Sixth Graders

Our boys are middle school kids now and here are their official Fall photos.  Look at that pair of great looking guys...

My Geocaching Finds To Date

Doing some quick research, here's a map of my 327 geocache finds to date. Definitely a few outliers on there.  (click on image for larger view)

Reclaimed Wood... From My Childhood

We have new living room wall decor brought forward from my teen and beyond passion. 

My old skateboard decks were recently discovered at my parents house. I was thrilled just to have them and walk down memory lane but when Emily suggested that we turn them into wall art to display in our living room I was floored. They look great and how fantastic is my wife?  I'm proud to have Rodney Mullen's board holding the center spot. So many great memories on that wall...

Spring Baseball Begins for Killian

Killian partook in his first minor league baseball game (with kids pitching) on Thursday, April 2.  Killian is playing on the Cardinals for North Wake County Baseball this year with the 9-10 year old group.  He did really great in his first game considering he wasn't able to attend any of the practices leading up to it.  He got hits on both at bats and did pretty well playing the field, making plays from 3rd base and right field.  He even got to score twice.  It didn't hurt that the kid batting behind him on one of those walloped the ball for a triple to bring Killian in from 1st.  The league seems pretty well put together and the fields are really nice.  Additionally, the coach seems to be a great guy with a group of participative and pleasant parents as well.  Killian seems to be more engaged in this sport than any he has joined thus far.  He is donning #29 this season.  Here are are some pis from the game (click on any of them to see larger versions).  Thanks to Yoichiro Ishii for taking and posting them...

Killian at bat

Killian on 1st

Killian headed for home

Killian playing 3rd

The dugout

Good game... good game... good game...

Post-game coaching

Gooooo Cardinals!

Captain Chuck-a-Muck's Ship Store and Grill

While on a trip to VA, we discovered via Foursquare a restaurant named Captain Chuck-a-Muck's Ship Store and Grill. When driving to the restaurant, we started to question our choice as the GPS was guiding us seemingly deeper into a neighborhood. Our growing rear was that we would soon be in the driveway of a guy named Chuck. However, it finally delivered us to a white creek side building with no road/parking lot facing windows. Again, we questioned our choice but decided to go ahead in and see what awaited us due to the good ratings on Urban Spoon.

As we entered the restaurant we were greeted by a friendly host named Mike and escorted to our seat in the form of a picnic table with benches and a paper table cloth that was crayon (or "crown" as the host pronounced it) friendly. Our waiter proceeded to explain the menu in surprisingly good detail and flourish. It was lunch so went with pretty simple orders: a basket of hush puppies for the table as an appetizer, fish tacos for Emily (mahi mahi), fried shrimp for Colin, chicken tenders for Killian and a crab cake sandwich for me. While perusing the menu, we realized that the restaurant had been featured a some point on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives which was kind of neat. We also noticed outdoor seating that would be fun on a warmer day.

We all enjoyed our food and the ambiance of the restaurant and would definitely recommend it to any passers by. Following our meal we stopped by the gift shop (a different but nearby building) and perused the wares. They had everything from souvenir shirts to candy to furniture. We ended up leaving with a couple of shirts for the boys. All told, we'll definitely make another visit there on a future trip to VA.

Following the departure, we were guided though several back roads en route to home and made a pass through downtown Suffolk as a result.  What a neat little Main St. run!  We even picked up some geocaches in the area.

Our life together begins

And so begins the chronicles of the married life of Paul and Emily.