October family dinner

We had several birthdays to celebrate in October so we did our dinner a little later in the month. Along with me, Jamie and Erik, Darin's roommate Dean has an October birthday and our favorite little friend, Bronwen. We had three different desserts to choose from--with candles on all of them...
And it is October so we had plenty of Halloween candy too. If only we all had as much fun with Halloween candy as Delainey does...

Charleston, South Carolina

A few weeks ago Sheraton Hotels had a contest where you could win a free night. Donald heard about it and entered us. I ended up winning a night at the Sheraton in Charleston, South Carolina. I had to use it this weekend so Jamie, Jenna and I headed down to Charleston Friday afternoon.

We hadn't been to Charleston so we really didn't know what to expect. It was much bigger than we realized and there was so much to see! We shopped at the Open Air market (of course) and walked along the battery.


We walked down "Museum Mile" and saw lots of wonderful historic homes.

We made sure we saw Rainbow Row...


We enjoyed looking at the private homes as well. One private home had a gate as we looked through the wrought iron gate, this is what we saw...

(I think that would be enough to keep away the trick-or-treaters!)

We ate seafood (well, I did) and we just enjoyed the city immensely. It's definitely a place I would like to return to. Thank you Sheraton for our free night and thank you Donald for "making" me go. Next time we're planning it better, seeing more and making sure Sarah can go with us as well!

UNC football

Thursday night Donald, Darin, Devin, Sarah and I went to the UNC vs. FSU football game. It was the Thursday night ESPN game and I love going to night games. Although the outcome of the game wasn't what we had hoped for, it was fun being with part of the family and watching the game. I really enjoy the marching band--but we weren't in the best position for a picture--this one is from before the game and they haven't even gotten into a formation yet....

Late Nite with Roy

Friday afternoon we made our annual trek to Chapel Hill for Late Night with Roy. This is the night that officially marks the beginning of the basketball season. We've been going for the past 5 years or so. This year they started off the evening with a women's volleyball game--UNC vs. Duke. UNC won 4-1. It was so much fun to watch volleyball--I miss not watching it. Following the volleyball game, the official "Late Nite" begins. There are fireworks, lots of music, skits, and, of course, a scrimmage. It's hosted by Stuart Scott from ESPN (a UNC alum) and he keeps things rolling. It's a fun night if you're a UNC fan and one we always look forward to. I brought my camera but left the memory card sitting in the computer at home--so here's a picture I took off of Sarah's blog of the cutest UNC cheerleader ever!

Beach day

Saturday morning Donald, Jenna, Erik and I headed to the beach. Donald and I hadn't made it to the beach all summer (well, the North Carolina beach--which is SO much warmer than the west coast beaches that we enjoyed in June) and Jenna and Erik wanted to go since they were on fall break so off we went.

It was a gorgeous day at the beach. 80+ degrees with a slight breeze. We saw a wedding, numerous dolphins, a beautiful kite, and just basked in the warmth and the sounds of the waves.(14 months and 2 days since their wedding and still cute!)

We headed home in the late afternoon and I was greeted by this when I got home:

Best welcome home ever!!

(in case you can't read her shirt it says:
Carolina girls...best in the world)

Howl-O-Scream

On Friday Jenna, Erik, Jamie and Darin all went to Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is an amusement park about 3 hours from Raleigh. In October in the evenings, they have a Halloween event called Howl-O-Scream. Erik and Jenna went last year and had a great time so this year they talked Jamie and Darin into joining them. They left the house a little after 6am and returned home around 12:30 am Saturday morning. We were greeted by this when they arrived home:Maybe next year Donald and I will have to go as well....

Harry Potter

Friday night Donald and I went to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". I know most of you saw it over the summer, but when it came out we were on vacation and then we just decided to wait until it came to the $1.50 theater. I loved it!! I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, but haven't enjoyed the movies nearly as much. But I found the key with this movie. I didn't reread the book before going!! I enjoyed the movie SO much. I knew the general gist of what was going to happen, but I didn't remember things they were left out and I was just able to truly enjoy a magical evening with Harry....and Donald. :-)