First Tri

George are I participated in our first triathlon on September 25th in Wilmington. It was awesome! George did all three events and was really good! His swimming was especially impressive! I did the bike and run as part of "Team Stoogie." Our friend, Kevin, aka "Doogie," has an injury that kept him from doing the bike and run. I was happy to do a relay but hope to do the entire race next year. It was really neat to be a part of a triathlon and be surrounded by such amazing athletes. I was in awe of the skill and equipment that some of the participants had. The only bad part about the whole day was waking up so early. It was pitch black outside when we rode our bikes from the beach house to the event start. Not fun! The sun came out though and it turned into a beautiful day; much warmer than we had expected. Since I was part of a relay team, I hung out in the transition area until it was my turn. Relay teams start in one of the last groups and George's group was one of the first to begin so I was able to see him finish the swim and bike before I started. It was so fun to cheer him on! George hopes to make this an ongoing sport and has already signed up for a future event! I will probably just wait and do the Wilmington event again next September. We are both so happy we did it and look forward to more!

George and his friends getting ready to load the bus to the swim start.
George running into the transition area from the swim.

Almost to the finish line!

Post race

Team Stoogie

Little Devil!

I am so excited about this post! Drew and I had the best day together a couple of weekends ago. He and I went to the Duke vs Alabama football game on Saturday the 18th. My friend Ashley's husband is a coach there and she asked us to join her at the game. We started our day by picking up Ashley and her friend and then heading for Durham. Shortly before arriving on campus, Drew gently tapped my shoulder, said "Excuse me, Mama" and then asked, "Are there going to be any guys when we get to the game because the girls talk too much?" We busted out laughing! He was so right though! Ashley and I have a lot in common and always chat non stop when we're together but her friend, Cole, who came along, is from the same hometown as my Mom which was really neat. You don't come across many folks from Laurinburg, NC so her and I were chatterboxes the entire ride. I guess Drew had heard enough and was ready to see some other dudes. Once we got on campus we went to the tailgate for coaches families where Drew met up with some other kiddos and played around. Three police officers came by to eat and Drew was in awe of them. He asked me if he could go talk to them and I said of course. I about wet my pants when he went up to one of the officers and asked, "Are you here to make sure big boys stay in their car seats?" Oops! Guess I've used that line a few too many times. Whenever Drew asks if he can sit with me in the front of the car or in the very back, I tell him that if he's not in his car seat the police will take Mama to jail. The police officers thought Drew was a hoot and they ended up having a fun conversation. They even had some badge stickers in their pockets that they happily shared with Drew. He wore one proudly and saved another for later. After eating, we went to check out the kids activities. Duke does a nice job of providing fun things for families. Drew had a blast with the inflatable games. One slide was extremely high and although he thought he would love it, he got scared after climbing the stairs to the top. Coming back down the stairs was just as scary so the nice ROTC student manning the slide offered to slide down with Drew in his lap. Drew was stoked! I wish I had a picture of his face but I was preoccupied trying to talk him into coming down the slide. One of the big highlights of the day was getting Drew's face painted! He was thrilled to be a devil and insisted on looking in the mirror non stop throughout the game to make sure he still had his devil face :) The other big highlight of the day was running into the team mascot. We were leaving the football office headed for our seats when the mascot ran through a door heading for the stadium as well. He came to a quick halt when he saw Drew and his cute painted face. They high fived, fist pumped and then smiled for the camera. Drew couldn't believe his luck! The actual game was not the highlight of the day. We didn't expect Duke to win but it was unfortunate that they lost so badly. However, when you take a fun loving three year old to a sporting event, it doesn't really matter what the score is! Drew was such a fun date and I was very, very proud of him! It was a long, hot, fun-filled day and he was a champ!

Posing in the inflatable area.
Checking himself out in the mirror. He was so proud of his devil face!

On the elevator heading to the stadium. Notice the police badge in the center of his shirt.

With the blue devil!

Me and my buddy!

Dress Up

Who says only girls like to play dress up? Drew looooooves to wear all of his knight armor and has recently insisted that anyone that plays with him get into character as well. When we play castle, I have to wear a princess dress and crown. I also have to remain upstairs since "Princesses live in the top of castles." Drew definitely knows a heck off a lot more about princesses than I do. The other day I told him my name was Peggy Princess and he said, "No, your name is Cinderella." When you wear blue I guess you have to be Cinderella. Oops. One day last week Drew asked me to dress like a princess and then come to the balcony to meet my prince (him of course). I went and dug up a long, pretty yellow dress that belonged to my Mom and then did my best to squeeze into it. When I came around the corner, Drew's mouth dropped open and then he gave me the biggest, proudest grin. He said I was the most beautiful princess he's ever seen and the look on his face confirmed that he meant it. I feel a little silly sharing that story but one day when Drew is older and thinks I'm the lamest Mom in the whole world, I will look back on this post, picture his sweet face and be glad I recorded it. Here are some pics of my cuties in character...

David wants to be a knight just like his big brother!
Drew the knight, David the dragon and me as a princess.

Darling little dragon! Won't David be so cute on Halloween?

We dug out the old Halloween costumes for more dress up. Drew barely fit into the tiger one from two years ago and David was adorable in the lion costume Drew wore on his first Halloween. They roamed and roared around the house until they were sweating!

A Great "Knight" at Medieval Times

So, first off, I kind of stole that title from my sister :) Sorry T! One of the highlights of our Myrtle Beach trip was a visit to Medieval Times! I haven't been since the BHS senior trip to Disney World. It was just as fun as I remembered but even better since Drew was there to enjoy it! He was beyond enthralled! He is majorly into knights, swords and castles so it was the perfect treat for him. He didn't touch or even glance at his meal of soup, bread, 1/2 a chicken, ribs and dessert due to the excitement of the show. He was in complete awe of the knights and their weapons and refused to take his eyes of them for a second. CC, Cristie, Whitley and I enjoyed the show a lot too! Our knight was awesome and won the whole thing! Whoo hoo! That made the evening even more fun for us since we were able to cheer for him to the end. The knight had an eye on CC and threw her a flower. We teased her about that! Here's some pictures from our awesome trip to Medieval Times!

Despite Drew's lack of a smile, he was very excited about the new light-up sword he picked out in the gift shop.
Waving his flag for the red knight. CC enjoying the show too!

Serious Drew. He makes this face when he is really into something. He is 100% focused.

Whitley was so cute waving her flag the whole time!

Posing with his gear after the show.

Cristie and I with the cute prince :) We tried to get the kids to take a picture with him but they were scared so T and I got in the photo instead. Then Drew ran up to me of course and just made it.

With our red knight who kicked butt!

Back to the Beach!

We snuck off to Myrtle Beach over the weekend. The boys and I went down on Thursday with my Mom, Dad and Whitley. George, Cristie and Tom came after work on Friday. Judy's birthday was last week so it was great to celebrate her special day together. We had a beautiful day at the beach on Friday. This is definitely the time to go to the beach. No crowds and the weather was a tad cooler. So nice! I wish I had some beach pictures to share but I guess we were having too much fun to take any! We ate some delicious food, including a seafood feast that Daddy prepared and a strawberry cake that I made for Judy's birthday. I know it's tacky to say something I baked was delicious but oh well. It was good and it was devoured! Aunt Kim, I don't know what we would do without that recipe! The guys played golf on Saturday and had a great time while Cristie and Mom took Whitley and Drew to the beach. Judy, David and I did some shopping :) Mom, Cristie, Drew, Whitley and I went to Medieval Times on Saturday night. It was so fun that I have to do a whole post on it (coming soon!). It was a fun and busy weekend! So glad we could squeeze in one more beach trip before the end of the season. Course, with this heat who knows when the "season" will ever end.

David taking a sink bath.
Day Day and a very tired David enjoy the nice weather.

Happy Birthday Me-Ma!!!

Whitley patiently awaits a piece of cake!

Drew helps Me-Ma blow out her candle.

Go Pirates!

We have ECU football season tickets this year so we headed to the first game over the weekend. My Mom is in town so she offered to keep David at home. We are so thankful for that! It was a fun day but the game was really long and it was pretty darn hot. If you didn't watch it, ECU scored in the final seconds to win 51-49. It was exciting! Drew was such a trooper and other than one teeny tiny melt down over a foam finger, he was really well behaved and seemed to love the game day fun!

Just before getting on the road. Drew was a huge fan of the pirate car flags!
Waiting for the game to start.

New pirate sword! Arrrgh! Snack time.

Angel & Walt Visit!

We had a fantastic weekend with my best friend Angel and her hubby Walt! They flew in from Mississippi on Friday night and I was sooooo thrilled to see them! We ate a late dinner after the kids went to bed and then we stayed up into the wee hours of the night chatting and catching up. On Saturday we relaxed a bit and then Cristie and Whitley came over to visit and play. On Saturday night we had a babysitter watch the boys so Walt, Angel, George and I could go out. We had a nice dinner and then caught an 80's band for some dancing! Sunday went by really fast with a yummy brunch and then just some relaxing at home. The weekend flew by it was a great one! Thanks for taking the time to visit Angel and Walt...can't wait till next time!

Pretty Angel and happy David.
Angel, Walt, David and silly Drew.

More silly Drew.

We were laughing because George was talking nonsense in attempt to get Drew to smile.