visit with Uncle BooBoo

Since I have nothing listed in my shop that expires this week, I thought I would share with you my visit with my brother and his family.  I would have to say that when we were little, Boo and I were not exactly close (unless we were trying to kill each other).  When we got older and started having families, we became very close and spent almost every weekend together.  Then life changes, our dad died, I got a divorce and then remarried, and our kids grew up.  I moved out of state.  Then mom died, and our older sister died.  It seemed like the only time we saw each other in the past 20 years was at funerals and weddings.  But that finally started to change last summer.  Chuck and I were in NY (for a wedding) and we spent a whole afternoon with Boo and Brenda.  And it was nice.  A few weeks ago, Boo and Brenda and their 2 grandsons stopped for a visit on their way to SC.  We spent a whole day (and half of the next day) together.  And it was fun.  Here let me show you.  First we went to Mt. Airy NC.  Since we were still kids in the 60's we grew up loving shows like Mayberry RFD.  So what visit to NC is complete without a stop at Andy Griffith's home town.  Since I took soooo many pictures, I decided to collage them.  So from left to right and top to bottom we have...

All the kids, Aaron - Brandon - Hannah - Anthony - Witney in front of a welcome sign.  Anthony and Aaron getting a hair cut at Floyds barbershop.  The barbershop window.  A picture of Sheriff Taylor in his patrol car.  My wonderful and handsome hubby, Chuck.  The patrol car again.  Boo and his grandsons Anthony and Aaron with the Sheriff.  Anthony at lunch.  Owen at lunch.  Yes that is a harness on him, and the best child invention EVER.  When my kids were little I used an actual dog leash on Joshua, lol.  And don't comment me about it being mean or abusive.  I think keeping our strong willed children safe is more important than their "self-esteem".  Besides, I told him to stop barking, hahaha.  And last at lunch we have Brandon, Brenda, Boo, Aaron and Owen.  After lunch we drove back towards my house and I took them to the Hiddenite Emerald Mine to pan for gems.

First up, when we got there, Owen "discovered" the tame wild ducks.  He tried so hard to catch one.  But he learned that if he just sat down, they came to him.  Then when he was outnumbered he started to get a little nervous :) Hannah and Witney both managed to catch one.  But I was firm and said no when the "please mommy can we keep one" started.  The ducks were bigger than my dog, hahaha.  Then Hannah picked up a baby duck for Owen to pet.  I love the smile on his face.  This has become one of my favorite pictures.  Then I gave the camera to Brenda to take pictures, but she only took pictures of my crew with my camera, silly girl.  Yep, that's me with Owen at the bottom.  Consider yourselves lucky, I hate having my picture taken, which is why I hold onto the camera.  Then it was off to Chuck's favorite restaurant, Golden Corral.  We go there so much, the wait staff knows us by name!

Amanda and Brandon worked all day, but they were able to meet us for dinner.  The cute lady in white is Holly, one of our favorite waitresses.  On Tuesday, when we usually go on kids night, she works the floor.  But as a baker, she makes one mean bread pudding!!! yum yum.  Now what visit is complete without a family photo.

My big brother Boo, his wonderful wife Brenda, my Amanda and Hannah, then the twins, Anthony and Aaron.  Owen was not too happy with the sun, heehee.  In case you're wondering, Boo's given name is Walter, but we called him Butch growing up.  When the kids were little they couldn't say Butch, so it became Uncle Boo.  I like it (and him) and that must be why I now call my Owen my booboo.  Thanks for reading thru this very long post.  Now don't wait 20 years, go tell your brother (or sister) I love you.
Debbi