Onward

It has been proven.
Duke didn't need Kyle Singler to make a single field goal
in order to stomp their way through Baylor to the final four...
at least not with the 3's raining down
from Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer.
Next up: West Virginia.

School Pictures

Yesterday, Orin's teacher gave me a thumb drive full of pictures
that she has taken of Orin over the last few months.
I thought I would share with you some of the highlights:

Orin and Miss Jessica...

Sliding at the park...

Feeding seagulls...

Reloading the pitcher of water to water the plants...

Biscuit making...

After snack...

Group art project...

And my favorite... anatomy day

And in other orders of business,
as I write this March Madness rages on.
Although we have fallen slightly behind in the IdiotsBooks bracket,
hope still remains as long as Duke holds on tomorrow against Purdue.
I am feeling pretty confident.

In the doghouse

Casey took this picture a couple of days ago.
Apparently, Orin decided to explore Atlas's abode.

He must have found it to his liking

because he decided to stay in there for quite some time.

It just goes to show that being in the doghouse
isn't always a bad thing...
especially when it is just your size.

Fan Devotion

Although Georgia Tech kept Duke on their toes
throughout the final battle for the ACC Championship,
Duke held strong to the very end.
It may have had to do with the fact that they are just a better team,
or it may have been the extra cheering from
one of their newest fans,
(I tend to go with the second option...
have you ever seen a more passionate baby?)
but either way, step one is over.
Its on to March Madness!

Frog Legs

While we were in North Carolina,

we made two trips to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium.
While Orin loves all animals,
he seems to have a special place in his heart for everything aquatic.
Turtles, may just be his favorite...

or maybe frogs.
He is only slightly less of a fan of alligators,
whom he thinks should never be trusted
due to their unreasonable number of teeth
and their inability to provide a good piggy back ride.

There were two highlights of our aquarium trips.
One was the touch tank.
There are very few things that are more appealing to a kid
than the opportunity to get soaked
trying to touch slimy rays.

He later requested to touch some of the other animals,
but I thought maybe it was best to stick with the rays.

The second highlight was the otter feeding presentation.

Can you see Orin in this picture?

"Completely engrossed" does not even come close to describing it.

At the end of the tour,

we couldn't resist making Orin pose for the same shot

that I was forced into a couple of years ago.

I think he wears it better...

W

Auntie arrives!

On Tuesday afternoon, we drove to the airport to pick up Auntie Andy.

She had flown in straight from the Dominican Republic
and arrived armed with souvenirs, including this bead drum for Orin.
He mastered the special hand-rolling technique right away
and moved on to the more sophisticated method
of just shaking it back and forth (as demonstrated).
Once he had finished playing the drum,
Orin decided it was time to teach Andy all of his favorite games
(he always jumps at the opportunity to lure in new victims).

First was... can you guess???

Ashes!

After 73 rounds of Ashes it was time to move on to the tunnel game.

Later Andy showed Orin another game, it was called
jump-up-really-high-and-then-fall-down-and-roll-over.
Orin was an instant fan.
After the games, we went on a walk in the conservation area.
Orin walked with Andy for the first half,
and Grandpa for the second.
After the walk, there was just enough time to play in the sand before
Tournament Time.
See you tomorrow.

Faces

Last night, Orin decided that we should have a competition

to see who could make the funniest series of facial expressions.

Can you guess who won?

Sandy feet

We are here!

After our long, relatively uneventful trip

(the red-eye went as well as a 9 hour plane ride

and a 4 hour layover at 3:30am could possibly go)

we have arrived and settled in.

As soon as we walked in the front door, Orin caught a glimpse

of the ocean and was transfixed.

He insisted that we go explore the new frontier right away.

He ran as fast as a 2 1/2 foot person can run through the sand dunes

until he reached the water.

For a split second the waves were

the most captivating thing in the world,

until a seagull landed nearby, causing him to take off in hot pursuit

screaming "bird!" "bird!"

Not surprisingly, the seagull flew off terrified,

but Orin recovered quickly.

So we ventured a little further down the beach.

When he had tired of ocean/beach exploration

we went back to the house to relax a little

and recover from our lack of sleep.

Tomorrow Auntie Andy is arriving...

Yeah!

Go Duke!

It is that time of year...

We are off again for another wonderful week-long trip
to North Carolina where we will relax on the beach,
eat copious quantities of seafood,
and watch Duke hopefully dominate the NCAA tournament.
We leave tomorrow night on the red-eye.
I am not sure if taking the red-eye will turn out to be a good idea
or the worst idea I have ever had
(I don't see there being too much in between ground on this issue),
but I will let you know soon.
It is all going to depend on whether Orin
flies like his mommy (i.e. sleeps the whole time)
or his daddy (has no interest in sleeping on a plane).
Feel free to pray that in this way, he will be more like me.
Either way, in just 48 hours I will have the sand in my toes
and will no longer care whether our plane ride was horrible or not.
I can't wait.

Mega Garden Switch

There has been a change in the plan.

The Mega Garden initially was going to be a flat bed garden,

but due to my need for sectioned spaces,

my husband's intense drive to work on his days off,

and a small problem I had with the straw

(turns out it was not seedless after all)

the Mega Garden is now the

Three Really Big Raised Beds.

It all started with an idea on a little scrap of paper,

some measurements I made with a scarf that I guessed

was about 8 feet long (I had no tape measure

and I love the thrill of potential inaccuracy problems),

a sunny day, and, of course, a dedicated project supervisor.

We kicked the day off with a completely illegal trip home

from the Home Depot with 16 feet of lumber

sticking out of a 6 or 7 foot truck bed.

Once we got the wood unloaded it was time for some cutting,

some assembly,

and some arranging.

The ground we were working with wasn't level,

so it required custom-building each box

in the space it was meant to go.

Not an easy task, I might add.

But the first box came together quite well

which made the project supervisor happy.

The second and third box were completed soon after

leaving just enough time for them to be used

as a baby obstacle course.

While the kids ran around,

we added a small wall to hold the gravel in the walkway

(coming soon)

and another wall to hold in the blueberries.

The next day we picked up a truckload of soil

so that I could plant some early season crops.

We got the soil at the perfect time

because Orin had just acquired

a new shovel, rake, and hoe,

and the light fluffy soil was perfect to break them in.

He even demonstrated proper shoveling technique

which he learned at school.

Finally, the beds were done and the plants were planted.

In a couple weeks, we are going to line the walkways with gravel

and fill in the other two planter boxes

(so exciting!)

But for now, it is time for some much needed rest.

See you soon.