2011: The First Half

Since Facebook came about, I've been really, really remiss in updating my blog.  So in an effort to remedy that in one swell poop, here's 2011 so far, and hopefully, there will be more frequent posts as the year goes on.

January.

Pretty much nothing happened.  Nothing I have any decent pictures of, anyway.  It was dark, cold, and the weather was probably foul.

February

I (Dave) went back to England for the third time in a year, spending an entire month of the last 12 outside the country.  Sure it's for work, but it's always fun too.

Parliament, AKA "Big Ben"

Terry and I among a huge crowd of people in London's Chinatown during the Chinese New Year celebration

Icebar, with Margaret, Jane, and Terry

Parliament and the River Thames, in fake tilt-shift, as seen from the London Eye

 March.

Jennifer and the kids went out to Albuquerque for Spring Break to see Uncle Jared, Aunt Julia, and Cousin Zane.

April
Zoe ran in the Dogwood 5K, yet again.

May

While Tristan was on tour with the North Carolina Boys Choir, the rest of us went to the beach at Emerald Isle and Salter Path.

We got to catch Tristan's NCBC concert at First Baptist Church in New Bern.

Zoe's award-wining Gator Show Choir performed their Spring Concert

And, of course, no May would be complete without our annual Pig Pickin'!

June . . . so far.

Tristan and the North Carolina Boys Choir, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Training Choir and the brand new Girls Choir perform their annual spring concert at Duke Chapel

Zoe graduates from Fifth Grade, and heads to Middle School

And so the summer begins.  We're all headed to Georgia for a few days, Tristan heads out on his second national tour with NCBC, singing in Virginia, Washington DC, NYC and New Jersey while Jennifer and Zoe are in Pennsylvania.  We're all going to Andy and Shelley's for Independence Day and then in July we're headed to California.  We'll wrap up the summer with a trip to Huron, Ohio and Cedar Point with the Southside Swingers Club, plus there will probably be a few beach weekends between now and October.

Stay tuned, more travel, pictures, and words to follow.

Racer Z

Just in time for the ridiculously hot weather we've been having lately came another opportunity for Zoe to run in a 5K race. This time it was the Mebane Dogwood Festival 5K, within walking distance of our house.



Zoe and her friend Deanna were right at the front of the starting line.


And at the 8:30 gun, they were off.


Around 35 minutes later, Zoe crossed the finish line by herself.


She thinks she could've done it maybe five minutes faster, had she not walked back to catch up with her friend, who wasn't quite as fast.

Unfortunately, the youngest age group was 0-19, and as a nine-year-old competing against 19-year-olds, she didn't stand much of a chance to win a medal. There was one young girl who finished before her, but she probably wasn't under 10.

But she'll get another chance next weekend when she runs another 5K in Chapel Hill.

Ribs and Dogwoods

At the beginning of the soccer season, we invited Connie and Beth to come out to Mebane to watch the kids play soccer, and then have lunch at The TravelingRoths HQ. Their schedules finally worked out on the last game of the season, and fortuitously, on the day of the Mebane Dogwood Festival, whatever that means.

So after watching the post-forfeit scrimmage, we came back to the house and tore into three racks of baby-backs (recipe here), the once and future beans (here), and a couple of fine mojitos (here) to cool the fire.

Rib Eaters Hosted on Zooomr

While we could still walk (before the ribs-induced coma set in) we headed downtown for the Mebane Dogwood Festival. This little gala baffles me, as I think I've alluded to before, but I believe Zoe summed it up perfectly on the walk downtown:

I know why we celebrate Halloween. It's all about dressing up in costumes and getting candy. But why do we celebrate the Dogwood Festival?"

That question shall go forever unanswered. The dogwoods that festoon the streets of Mebane were absolutely gorgeous. . . . . four weeks ago when they were in bloom. We don't sing Dogwood carols, or watch the Dogwood Parade, or even exchange Dogwood cards or gifts, but I'm not the one shun a free party regardless of the alleged reason for its existence.

There were three stages set up. On the 4th Street Stage, a classic rock band was playing, and shortly after I recognized the beautiful Rickenbacker 4001 in the hands of the bassist, I recognized the bassist.

Jeff and Ric Hosted on Zooomr

It was none other than Jeff Hatley, who I had played with in Godspell.

Moving down the street, we took a left on Clay Street and headed down to the Third Street Stage, where a couple of guys I knew from the Mebane Acting Company were performing improv in the style of "Whose Line is it Anyway".

Improv Pleading Hosted on Zooomr

William Rushin

Improv Stickup Hosted on Zooomr

David Lynch

In the audience were Alexis and Nancy Drago

Nancy and Alexis Hosted on Zooomr

We got a couple of ride tickets, and the kids rode three things each: TR, tbe Tubs-O-Fun, and the giant swing (twice)

Swingin' Hosted on Zooomr

Zoe did the swings, and the bounce house (twice)

Color Jumper Hosted on Zooomr

We passed a lot of booths, with everything from people selling candles, toys, and jewelery, to various food vendors and church fundraisers. Mebane Presbyterian Church had a very noticeable abscence, again. The kids needed to get their snow cone on, and boy howdy, did they. Good thing we were outside, and within walking distance of home. Connie and Beth checked out various booths and shops, and even bought something from our neighbor's store, The Elegant Relic.

Back to the other end of Clay Street, there was a big band with a brass section performing on the 5th Street Stage, but what caught my attention was an Italian Ice vendor. Now, I'm no stranger to Italian Ice (often redundantly referred to as Italian Water Ice), but it is an extremely rare commodity here in the South, so I pounced on the opportunity to indulge in a little Pina Colada. Connie and Beth had never had Italian ice, so I got a couple extra spoons and made converts out of them. Conquering the South, once again.

We headed back and called it a day. Connie and Beth's first visit to Mebane was a huge success, and if they didn't have a sweet lake house to spend Memorial Day weekend at, maybe we could lure them back here for a Pig Pickin'. But there's always next year, and as every child knows, Dogwood Festival comes this time each year.

Oh Dogwood tree,
Oh Dogwood tree. . .

A couple more random pics from the day.