Golf galore........

Well, Hayden and Nick took a bike ride down to the golf course and decided to get some autographs. They got quite a few, (as you can see) and the blue one that is underlined on the bill is Michelle Wie. They said the ladies were very nice and some of them even gave them the Pro V golf balls that they used for practice. Those are the very expensive balls.

One of the girls Kerri Webb (SP) is staying two doors down from us with a host family. The kids have yet to ask her if she would like to come out and play a game of "capture the flag"...... somehow, I think she would pass on that one.

Thursday begins our day of work. Sara has 18 holes to walk each day carrying her score sign, except on Friday she will be working twice - 36 holes. I bet her dogs will be barking at the end of the day. Fortunately, she does have Saturday off, so she will spend her "free" time watching the golf and walking freely with her Dad.

This is the hat that we all receive as part of our volunteering. Quite nice to say the least.

Migrant Workers...

Here they are, the two pickers - they are turning into farmers! I think this one should have been the last of the pictures, not the first - but I am still getting the hang of this posting stuff!

We ended up with 3/4 of a bucket of strawberries and a full basket of blackberries. It was so exciting and fun.

I had always wanted to go strawberry picking, but never made it out there. Now I can say I have done it!

As you can see, Hayden was not present at the "pick fest" he is not a fruit eater, and we could not coax him to come out with us. He did actually go a few days ago with Nick and Bob, but they smashed a strawberry on his lips to try to get him to taste it, but he was having none of it. Poor little fella doesn't know what he's missing.

Well, until next time........... have a great evening.

Blackberry delight..

Sara loved picking the blackberries! We decided to fill a basket and make a blackberry pie once we got home. Sara was finding the biggest at the bottom of the plant, while Nicholas decided to jump down the ravine and get the ones that nobody had even seen. Trouble was, they were on prickly bushes - I think between Nicholas and myself we have about 25 thorns stuck in our fingers! It was still fun though.

Big ones only...

As you can see, Nicholas was very proud of the strawberries that he picked. He wasn't going to mess with the little buggers, he only wanted the ones worth eating! He made sure to get some on long stalks so that we can dip them in chocolate and live like the Fauntelroy's. Go Nick!!!

Lovely..

Look at this wonderful strawberry! Sara, Nick and I went to pick some of these lucious fruits this morning. We had a great time doing it - we were like kids in a candy store. When we went to check out, Sara and Nick had to make sure that they wiped all the fruit off their lips and teeth. Good job they don't weigh you before you go in!

Kitchen

This is the view of my kitchen from the "family" room. We don't have any furniture in the family room as of yet, because the living room suite has been put into the bonus room upstairs that is currently being used as our family room. The reason being, the tv hook up in the family room is on the wall and pre wired for a flat screen T.V. I guess that's all the hype these days. Well, technology will have to wait for the Winch clan to catch up.

Back of House

This is the back view looking from the pond. The window to the left is the master bath, the balcony upstairs is a private balcony belonging to Nicholas - a door from his bedroom leads out onto this huge area. He loves the privacy!! I thought Sara would want this, but she chose the double vanity instead - go figure, typical girl!! The big square window on the open deck is the breakfast nook, and the small windows are looking out from the kitchen sink. We have such a nice breeze coming from the pond, so it's really nice to open the small windows. You can also just barely see Mocha laying on the open deck. His new found bedroom and personal area.

Corner view

Here's the house shown on the corner. As I said earlier, the lot on the right side of the house has not been sold yet, and also the same goes for the lot on the left. We have a lot of privacy and Sally (our cat) has plenty of space to roam around.

On any given evening, we see deer crossing the roads or eating the grass - it's a shame that with all of the construction in the area we are driving them out of their homes.

A couple of days ago, the kids saw about 12 of them running through the neighborhood and tried to run and follow them - they thought that was a wonderful thing to see.

Front View

As you can see, the house is completely finished! We just had the shutters put on a couple of days ago, and boy what a difference they make to the house. Shutters in Rivertowne are mandatory, they add a nice touch to every home.

The upstairs balcony opens out from Sara's bedroom (two doors to the right - with shutters closed) and then the other two doors to the left (one shutter closed) from the guest bedroom.

As you can see on the pictures, we are on a corner lot, which is always nice. The school bus for Hayden will stop right on the corner, so he does not have too far to go. His bus comes at 7:10 in the morning. A little different than in Florida. The Elementary school kids go first, then middle school, then the high school kids. Hayden also has to wear a uniform. they are required to wear Khaki pants - with a belt and shirts tucked in, and a red, white or blue shirt. You must wear two of the colors on a daily basis. No jeans items are allowed. Poor Hayden, no more gold shorts allowed to school (yeahh!)

More news.........

This is the view of our Master Bathroom from the bedroom. There is a vanity on either side of the double doors. The "thinking room" is to the right behind another door, and the shower is to the left behind a glass door. The shower has 3 jets coming off one wall, a big round shower head from above (which I call the rainforest shower and then there is a shower that can be taken down to use for whatever your heart desires.
This is a beautiful view of the pond behind us, and fortunately right now there is nobody on either side of us. So thankfully we are not in a rush to put up blinds or anything else at the windows. We will just enjoy the view in the tub while it is blowing out wonderful massaging jets on us. Then, the tub will turn itself on and "blow dry" itself. Nice huh?

Moving in.............

Well, we finally made it to our new home and have most of our "stuff" put away. I don't think one realizes how much stuff one has until one moves!!

It has been a chore getting the cable, internet and telephone hooked up. As I type, I am on hold waiting (for about the 10th time today) to find out when someone will be out here to fix my phone! Unbelievable. People move really slow up here in the Carolinas. Nobody is in a rush to do anything.

The picture posted above, is obviously the house "unfinished" I will post new pictures as soon as I get some taken - hopefully this week.

Well, the big thing around here right now, is the Ginn Golf Tournament. Those of us who live in "Rivertown Country Club" all get passes to attend the tournament for free. Those of us (myself, Sara, Nick and Hayden) who are fortunate enough to be put forward as volunteers (by Bob) will be watching for free anyway, as we will be working our rear ends off. Hopefully I can lose some weight during the full week of walking. For those of you interested, Saturday and Sunday will be shown on NBC - if you look at the score bearers, hopefully you will see Sara. She will be going off around 12:30 pm. Nicholas will be on the 18th hole and Hayden will be on the 9th hole during the whole tourny. I will be hidden in the crowd as a marshall. Let us know if any of you see the Winch Clan.

Enough for now, as this is my first post and I am not even sure if I did it correctly.

Bye for now everyone................. :)