Duke vs. Miami

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Many thanks to my Granddaddy for his love and devotion to his Blue Devils after playing football and basketball there, this is the 4th generation now enjoying winter weekends at Duke.  Thanks to Dad, Ernest and Laura for endowing the scholarship to keep our two seats in Cameron. 

The Duke Gardens - an incredible, massive area that I would love to enjoy in full bloom sometime soon. 

The Duke Chapel - an architectural masterpiece.

Remembering James and Kate's wedding:-)

We were fortunate enough to enjoy organ practice.

Andrew loved the stained glass windows, too, though they are so high it's difficult to make out some of the stories told.

 Pipes don't get much more impressive than this.

Lunch at Satisfaction's!  Andrew pounded a fried chicken sandwich with bacon, a basket of homemade chips, and half of a huge bacon cheeseburger.  Three hours later, it was a chicken parmesan sub and half of a pizza.  We are "THERE"! 

Cameron Indoor Stadium's museum is something else.  I wish I'd known about it because we did not have enough time to read everything we wanted to.  But it's an incredible tribute to ALL Duke sports and athletes through the ages and their terrific accomplishments.  Andrew was proud to see "Lalu and Big Rob's" names on a donor list exclaiming, "But aren't they Carolina fans???".  :-)   Yes, but they are even bigger fans of your Great Granddaddy and what he did. 

 Here we go, folks! 

A brief glimpse of just one pre-game ritual.

 He loves everything about "The Shot"!

Down 12 at half-time, Andrew was in hog Heaven (as were we ALL) during Duke's impressive 2nd half comeback.  So, so, SO very fun to experience:-) 

One on one time with your kids is so very important.  I was thankful for this road trip with my blossoming young man. 

4th Birthday

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Though I didn't gain any more weight than I did with Andrew and Margaret, there's no doubt I was bigger with this one, which was part of my absolute certainty that it was a boy...that, and it just didn't seem possible for there to be another child on this earth resembling Margaret's personality! 

Two of my favorite all time pictures...3 weeks before and 3 weeks after.

 

 

 

At 7 lbs 13 ou (more than a pound heavier than the others), Little Man was nicknamed in the hospital and has lived up to it ever since.

How has it been four years?  Where did our baby go??

Of course he's often up by 6:00, but on his birthday, he slept in.  But sweet Andrew and Margaret wanted to sing before the 7:15 bus stop, so he was forced up.

A Pinanta with 3 and 4 year old boys.  What could possibly go wrong??

Despite Presley's pose during our singing, he actually did quite enjoy himself at the party!

Margaret absolutely adores sweet Ella and any opportunity to "help" her.  Love these two together!

As has been typical since our trip, we put Matthew to bed in his room, then he helps himself to our bed after we retreat downstairs.  He usually puts our pillows over his head in hopes that he won't be seen, but I guess he wanted to breathe on his birthday.  

Grand Cayman

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We celebrated Mom's 70th birthday almost a year late, but in style.  Many thanks to Mom and Dad for the amazing opportunity to experience such kind people on a safe island with the bluest of waters...and our first snorkeling and sting ray kisses!

Even at 4:30am, they were excited for our adventure!

 Rum Point "instructions"

Starfish point needs no explanation.

 Not a bad back yard.

Turtle Farm was a day-long adventure for my guys... and worth every minute of the drive.

The sharks performed "C's" for their food, trained as such so that the vet can give them a full body rub down under normal circumstances. 

No snorkeling pictures, for obvious reasons, but Little Man didn't hesitate one minute to swim out and behind the water fall. 

 Waterfall Video

 Much colder for me than for them, I still made it out---and down the waterslide a dozen times!

First Pina Coladas...

 Chey Remy's buffet at the house - absolutely spectacular meal!

 

Rum Point again, 'cause why not?!

 Abby's mermaid

 Mommy-daughter date for hair braids and smoothies!

 'cause I guess he just needed a break.

 Driving along the Breakers

 WINDY at the east side beaches...

 ...but amazing colors.

 Can you see the iguana?

 The shipwreck history fascinated Andrew.

 The blow holes!

  Waiting, waiting, waiting for the BIG one!

Waiting for the BIG one---video

 "The big one's coming!!!" video

Sting Ray City!  Fascinating that they can be 180 lbs!  They hang near the coral reef and when the first boats come motoring over in the morning, they swarm for breakfast.

 Matthew was not a fan, primarily because the water was rough and we were getting smashed in the face by waves from all directions with no warning.  But Andrew and Margaret loved it!  Will try to include pictures from the photographer in another post showing us snuggling to and kissing "Scar Face".

The wave runner was quite the highlight, especially for Margaret and Matthew, who constantly squealed, "Faster! Faster! Faster!"

Last day at Rum Point around the corner.  

The kids could have played here all day every day.  

Happy New Year!

You can't capture it with a phone, but the crescent moo is horizontal, Grand Cayman being so close to the equator.

 Again, not captured, were our nightly kayak and paddle board rides out into the bay where the phytoplankton GLOW.  It was, hands down, one of the neatest discoveries of the week for Matthew all the way up to Granddaddy!

Mommies bed buddy arrived at a different time every night.

 Lunch at the port near the airport before...

 ...travels got so interesting.  After waiting in customs 1.5 hours due to a national computer system outage, Matthew got sick in security, waiting to re-book our connection, waiting standby, and on the plane...4 times.  Poor guy was absolutely miserable and just passed out cold in between episodes.  Yep, we were "that" crew in the Charlotte airport.