A Walk around our Alma Mater

Shawn and I took Bruno for a walk around UNCG today. So much has changed since we started and finished school! It's all for the better, though. Campus looks beautiful, don't you think?

The new bridge

School of Education in the distance

A stream on campus...he's tuckered out

Slurp, Slurp

The new bridge at the Music Building

Around the Music Building

The new bridge

Itty Bitty Kiddie Festival

My work hosts an annual family resource fair. The big event was yesterday and boy was it great. Shawn came and volunteered, too. He manned the pizza and drinks table, which was a good fit for him. It was that or dress up in one of the Pig mascot outfits and shake kids' hands all day! Just kidding, honey, I wouldn't make you do that!
I can't think of another event that compares to it, and I'm proud that my executive director at the Smart Start office demands that the event happen each year! It's a big expense but well worth it. Everyone, I mean everyone, like 1000 people, get free Dominoe's pizza and a drink. There's free sno-cones, free crafts for the kids, several magic shows, storytellers, and a balloon man. All for free. Canned food item at the gate actually. Oh, and three of those blow-up bounce house things.
What's neat is that the community is fairly small so I ended up recognizing many of the children and that made it easier to approach the parents about our free preschool program. This sort of thing happened many times, "Oh, there's Nicky, she's in Miss Meredith's class. I think she has a little brother. I'll go talk to the parents." Or "I know that child's in Katie's class, so she's taken care of." Meeting new families was great, but it was neat to realize that I already knew many families and knew whether or not their children were age-eligible for our program. It was a great day. Plus, I get the day off tomorrow because of it! Woohoo!

Nancy's Memorial

It's Sunday evening, and Shawn and I just got back from South Carolina. We picked up Shawn's brother Kevin at the Charlotte airport on Friday and headed down. It was an emotional, moving, and fun weekend. On Saturday, about 50 people came to celebrate the life of Nancy Bottomley, John's sister. She passed away from breast cancer. All three of Nancy's sons and her husband David were there. "The Bottomley Boys" as they are affectionately named. They are a blast. Warm, open, and jolly people. David is English, and the boys have lived in England the U.S. One of the sons still lives in London and came over just for this event! I only met Nancy twice but I feel like I know her from hearing stories about her all weekend and getting to know her sons and husband. Wee hours of the morning were filled with laughter, let me tell you! Notice the keg of beer and lots of red plastic cups....hmmm

Greensboro Gassshoppers!

We had a blast at our first Grasshoppers game of the season. Our friends Joel, Marla, Jarrod, Gwen and J&G's kids were in attendance. We were partly celebrating Will's fourth birthday, and guess what? He caught a foul ball! Well, his grandpa caught it for him and of course Will got it in the end.