Man, what a weekend. Busy, but fun. Let's start out with a brief, day-by-day synopsis.

Friday we dropped Drew off with Elizabeth's parents and headed to the lovely Second Empire restaurant here in Raleigh. It's been a long time since we got dressed up to go out to eat (I had to dust off the ol' suit, even), and we had to force ourselves to slow down and really enjoy the food. We've both gotten in the habit of chowing down fast and then grabbing the baby, who's usually crying or needing some attention.

Not a cheap meal, but spending a good 2+ hours just chatting with my wife and sipping some top-notch wine made it worth it. It's nice to actually savor what you're eating and drinking, and have a leisurely meal. And we even talked about topics other than Drew! More or less...

Saturday we strapped on the old hiking boots and took Drew for his first serious hike. He did great, strapped in his baby bjorn on his dad's chest -- he slept for most of the 2-hour jaunt through the woods, under the watchful eye of Whit the Wonder Pup. I was aching a bit, in odd places, later that night -- my hip joints and my right foot, for some reason. But I blame the sore feet on the dress shoes I had to wear Friday night, as well as to the funeral we went to on Saturday afternoon (for Elizabeth's great-uncle, who'd been sick for a good while). Saturday night we watched "Spellbound," a nifty documentary about spelling bees (and obsessive parents!), and crashed early.

Sunday we cleaned the house for the first time in two months, prepping for our Super Bowl get-together. Turns out we were aligned with the "sweeping of the grounds," part of the Chinese New Year that starts Tuesday. Nice timing, and we didn't even plan it that way.

Yesterday was actually a sport-filled day -- Drew and I got up around 7 or so and (while Lizzie got some much-deserved sleep) we watched part two of the excellent Ken Burns "Baseball" documentary, getting some great details for my baseball novel. Then in the afternoon we all watched the Tar Heel basketball game, followed a few hours later by the Super Bowl.

We didn't pay much attention to the football game (or the lame commercials), because we were too busy chatting and eating and playing with Drew. His "unofficial" Aunt Clarke and Aunt Cammie and Uncle Josh came over to hang out with us:


He of course had smiles for everyone:


More photos at the new Ofoto Album.

All in all, a fun weekend. At least I can get some rest here at work... Later!