1st Day of School

This year Nora is in 5th grade and Hanna is in 3rd. We recently reached our one year anniversary of living in Raleigh. The kids have really adapted well and are looking forward to their second year of school here. This year they begin a "year round" program. The program is designed to accommodate more kids since the schools here are growing so fast. Basically, you sign up for one of four tracks - each having different start dates. They are in school for nine weeks then off for three and the cycle continues to repeat.

Raleigh Anniversary

It was one year ago we moved to Raleigh. Even though time flies, it has been a busy year with all of the changes. We really like our new life here and feel like we have settled in. We certainly miss our friends and family back home and welcome visitors anytime you plan to head east.

Hanna's 8th Birthday

Hanna invited her friends over from the neighborhood to celebrate her birthday. They spent the afternoon playing on the slip & slide, squirt gunning, making bubbles, drawing on the driveway with chalk and throwing water balloons. Everyone had pizza for lunch then birthday cake. Last, everyone took a turn at the pink pinata. The timing was perfect because a major storm came through that confined the adults to our garage until it passed. Check out the pictures of the sky just before the storm broke.

Big Boss

Today I visited the Big Boss Brewing Company in Raleigh, NC. There was a tour of the brewery and a free sampling of their beers. I tried their IPA (Indian Pale Ale) and Nut Brown. This was my first brewery tour and it was very cool. The two guys from Big Boss that conducted the tour certainly have the coolest jobs of anyone I know. Big Boss is currently only available in the Triangle. They have a tap room on the top floor of their brewery that is the ultimate man cave. It has a dedicated dart room, pool table, ping pong table and cold tap beer.

Texas Holdem

Tonight I played in my first Texas Holdem tournament. The buy in was $60 and the top five players earned money. First place took $1,100 and fifth place was $50. I finished 15th out of 50 players. I have played Texas Holdem before but certainly consider myself a beginner. My uncle Scott and cousin Caleb tried to teach me the game a few years ago at Thanksgiving. It is an exciting game and very challenging in the sense of strategy and reading people. As some of you know my other uncle Cactus is an excellent player. I have not played with Cactus before but as my interest in the game is growing, I may be reaching out to my old coach for some pointers.

Sam's 1st Haircut