Double trouble

Jeran's brother Rylen was here visiting us for the last week. He came out just for a fun visit and to go to a Relient K concert with Jeran.

I came home from Girl's Camp on Wednesday and Rylen flew in late that night. On Thursday, Jeran went to work and Rylen mostly slept and played on the computer. That evening I headed back up to Girl's Camp to help them back up and bring stuff back on Friday morning.

On Friday, I got back from Girl's Camp with all the gear and whatnot and Jeran headed in to work. Rylen and I went around taking the camp equipment back to it's various owners (Thanks for carrying all that stuff, Rylen!) and went to the grocery store. That night we all went to our friend's, the Gladden's, house for pizza, Rock Band, and a movie. It was good fun. Rylen is really good at the guitar so we did better at Rock Band than we usually do. When we got home after that, we ended up playing Warcraft III until about 1 AM. Blagh... Rylen did finally beat Jeran with my pitiful help, or maybe just my lucky charm-ness, since all I did was stay alive.

Saturday we got ready and headed out to the beach. We went to Topsail Island which is just over a 2 hour drive. It was a perfect day, not too hot, but not so cool that the water isn't inviting. We had a good time playing in the waves and finding very small beach wildlife. I wish I had some pictures. Jeran found a tiny hermit crab in his shorts and we also caught some tiny horseshoe crab-looking creatures that were burrowed in the wet send near the water. I wish I had some pictures because it was a nice day. That night we went and played Carcassonne and Liar's Dice at some friends house.

Sunday we went to church and relaxed. I think Rylen got tired of everyone saying things like, "Wow! You look just like Jeran!" or "You two look exactly the same," or "Ooooh. A younger, smaller Jeran!" But it was true, especially since Rylen wore some of Jeran's clothes to church.

Monday we mostly just hung out and played games and talked while Jeran was at work. That night we went to a Durham Bulls baseball game. This reminded me that baseball is very boring and slow and that baseball games are only fun because of the people you go with and a little bit of the environment. We went with two other couples and had a good time talking, eating cotton candy and (for some people) hot dogs, and watching the fireworks afterwards. The Bulls won also, which is always good.

On Tuesday, Jeran came home early so that they could fit in some more Warcraft games. That night they went to the Relient K concert, which was apparently awesome. Besides that they got separated from each other right from the beginning and didn't find each other again until it was over, they had a great time. Here's a video Jeran took of Who I Am Hates Who I've Been if you want to sample their music:

Hooray! Thanks for coming to visit us Rylen! It was a lot of fun!

Girl's Camp!

Last week I went to Girl's Camp with the Young Women in our ward since I am a YW advisor. The camp is located about an hour north. The youth leaders and I left Monday and drove through really really downpouring rain, which was an ominous beginning. We set up our tents in a slight drizzle but that evening was really nice. Early the next morning at about 4:00 am I was lying awake in my tent, having been awakened by rain or thunder or a rock under me or something, and I hear someone yell, "Sister Stratford!!!" I clamber out of my tent and find that the girl's tent has halfway fallen in on them. Two of the stakes had slipped out of the ground so I fixed it. I finally managed to go back to sleep at about 6 am, just in time to wake every one up in the downpour at 7 am to go to their meeting.

Anyways, it rainned every night except for the last one but each afternoon it was fairly dry so it wasn't completely miserable. I did get to come home Wenesday afternoon and go back up Thursday evening, which was soooo nice. I got to take a warm shower, sleep in a soft bed without worrying about rain, flooding tents, or walking people to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

It was all in all a good time and it was fun to get to know the girls better. Hooray, Girl's Camp!

Bethany visits us in NC

I am way behind in my blogging! Here is a recap of my friend Bethany's visit near the beginnning of June:

The first day we went to Raleigh to go to the Museum of Natural Science. They had an exhibit on the history of Chocolate that was very interesting. The rest of the museum was pretty good too. It was a little bit weird because some of the exhibits were live animals, some were fake, and some you couldn't tell whether they were alive or plastic for a very long time.

We also went to the Free Expression Tunnel at NC State. This is a tunnel where grafitti is permitted and free speech is encouraged. When we went there in the middle of the day, there was a group of kids from the YMCA having a spray-painting activity there, which I found kind of strange.

The next day we went driving through the pouring rain to go see some of the largest pieces of furniture ever. In Jamestown, NC there is a very large highboy chest of drawers that is many stories high.

There is another very large chest of drawers in nearby High Point, NC. We had a bit harder time finding this one, but eventually succeeded.

We also went to nearby Thomasville, NC - home of Thomasville Furniture - to see the largest Duncan Phyfe chair.

The next day we went to the temple. It was very lovely, inside and out.

That day we also went to Pixar's UP in 3D. It was a good movie, but seeing it in 3D is not worth any extra money. It doesn't add too much, but the movie was very entertaining anyways. That day we also went to a few fun places around Durham. We went to Locopops, which is an organic popsicle shop that has many fun and unique flavors, including many that combine distinctly mexican flavors with other flavors - like Lime Chili, Tamarind Lemonade, Cherry hibiscus, etc. I had Tangerine Pomegranite, which was very different, and Bethany had Chocolate Brownie. We also went to a Panaderia and got pan dulces which were delicious.

On Monday we went to the coast. We went down to Kure Beach and went to the Aquarium there.

We went to the beach at the state park and had a good time. The water is so warm and pleasant, minus the icky-bicky saltiness that always lingers all over you. We didn't get too sunburned, only a little bit here and there.

The last day, Bethany and I went to Duke Gardens. It was very pretty, as always. Then Bethany flew home again! Bye Beth! Thanks for visiting!