Aricin's Basketball Game

We wound up getting 2 free basketball tickets for last night's game (Bobcats and "76'ers I think) so Niels took Aricin for some special one on one time since shooting hoops is Aricin's thing. The game didn't start until 7pm, they got there around the second quarter (Aricin fell asleep on the way there! He's a power napper like his dad!) and then they stayed until the end. Aricin loved it and came home totally amped up! His first real basketball game! 

The big screen

some action on the court
Aricin enjoying himself
Aricin and Niels

Thanksgiving Feast at Christian's School

Today we attended Christian's class Thanksgiving feast! It was a real Thanksgiving Lunch with everything you would find for Thanksgiving Dinner. Turkey, Dressing, green beans, cranberry, corn etc. They even had homemade apple pie, pumpkin bread, and banana pudding. It was very yummy! All the food was donated by the families in the class. We didn't get to bring any food because all the sign ups slots pretty much had been taken by the time we got there (she did the sign up at Parent Teacher conference and we were pretty much the last ones to go) so we just donated spoons. The kids had worked very hard writing and practicing their "I am thankful for" lists. Christian did a super job, I caught it on video, be sure and check it out below!

What a fun day. And we will be repeating next week for Aricin's preschool class. I love the Holidays, tons of good food and good times!

Christian right after saying his list

Us eating. It was a bit crowded at the desks but still a lot of fun. Aricin pretty much just ate Apple Pie and Pumpkin Bread!
Christian's teacher welcoming us to the feast
Christian's "Thankful Writing". Very cool!

Happy Birthday Calinda!!

Happy Birthday to Calinda! If any of you don't know she is our niece that has lived with us the last few summers and is now a permanent resident here until she finishes college. We celebrated Calinda's 24th birthday on the 10th. (I know it is a bit late in posting.) She wanted brownies for a cake so I made those and we did presents too. Her other gift was a trip to Duke University which I will post soon! Happy Birthday Calinda!

The Stash

This is what the adults see....

This is what the kids see...
Any questions?  I'm waiting to see which kid lets me know it is missing...

Blue Ridge Parkway Near Asheville

We spent Sunday afternoon driving to Asheville and taking in the beauty of the fall season. We drove a ways on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then stopped near Mt. Pisgah (which peaks out around 5000 ft) to walk around some. We walked down a couple trails. The boys (Niels included) were climbing every tree they could! The beauty of the fall and all the wonderful changing leaves never ceases to amaze me. This was a great way to spend a family afternoon together. Calinda would have joined us but she was babysitting.

Boys in the tree

Niels in the tree. I couldn't resist taking this shot from below.
One short path we went on dead ended at the top of a tunnel you pass through in the car! We went through about 8 of these tunnels driving one way. The boys love to count them! They thought it was pretty cool to be on the top of the tunnel and the people in the cars below were waving and honking at them!
The trail near Mt. Pisgah. This one has a lot of stairs and well lets just say that my new habit of NOT exercising (for the last year and 2 months) has caught up with me...

Niels with the beautiful scenery behind him

Renaissance Festival

This last Saturday we decided to have some fun! I've been working a lot at the barn so my weekends have been pretty much taken up lately! So we decided to go to the Carolina Renaissance Festival

The weather was perfect! Mid 70's, which is very nice considering lately we have been luck to hit 60.

First you are greeted at the entrance by people in character and in costume! Going inside literally looks like you are stepping back in time! It was so much fun and there was so much to do! People roam around in character and talk to you, there are rides, live jousting tournaments (my favorite!), you can even shoots bows and arrows and throw knives. What's not to like, right?

Christian doing the high trampoline bounce! He had a blast! We were surprised he even wanted to do this because he has his dad's fear of heights!
Calinda and the boys with a knight from the jousting competition.
Boys on their "horse" with the wooden swords we bought them (ah, what was I thinking?)
Niels teaching Christian to shoot a bow and arrow. Yeah Niels knows how to shoot a bow and arrow too. Is there anything that man hasn't done?
Here is a pic from the jousting competition. That is the same knight pictured above w/ the kids and Calinda. For those of you that know about horses I asked him what breed his horse was (the rest were Quarter Horses), and he told me he is a Suffolk Punch (rare breed here in the states). I told him I have an Appaloosa and he replied that was a "fine steed!" Yep! (See my horse blog for a video clip of the jousting tournament. I am still having difficulty posting video)
Here is us right after the jousting competition before we left the bleachers. The jousting was really cool because they really involve the crowd. Each side of the arena has a knight (or in the case of one side a pirate) to cheer for. It is a progressive show, we missed the first one, but in the last of the 3 shows the pirate ended up winning. This show is complete with the king and queen that sit high up in the balcony and the royalty and also take part (including a prayer before it started). The king and queen also walk around the the festival with their royalty! There was also a falconry show, and tons of other comedians, musicians etc. Christian really seemed to enjoy the lady that was playing the harp.

It was a very fun day, but very exhausting! Even as we were walking out there is a procession of characters waving hankeys and singing a farewell song! This is a definite repeat for us next year! There is so much to do and the boys really love it! Christian has already planned out that next year he is going to get the wooden axe!