends at the party.  It looked like they had a lot of fun!

Wilmington

Adrian had to coach a lacrosse team at a tournament in Wilmington.  The boys and I tagged along for the ride.  Since he was busy the whole day we had to occupy ourselves with fun activities.  We had a lot of fun.  Here's a run down of the day in photos.  Enjoy!

Breakfast - The hot doughnuts now sign was on.  How can you deny these angels the best doughnuts ever?  Plus they got to learn about the way they're made and get cool hats.

Beach time at Fort Fisher.  They got to see fishermen and collect some seashells.

Then we checked out the NC Aquarium.  We've been before and it's always a good time.

I think he was sleeping but he was very eerie.

Nicholas has always been a little crabby.

We never miss a fort (and obligatory photo op with the sign).  This was their first Civil War fort.  Nicholas really liked the museum and seeing the uniforms and ammunition.  Big canons go boom!

These trees are all around the fort. 

After Adrian was done we met the team and their families for dinner at the Blockade Runner.  Beautiful sunset!

View before dinner.  The ocean was like glass it was so calm.