Sunday, January 03, 2010

our final christmas

yesterday, we headed down to do our last christmas with my dad's side of the family. my brother and sister-in-law arrived early in the morning so we could get on the road and be down there by lunchtime.

along the way, we stopped by the beaufort waterfront to use the restroom and stop by a local spice shop--i so wish i had taken pictures there--maybe next time. it's a cute little bed and breakfast and shop where they make these awesome blends of spices right there in the kitchen. we got there around 10 and saw that they wouldn't open until 11, but the owner opened up the door and invited us on in, making us try several spices as they finished up breakfast with some of their guests. such a neat place and "small town" experience.

anyways--before we left, i had to get picture of the waterfront decked out for the holidays.

really liking this one...
and this one. i think i'm going to submit a number of photos soon to "our state" magazine, when i have time to sit down and put them on cd.
then we continued our trek "down east," the stretch of highways 70 and 12 between beaufort and cedar island.

i made my brother stop the car so i could get a picture of these pelicans...
and we also picked up a couple of pizzas for lunch, making a canine friend along the way.
we were down there to belatedly celebrate my grandfather's 85th birthday and do christmas together.
but first we got to introduce pepper to my aunt and uncle's dog, murphy. murphy is a sweet golden retriever who is many many years older than pepper and multiple times her weight. but pepper's napoleon complex had her growling and barking at murphy like a vicious animal. after a good 15 minutes of putting her in a submissive position, having her sit and stay on the leash slowly getting closer to murphy, she decided to make nice and they were fine for the rest of the visit. but talk about stressful... we must work on socializing her for real now...

and then we were all good to go!
cousin will getting some grandma time.
and snagging a cookie. pepper soon learned that these little humans were prone to dropping food easily and might even allow her to get a bite in if they really weren't paying attention...
yes, i'd say will made a friend, today.
joseph enjoying some of grandaddy's cookie cake.
and then it was time for presents...
we got this melissa and doug tool set for william and an "elefun" game for joseph. i've become a huge fan of melissa and doug products, particularly their puzzles to use with my kids in therapy sessions. the pieces fit perfectly, they're sturdy and colorful and have a ton of floor puzzles that the kids love. (i also have one of their doll houses on my wish list to go in my new office.)
and finally, a sign that some boys never grow up :)

we ended the day by watching the liberty bowl and our beloved pirates. it was a tough night for them, with incredibly cold weather and several missed field goals. poor ben--our kicker missed three field goals in a row, including one in overtime. it was still a great season, though, and i'll always love my pirates (regardless of their bowl game performances.)