Nearly Famous

I took Nora down to the Triangle Mall this morning so she could wait in line to try out for the television show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? We arrived at 9:40 a.m. and stood in line with hundreds of kids until after 2:00 p.m. We were told that they would register kids up until 2:00 p.m. and then those that were not registered would be sent home and the auditions would continue up to 4:00 p.m. Nora was a trooper and made a new friend while standing in line. This blog does not have a happy ending as we missed the cut off to register by just three kids. If they had allowed three more to register Nora would have had a shot.

Happy Mother's Day

Durham Bulls

Tonight we all went to our first Durham Bulls baseball game. The Bulls are Triple-A and played the Norfolk Tides. We all had a great time and it was a perfect way to end Josie's last night visiting.

Wrightsville Beach, NC

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Wrightsville Beach is 145 miles from our house, just over a two hour drive. The water was much warmer than a month ago when we visited Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The girls had a blast as usual and Sam really likes crawling on the sand and getting his hands into the water. We brought our dog Magnus with thinking he would really enjoy the adventure but that was stopped by the "beach police" as we learned dogs are not allowed. Regardless, Magnus enjoyed the van ride.

Duke Gardens: Durham, NC

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Kristi's sister Josie is visiting us from Minneapolis, MN. One of the events on our list is to visit the Duke Gardens. We all headed to the gardens mid-morning and spent the afternoon there. I will admit that I am not a die hard fan of plant life but I do have a greater appreciation having toured the "Crown Jewel of Duke University". There are trails you walk through with hundreds of different types of flowers and plants that are identified by signage. I recommend that anyone visiting the area for their first time schedule a visit to the gardens.

Sam's 1st Birthday

Sam Turned 1 year old on April 18, 2007. We had a party for him and invited the neighborhood families. Pictures from the party are posted, just go to the Melting Family Photos link.

Myrtle Beach, SC

This past Wednesday Kristi and I took the kids down to Myrtle Beach, SC and returned on Friday night. We stayed at the Carolinian which is located right on the beach. Our room faced the ocean and we had a great view from our balcony. Considering the water was very cold, we waded into the ocean as far as we could tolerate (up to our knees). The girls spent a considerable amount of time swimming in the indoor pool. We also spent some time at the aquarium which is very impressive.

Kristi set up the trip for us because the girls had the week off from school. It was nice to get away but Sam was sick the entire time with a fever. One of the main reasons Kristi choose Myrtle Beach was because it was part of a package she received. The cost of the hotel for both nights was a total of $59 plus tax. In exchange for this we had to sit through a presentation for possibly investing in a time share with Wyndham Resorts. Aside from Sam being sick and the girls being bored (the girls actually were angels and played with their DS'), I found the presentation very interesting (can you say Glengarry Glen Ross). Having worked in a sales capacity myself, I was more interested in observing the sales process used versus spending $50,000 on a time share. In the end we did not buy and in exchange for being entered into a drawing I provided them eight leads (referrals they can contact to offer a package deal like the one Kristi accepted) of people I know. For those of you that receive a phone call from Windham in the next 30 days, you are welcome;-)