2013 Virginia Run Turkey Trot

Chip, Emily and I braved some freezing temperatures on Thanksgiving morning to run in the Virginia Run Turkey Trot.  We were pleased both by our times, and that nobody arrested us or threw us out of the race as a result of Chip's driving.  Out of 3,223 runners, here are our times and places:

Dave 26:15, 643rd overall
Em 26:15, 647th overall
Chip 26:50, 738th overall

Not too shabby!  I did especially well in my "old guys" group.

Here is a post race pic of the three of us:

Me enjoying some post race refreshments.

Thanksgiving Carrots

With Thanksgiving right around the corner we decided that it was about time to harvest our Thanksgiving carrots.  Lily and CJ were up to the challenge despite the cold air.....we got a nice harvest of rainbow carrots that we'll be bringing up to Nana and Papa's house in a few days!

Candy I Like You

Lily wrote her first poem today....I think there's some serious talent here!

Candy is awesome.
Candy is sweet
Candy is a many flavored treat.
I like Tootsie Rolls.
They are chocolaty and delicious,
even if they are not nutritious.
I like Laffy Taffy.
It makes me happy.
Candy I like you.
by Lily :)

Trunk or Treat

We went to Trunk or Treat at Grandview the night before Halloween this year.  It was fun and the girls got to try out their costumes before the big night (Doc McStuffins and a beautiful butterfly).

Grandview upped its game at Trunk or Treat this year by having hotdogs and nachos.....awesome!

Carving Pumpkins

It was a beautiful day this year, so we decided to carve our pumpkins on the front porch.  The girls designed both of their faces, and Lily even drew hers on the pumpkin.  The faces are true to their designs :)  Of course, grabbing the pumpkins guts also proved to be fun!

Apple Picking in NC

We missed our annual trip to Hendersonville, NC last year with the relocation to Winston.  Fortunately, we were deliberate in our preparations this year and actually made it out on a perfect weekend!  We visited 2 orchards this year....Stepps and Grandads.  And at Stepps we picked apples straight of the tree for the first time!

 

We got an all-terrain wagon to pull our apple box in....CJ has this whole work thing figured out.

 Lily found the row of York apple trees for Gran.  This is an apple that Gran grew up eating but has been unable to find in recent years.

 Mama and her girls.

 Putting CJ to work!

 Gran strolling the orchard rows.

 Gran helping the girls pick som Matsu? apples....a green apple that is somewhat tart, but not nearly as tart as Granny Smith.

 Apple cheeks :)

 Yes, the Black Pearl sailed up and down the orchard rows collecting apples!

 C-Bee-J!

 Fried apple slices....SO GOOD!

 Getting taller....

 Going for a ride on the cow train at Grandad's

 Had time to pick out a couple of pumpkins to go with all the apples

What the.....

Who are these crazy kids?!?!  Hopefully this picture was taken at Halloween!

Lily's First Race

Lily ran in her first official race today!  It was a kid's 1.1 mile race to support the Children's Hospital in town.  Lily had been training with the run club at St. Mary's for a few weeks.  She ran the race, giving CJ and I a hard time trying to keep up with her!  Its kind of a cool event because the school with the most participants gets a $1,500 grant.  I'm not sure if St. Mary's will get it or not, but it sure seemed like there were a lot of kids there!

Back to Bearcat Country

Once there was a girl on rocky top, 

Half bear the other half cat. 
Wild as a mink, sweet as soda pop, 
I still dream about that. 

Doctor Emily is back to her high school football team here in east TN....the Virginia Bearcats.  Ironically enough, the mascot seems to come from the words to Rocky Top.  And it was Tennessee High that visited the Bearcats last night and throttled them 50 something to 20 something.  That didn't damper the spirits of Doctor Em's family though, we hung out in the back of the endzone and enjoyed our salt that was sprinkled with popcorn.

Miscellaneous pics to keep Papa happy

Here is Lily helping me with a home improvement project.  She is applying a magnetic primer to a "home made" chalk board.  After the primer, we coated it in chalk board paint.  The finished product was neither magnetic nor very attractive.  Be warned about the magnetic primer....

 Modeling our new school book bags for the year

 A trip to the drive in movie theater

 Some butterflys from the butterfly bush in the backyard.

Garden Harvest

This year's garden has been a little bit off because of the late start and early season neglect it received from us still being in Winston-Salem through the end of June.  However, all things considered, it came around eventually.  Most things are dying back at the moment and I have done much of the fall harvesting already.  Here are some pictures of the fall squash and popcorn from the garden this year.  The popcorn did not perform nearly as well as it did last year, perhaps because it is a heavy feeder and I planted it in the same spot that it was last year.

Couple of butternut squash and the popcorn set up to dry.

These are mostly gourds sitting on the front porch to cure.  There is also another butternut squash in the back row.  There are two large, orange squash standing upright in the back row....can you guess what kind of squash they are?

Also, Lily brought home a lima bean plant that is currently hiding behind one of those big orange squash....I'll till up the garden in the next couple of weeks and we will give it a go for a fall lima bean crop!