It's about time!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! No excuses, we'll just move on!! A lot has happened since May 29th! Here is a quick update:
We went to Hilton Head, SC the first week in June. My parents, my brother Wally and his wife and son, and Kelly, Madison, and I had a great time hanging out at one of my favorite places in the whole world. Jimmy was actually working at the Wide World of Sports in Orlando for the MLB draft.

We ate at the Salty Dog at the South Beach Marina on Wednesday. This was Madison's first trip to the bar where she ordered "Mommy's Milk" in a bottle.
We took Maddie to the beach Thursday morning. She wanted to lay out and work on her tan, but we didn't want to cause any of the little boys to stumble.
Kelly came to Hilton Head with my family in 1998, after we had been dating for one year, and it has become our favorite vacation spot. Oh and last week June 15, was our 5th wedding anniversary!!! Its hard to believe its already been 5 years.

Maddie went on her first boat ride aboard the "Vagabond". We actually saw the space shuttle take off from Florida while we were on the boat. That was pretty cool considering it was two states away!

That's my dad after he got the bill for the boat cruise! Thanks dad!!!
Maddie Grace and Kelly on Maddie's first boat ride. Aren't they cute?

My mom (Grannie Annie) and dad (Grandpa) on the "Vagabond" with Harbor Town in the background. (Pay attention to my mom's eyebrows!)
We went into a store and Maddie thought that this was a stuffed animal of Grannie Annie (see picture above this one) but I had to tell her it was actually Bert.

I had my first Father's Day and Madison gave me this card and an ECU chair for tailgating. Kelly asked me what I wanted to do for Father's Day and I told her all I wanted to do is lay on the couch and watch the US Open golf tournament with my daughter. Kelly wanted to know how that was different than any other Sunday until I told her it was THE US Open! Kelly and I also got DirectTV with DVR this week. Kelly didn't think we needed the DVR but when we missed "So You Think You Can Dance" one night she was disappointed but then I told her that with the DVR she didn't really miss it--she realized it was worth it. Our small group (minus Jeff who is at YL camp this week) went to Celebration Station for .99 Putt-Putt night. Actually, 99 cent putt-putt is really 1.99 now. I started off the first hole with a hole-in-one and thought I would cruise to an easy victory-not so as I actually came in tied for 4th after I allowed Millie to come back and tie me on the second to last hole--Great putt Millie!!
I promise you my dad is not the guy that lives down near I-40. We had our annual Summer Soiree with my dad's side of the family. We meet every year in June with my cousins, aunts, and uncles at my Aunt's house on Market St. We always have a lot of fun just catching up with each other and eating good food. My mom and dad are usually in charge of the games so we played this relay game where you have to run down to a chair, open a suitcase, put on the clothes in the suitcase, run and tag the next person, and then they have to repeat the process.

Tha'ts my mom (Grannie Annie) showing off her skills.

Well, again sorry it has been so long since the last post. I hope you enjoyed this update and I'll be sure to post more stuff more often. Oh yeah, there are only 69 more days until ECU's 2007 football season kicks off!!

Madison's first trip to Greenville!!

I went to the East Carolina vs. Rice game on Sunday with my dad and brothers...more on that later! Not bad seats, huh?!! Thanks Dad!!

OK before I tell ya'll about Greenville first off, that's a snake. And yes, it's a copperhead! And yes, it was in our back yard in Greensboro. And yes, it was on our side of the fence. Kelly called me up on the phone and said Samuel L. Jackson had nothing on her and that there was a huge snake in the backyard. I first thought, oh it's just a little green snake and so I said, "Well take a picture." She then said I think it might be a rattlesnake. I then said, "nah we don't have those. Just go take a picture." When I got the picture, I said "OK now go shoot it-its a copperhead." Kelly is so brave. She went all the way out by the snake and grabbed our dog, Dakota, who wouldn't come inside when Kelly was calling her. She then was brave enough to take this picture. I told her to call animal control and here's how our tax dollars talk: "Mam, we don't do that, call critter control." Thanks, no seriously thanks. By the time Kelly got the number for critter control, the snake was gone...for now.

If you didn't already know, my favorite place in the world is Greenville, NC. This is one of the old barns on the way to Kelly's parents' house from my parents' house, and it reminds me of the days when I used to work in the tobacco and corn fields. These barns are getting more and more rare so Kelly and I decided to take a few pictures before they get torn down by new developments.

We took Maddie Grace to Greenville for the first of many trips! I am already counting down the days till her first football game against the baby blue from Chapel Hill (102) .We had a great time hanging out with our families and friends. ECU was hosting the conference championship this past weekend and so we took Madison to the game on Saturday.

She lasted all nine innings-a true Pirate. ECU won the game she attended against Tulane 9-4 to advance to the championship game against Rice, who is ranked 2nd in the nation! I went to the championship game on Sunday and the Pirates eventually lost to Rice in the game, but are headed to the NCAA tournament starting this Friday in Chapel Hill.

Madison Grace and me in "The Jungle" at Clark Leclair Stadium.

Two beautiful girls hanging out in the shade in "The Jungle".

Oh yeah, PeeDee the Pirate came out to see Madison but she was in the car eating!

That's my brother Jimmy working with the ECU grounds crew--look at that form! Oh yeah, he graduates next fall with a Masters in Sports Management and could use a JOB if anybody knows anything, or if you just want him to come and rake your dirt he would do that for some money also...

No fun birthday, Huddle House, and Wild Turkeys!

Note to my mom: The water level on the dan is seriously like 10-12 inches-we had life jackets in the boat.

Saturday was Kelly's birthday and she woke up sick with the thing that has been going around Greensboro. So, instead of celebrating with cake, hamburgers, hot dogs, and friends it was chicken noodle soup, opening presents while half awake, and lots of rest. She is 100% better today! The good thing for Kelly is that she is born in the "blessed" month as Ann Smith would say and so Kelly gets to not only celebrate May 19th-but the whole month of May. Madison gives her presents everyday--actually about every 2-3 hours!

Ok so you don't think I'm the worst husband in the world--Kelly let me do it!! Do what? Well my friends Jeff, Kevin, Matt, and I traveled up to Madison, NC today and paddled down the Dan River. Its about a three hour round trip from house to water back to house. If you have a canoe or kayak, you should definitely think about doing this section of the Dan river. We left Greensboro around 11:30 and ate at the new Huddle House restaurant on HWY 220 where we all got "Big Boy Platter"s--note: don't get the "Big Boy Platter" before paddling down a river. 3 eggs, 5 pieces of bacon, a ton of hash browns, grits, and a biscuit--add the Mountain Dew laxative and your in for a wild ride! Ok where was I. Oh so we got onto the river and paddled from the Lindsey Bridge access to the HWY 704 bridge. This stretch is about 2.5 miles and there are some pretty cool historical sites along the way. I couldn't help but think about the movie "Deliverance" da da ding ding ding ding ding ding ding-you know the tune. Luckily for us we didn't see any crazy people dangling banjos from bridges. Ok so you're probably wondering why the title says, Wild Turkeys. Well, when we got to the HWY 704 bridge, Matt realized that he didn't have his truck keys--they were in my truck 2.5 miles upstream or 5 miles on the highway. Kevin and I decided to hitchhike our way back to my truck. This is where the wild turkey comes into play. We started walking down the road and saw some wild turkeys so we decided to jump on the back of them and ride them to my truck. No we didn't. After several attempts to get a ride with someone that has a truck--we just wanted to ride in the back so if the people were weird we could jump out--a nice couple (i think) stopped and picked us up. They had a cover on their truck bed so we had to get inside. You have to know how to talk to people when you hitchhike so they will feel comfortable with you that you're not going to do anything stupid like steal their car or something. So when the guy asked me if I had seen any wild turkeys on our trip downstream, I put on my thick Greenville downeast accent and started talking to them about wild turkeys! I don't know if Kevin would agree, but I think that conversation kept us alive, or at least in the truck!

Big Weekend!

It was a big weekend in Greenville as ECU's baseball team won all three games against Central Florida. They are now in 2nd place and have a record of 35-17. Also, there are only 111 days until ECU's 2007 football season kicks off in Blacksburg against Va. Tech.

It was also a big weekend in the 'Boro as my mom and dad came up to visit. My brother Jimmy brought my mom up here on Thursday and I was able to play golf with him. My dad came up Friday night and we all went to Best Buy. This ordinarily is no big deal but this is the farthest Madison has been from our house.

Madison and her Uncle Jimmy!

On Saturday we went to Country Park for a Picnic. We ended up having to leave our spot because all the dumb geese were trying to eat us. Actually I think they thought Madison was calling them, because they didn't start coming towards us until she started crying. Maybe I should bring her to the duck blind this winter.

My mom, Madison and I on Mother's Day!

(cool hair Charlie)

Madison gave her mommy a picture frame with her picture in it and some hanging baskets for the front porch.

(Seriously, are you wearing a toupee')

This is the picture that was put into Kelly's frame.

Madison didn't want me to feel bad that I didn't get anything to open and I told her it was ok because it was Mother's Day, but she decided to give me something anyway. No its cool, I'm sure it will come out with some Shout or something.

That's all for now!

We're Home!

Well we are home now. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have had a lot of visitors. Here are some more pics...

More Pictures!