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J, O, M

Another one from Julian's birthday party in Asheville! G-1 girls and their babies!

Asheville recap

Last weekend we flew to Asheville for the wedding of our friends Kevin and Keri. It was a gorgeous wedding at the NC Arboretum and we had a blast seeing a lot of the crew from UNC.

It was a whirlwind weekend because we also spent time with Dave's parents and Susan and Adam. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for watching Owen while we got to go out to the wedding festivities!

We also got to get Owen together with his buddies Julian and Mallory. Not only did we have the same flights as Julian and his parents (my oh my are flights with two one-year-olds fun), but we got to celebrate Julian's birthday at the Wootens' house in Asheville!

We also crammed in a little bit of site-seeing in downtown Asheville, Mast General Store and Grove Park Inn and we finally got to eat a meal at Tupelo Honey! Busy busy weekend but tons of fun. Did I mention I got home from a work trip in DC on Wednesday night and then we drove to Chicago Thursday morning to catch the flight to Asheville? Crazy!!! Photos below!

On the plane to Asheville! Owen in row 4!

Julian in row 3!

Owen and Grandma

Owen and Grandpa

The birthday boy, Julian! I was struggling to get good pictures of these two! They were all over the place!

G1 Girls! Yes, we have BFF bracelets. :)

Our table at the wedding! SW Durham crew reunited!

G1 Girls! Together again!

Having fun in downtown Asheville

Outtake photo from Grove Park Inn. I really need to do an entire blog post of outtakes.

Pooped from a fun weekend - sleeping on the plane on the way home.

And so it begins

Dave has started building our wall of built-ins for the living room! He's been researching and and measuring and testing for a couple months now (hmmm-perhaps that's the scientist in him?) and today built the first cabinet! It's the center bottom cabinet for the tv/entertainment part in the middle of the wall. It looks great! We're getting excited about how the living room is coming together! Slowly...but surely.

walking through crunchy leaves

I guess some things are just universal human nature. On his own, Owen discovered the joy that comes from walking through crunchy leaves - which is almost as fun as watching someone else experience that for the first time!

office

I did this way back in June and just forgot to share.

Office before (with previous owner's furniture)...

...and after!

Just so I remember, trim paint is Benjamin Moore Decorator's White (semi gloss) and walls are Benjamin Moore Ozark Shadows (satin).

trip to mass. (final post) - a day or two in boston

We cashed in Hilton points and stayed a night in downtown Boston. Swan boats, the aquarium and lobster dinner! (Lobsters from a restaurant - not the aquarium - ha!)

Of course we took some time at Faneuil Hall/Qunicy Market area - shopping and having lobster roll #2. (Lobster roll #1 was from Steamers in Newton - the best.)

Strolling around Quincy Mah-ket. 

Then we walked to the Boston Common and Public Gardens.

Now we're over in the Public Gardens - checking out the real ducks...

...and the statue of the ducklings from Make Way for Ducklings. Owen had to pat each duckling's head and say "duck" each time.

Riding on mama duck!

We rode on the famous swan boats (I don't think I had done that since I was 2! Or at least I can't remember.) 

Not my photo - stolen from the internets - but I forgot to get a picture of the boat!  Photo credit  David Paul Ohmer via flickr.

Owen was a little cranky at this point, but we prevailed!

Riding on the swan boat in the lagoon.

Photo credit David Paul Ohmer via flickr.

Here we are going under the bridge pictured above.

Owen waving to the other swan boat. It's a double wave with two hands!

That night, we walked down to the harbor, hung out for a while listening to some music outside the Boston Harbor Hotel (hey - a family can dream, right?) - and then walked across the bridge to the Barking Crab for some fried clams (for me) and clam chowder (for Dave). Appetizers complete, we walked back to our hotel. The restaurant next door had lobster 2 for $20! (That was lobster dinner #3 of 4.) So we got it to go, brought it up to our rooms and washed it down with some Pumpkinhead beer from my cousin, Matt. Perfection!

The next morning was rainy, so after venturing out for breakfast, we came back to the room and all took a nap! When we woke up, the sun was shining and skies were blue. We walked to the New England Aquarium and then spent some time in the historic North End. Lots of fun for all. Thank goodness Owen likes to ride in his stroller...I mean carriage! We walked and walked. A wonderful time was had by all on the entire trip. Thanks to all our extended family for an awesome visit!

Owen at the New England Aquarium. I love his little pointer finger. I mean fingah!

Owen's favorite part? The giant spiral ramp up the center of the building and this big ramp outside that leads to the sea lions. He's running at full tilt in this picture.

More pointing.

The turtle swam by us!

This is the giant cylindrical tank that goes up the entire center of he building.

Top of the giant tank.

Owen loved this bright tank full of periwinkles, undulating sponges and sea anemonea!

Pretty colorful fish tank.