RagApple Lassie

CJ and I are excited about the fall and decided to drive around looking for apple orchards, pumpkin patches....and vineyards? Our only real success was finding the latter of the three, so here are some pictures from the RagApple Lassie Vineyard we found just outside of Winston Salem. Their mascot is this dancing cow which we thought was cool (though CJ found her a little scary). Also, there is a great view of Pilot Mountain in the background.

Hmmm....is CJ tipsy?

Yes, I am bad. Not only did I let CJ take her afternoon nap in Lily's bed....but I let Thatcher get in there with her. Daddy's in trouble.....

Candy Apples!

We are excited about the fall season being here, and decided to get a head start on all the good times by picking up a candy apple kit at the store....yes, they were indeed as delicious as they look!

Sunshine in Deacon-town!

Army was visiting Wake Forest this weekend, and I have to admit, it is great to have Army come play in your town.  Their fans are super polite, they bring lots of excitement to the game, and from what Emily heard on the sideline....their players don't even talk trash (this is a far cry from the UNC fans who actually booed an injured player a couple weeks back).

 

Emily had to get to the game early, so the girls and I were on our own in the Blue lot....which is definitely NOT the Gold lot....but it was still better than the "Senior Services Lot" of week 1.  We had a Chick-Fil-A tailgate before taking off for the game.

Seriously??....how much do I wish Lily's tongue was in her mouth for this picture....could've been great.

This was the first home football game for us without any rain....so they actually had a pre-game show!  One of the reasons having Army visit is so great is that they bring their own pre-game excitement, including paratroopers bringing in the game flags and flyovers!

Of course, we cannot neglect the Demon Deacon pregame antics that included the Demon Deacon on his ride.....pretty awesome....though not quite as awesome as CJ saying "Deacon" everytime she sees the Demon Deacon.

Again, because this was the first game without any rain, I was able to bring in the high tech camera which allowed me to not only find Doctor Em on the sidelines, but take plenty of pictures of her....like 200....what can I say, I'm her #1 fan.  You'll notice a certain blond doc on the sidelines above this huddle.

And again....

One of the great things about this year is all the experiences the girls are getting.  One of the more lighthearted of the experiences is the number of mascots that Lily has gotten to high 5....here she is with the Army Black Knight horse.

We checked out the seats that Emily gets for each game (we bought the Hill tickets ourselves).  It gave us an opportunity to take a picture of Deacon Hill where we normally sit.

This is a great picture because its got Doctah Em and #3 Campanaro in it....he's one of our best players (and ranked in the top 25 players of the ACC by ESPN).

Lily is pretty good about making friends at these games....here she is taking cover from the sun with some of her new colleagues.

The Doc keeping a close eye on her boys.

The end of game family picture that has become a bit of a ritual for us....we followed it up with a trip to Yoforia for some frozen yogurt :)

A Trip to Chapel Hill

We did our first away game with the Demon Deacons last night. Emily was in Chapel Hill for a conference on using ultra sound to diagnose sports related injuries. The conference finished up yesterday afternoon a few hours before the Demon Deacons mens soccer team came to town to play the Tarheels....what a great opportunity for a road trip! So the girls and I drove over to UNC after Lily got home from school and met Mama for dinner and then went out to the soccer game.

Entering the game, the Tarheels were ranked #1 in the country, while the Demon Deacons were ranked #15. (those rankings have not been updated to reflect UNC's recent loss to the DUKE DOGS OF JMU!!!!) I am pleased to report that after JMU knocked off the #1 Tarheels in their last game, the Demon Deacons played them to a nil-nil draw. Its just unfortunate for the Tarheels that they had to tangle with The Pack's teams all at once!

Here is a link to the NCAA divison I rankings for men's soccer:

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-men/d1

Popcorn Decor

So, if anyone was worried about me losing my identity during this period of house-husband-dom....you're probably really worried now. Not only am I crafting, but I'm blogging about the crafts I made!

The wreath pictured below is made from popcorn that I grew in the garden in JC. Seriously, the different colors, sizes, etc.....it all came out of the garden. Pretty cool right! Well, the question of how to dry all of it has come up, and I thought doing it in the way of home fall decorations would be pretty clever. I tried the simple 3 ear bunches, and those are fine, but a little boring. So a found this idea in a Southern Living picture, modified it a bit, and gave it a try. I attached the corn to the straw wreath with twine so that it can be removed without ruining the popcorn.

CJ's First Day of Preschool

Here is CJ and Mama on the morning of CJ's first day of preschool. She picked the duck outfit out herself! She went two days last week and really enjoyed both of them (even though Daddy can act like a toddler most days, there is no substitute for hanging out with the real thing)

Black and Blue and Parking Lot Gold

The North Carolina Tarheels came to visit the Demon Deacons this afternoon....and right now are probably wishing they hadn't! In what was a spectacular game, the Demon Deacons made sure that the Tarheels resembled their black and blue school colors. The final score of the game was WF 28, UNC 27. In a great 4th quarter, the Demon Deacons held the Tarheels to a couple of field goals from inside the 10. This proved crucial, as it allowed Wake to drive and score the go ahead with 2 minutes left. After that, a key defensive stand forced UNC to turn the ball over on downs....and that was all she wrote. It must be said that Wake played considerably better after UNC's quarterback was knocked unconscious trying to get into the end zone. As any good (and honest) sports medicine doc will tell you, getting knocked unconscious is a pretty good sign of a concussion....which generally means that the player needs to sit out. Fortunately for the Demon Deacons, UNC pulled a Coach Kilmer and ran the QB back out on the next series....when he fumbled allowing Wake to score a key touchdown at the end of the first half. The greatness of the game was only enhanced by the fact that we all rode together in one car, and used Emily's Gold lot pass to park next to the stadium. Its amazing how cutting out a mile hike to and from the car and preserve your energy.

Ran into the Red, Hot and Blue pig before the game

Because of the game time, we decided to skip CJ's nap....she had other plans. Even the light rain did not stop her. I just kept her covered up with our game blanket and she slept like a log (and was probably the driest person on the hill!

Dancing queen, getting ready to perform for all of her fans

Lily had no fear at the ball game today and ran and played with other kids....and even the wrong mascot! Here she is greeting the Tarheel mascot Rameses.

The stadium we are getting to know so well

Lily's picture of the marching band is actually quite striking with sunlight bursting through the cloud cover following the showers.

Another Lily shot, this time its Daddy and CJ hanging out on the blanket

And the end of the game, with our end of the game photo :)

Mustangs at Spartans

The Mustangs traveled to play the Mt. Tabor Spartans on Friday night. The nice thing about this game is that it was right down the street from where we live....and that police were not out with tasers for crowd control. Unfortunately, after playing the Spartans close in the first half, the Mustangs fell apart in the second half again. 0 and 4 for the poor Mustangs :(

Mama and her boys

Mama and her girls :)

The Spartan student section was very enthusiastic!

Purple Gatorade made CJ....purpley ;)

Don Jeanes

I scanned and posted this picture to the blog a couple of years back. It features Gran and one of her Milligan choir colleagues, Don Jeanes. Don later became President of Milligan. During his very successful tenure, he set the College on a path of increasing enrollment and fiscal soundness (in addition to hiring me ;) Unfortunately, Don passed away unexpectedly last week. This was a shock to all of us....he will be missed.

Flame out!

The Wake Forest football season opener was tonight against the Liberty University Flames. Emily was working the game while the girls and I did what we do best....hang out tailgating, go goof off at a game, have fun being the first to spot Mama on the sidelines. The firts few pictures are from our tailgating spot....as the stadium on the horizon indicates, the Demon Deacon was underwhelmed with our financial support this year and put us at the backend of nowhere (don't they count opportunity cost of wages!....then again, Doctor Em does get to park next to the stadium).

Our season tickets are for the area of the stadium called "Deacon Hill." It is one end of the stadium under the scoreboard that is basically a grassy hill. It is a perfect place to watch the game with little ones as they can just run around and goof off without disturbing "serious fans."

Lily proving that you can do dance club moves to marching band music!

A priceless picture of Mama and her two girls at the end of the game. Fortunately for the Deacons, they fared better than the Mustangs (who haven't won a game yet.) Final score: Demon Deacons 20, Flames 17