After heading to both Florida and Pennsylvania on separate trips we are finally back home again. Em was able to take the girls to connect up with grandparents and other relatives. It was the first time that Uncle Charlie and Aunt Shanna-Lee got to meet the Pipes.

My trip brought with it a range of emotions that I am not sure I can capture in this place. I think that I am going to have to save any sort of writing about Colin Smith's Memorial service for later as I am still processing. That being said, the trip was a good time of reconnecting with my friends Josh, Ben, Ryan, Sarah, Jerry, Jason, and Jerry (lots of J's). In many cases I was able to meet a spouse for the first time. Mostly we were just able to talk for hours. We were given some time to reconnect with another great mentor of ours: Steve Shumaker. It was great to catch up with him.

Thanks to Us Airways and Delta for getting us there and back safely...btw, there is a little site called lastminute.com - My mom showed us this site - if you are ever in a pinch for a ticket - this site is pretty great and includes car rentals with your package.


Today we were able to head to Imaginon - this is a wonderful place in Uptown Charlotte that is a Children's theatre, library and imagination play place. Sophia loved playing with the touch screen computer coloring, interactive toys, and different puzzle stations.




After this we were able to head over to Brixx pizza uptown, they have this special that they don't advertise any more - 4:30-6:30 Mon-Thu. - buy one get one free pizza! It was a great night to sit outside on their porch and eat dinner. Afterwards we were able to walk the streets of Charlotte and enjoy the night. Great times.