Last week Meg & I both had the same day free, which doesn’t always happen, and we headed to Charlotte to check out the new Thomas Dambo Troll – Big Pete with the Big Feet – that was installed there a few months ago. A few years ago Meg & I took Mallory and Little Hope to spend a weekend in Atlanta, & visit the traveling troll exhibit, among other things, and they just blew us away. So did Big Pete. The trolls are made entirely of recycled materials, and are just so much fun. There are a few permanent ones in the Raleigh/High Point area now, and we are hoping to get up there to see those soon. It did not disappoint. SO fun!

By the time I got home Jeff had found out that one of his favorite bands, Dirty Grass Soul, was playing in Blacksburg – about 20 miles down the road – for Cinco de Mayo, so we headed over there for some tacos & to take in their show. It was a really fun day.

Clara had lots of folks there to cheer her on in her final performance, and I got this picture of her with Aunt Meg, Aunt Sherri, and Uncle Gary after the show.

We stayed afterwards to watch them take the cast photos, which we usually do. I got this picture that has Mr Forest in it, because he’s been such a big part of Clara’s high school career – as he was of Addie’s, when she was a member of the Choraliers. Clara is on the floor right in front of him.

Pictures from the Sunday afternoon performance of The Prince of Egypt – Clara’s final show as a Choralier. During a scene when she was one of the princess’s ladies-in-waiting. They didn’t like that Moses had brought home a trashy Midianite bride. She had the look down perfect, I thought :-).

The dancers in front in red were the Burning Bush. Clara is in the back in the wide white headband.

After the show, with her lifelong besties: Jonathan, Jacob, and Wade. Emily is a more recent addition as Jacob’s girlfriend, but she seems to fit in nicely.

Saturday evening, a week ago, Meg & I went to Gastonia to see Linda Lowman, a friend from church, perform with the choral society in the next town over. We usually go to most of their concerts, and I think this was my favorite one I’ve heard them do. Linda is the one with the short white hair.

Last weekend was Clara’s final spring show with her beloved Choraliers. What a wonderful experience this has been for her, and such a bonus to her high school career. We always go on Sunday afternoons, so we can go out to eat supper afterwards with our star, but Lindee had an extra ticket on Saturday afternoon, so I went to that, too. Alas, my camera battery died after only one picture, but trust me, I got plenty of pix to share when we went back the next day. She is the right hand of the duo in the middle of this picture – all of the blondes had to wear black wigs, since they were Egyptians, or, in this scene, Midianites.

Last Friday night Jeff & I met Boo, Shea, and Elise in Charlotte at the Milestone (the oldest punk rock club in the country, opened in 1969, I think they said) to listen to Elise’s boyfriend Brock play with his band, Cambria Iron Co. I didn’t think it was punk rock music they were playing, and in fact enjoyed it very much. It was dark in there, and this is the only picture I really got of Brock – he’s the drummer, obviously. It was a fun time, for sure.

Last Thursday Sherri, Meg, & I headed to Charlotte where we made a couple of stops visiting friends, and then ended up in King, where we saw Zollie & Renee’s five-year-old granddaughter playing soccer. She was so, so cute. That’s her in the red socks 🙂

Family group shot after the game, before we all headed our separate ways to go home. That’s Zollie’s daughter-in-law Rachel with seven-year-old Mary and Frankie sitting in front. In back are Meg, me, Sherri, Zol’s son-in-law Taylor holding three-year-old Heath, his wife Olivia holding one-year-old Oliver, and Renee. Cooper was the photographer. Not sure where Zollie got off to. It was a fun time.

Got this picture of the Yarbroughs. We were thankful their whole family was here, for sure :-).

Jeff and me, of course.

Elise and Clara – those sweet cousins.

We got these pictures when we got back to the house after church. It was drizzling, but not raining hard enough that they didn’t want to get their traditional pictures in front of the azaleas. The girls grabbed Lindee’s picture so she could still be in the granddaughter picture this year, since she was away at school.

Mason was the only grandson here, so he grabbed a picture of Charlie and Adam, too 🙂

And then just a regular picture, of the grand ones who were here.