Dorothy said it best...

There's no place like home.

And that's where we've been for the past couple of weeks. Ryan, Camden and I left Dallas on October 3rd and headed for North Carolina.

Our trip began with a Saturday at our alma mater, Western Carolina University, for Ryan's 10 year college reunion Homecoming game. We went with Ryan's mom, my parents and my sister. We tailgated, we watched the Catamounts lose, we listened and watched the phenomenal band, and we burned in the fall sun. We celebrated Ryan's birthday there and then went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant from my college days...okay, my favorite one that wasn't delivering pizza at 3 a.m.

The day after the game, Ryan, his mom, Camden and I headed to Holden Beach, NC to spend a week with Ryan's brother Derek, his wife (my sister-in-law-in-law, or SILIL for short) Jen, their son Jay (who's only 20 days older than Camden) and Jen's family.



It was Camden's first trip to the beach and I think it went well. He ate about 3 pounds of sand, but he doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear so I'm not worried about it.






We had a fabulous time. Jay and Camden were pretty much the source of entertainment for the entire week. When they weren't just playing on their mat and being cute, they were posing for pics on the beach being even cuter.

Between the book reading, the junk food munching, the cards and board game playing, and the walks on the beach, there's no way I can complain about a single moment of the entire week. Okay...one complaint, Ryan had to leave on Wednesday and go back to Dallas. We all wished he could have stayed longer. But...with Ryan gone, and the kiddos with the grandparents...Jen and I even managed to escape for a day to go shopping and out for lunch without babies in tow.

After the week at the beach, I headed to Elkin to spend a week with my family. It was a great week there too. I got to be with my entire family one day to celebrate my youngest brother's birthday and then the rest of the week was spent just hanging out - a day in the mountains with Mom, Dad and Maria - hiking near the viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway - a day shopping and eating out with Mom, a day with my grannies...sometimes the best times are just being with family...and not doing much of anything.

After a couple of weeks at my favorite place...home...I am reminded that the best things in life aren't things.