Sharon and I missed the other members of the GCGC (Grand Canyon Girls Club), currently consisting of 5 members - Michele, Karen, Sharon, Ruth, and myself. To Michele, Karen, and Ruth, you were missed. We did pass along your "Hello's" and that you would be back next year.
To Ruth, who normally flies into Raleigh, spends a night or two with me, and rides to Myrtle Beach and back with me, I have pictures especially for her, so she will feel like she was with me. First we have a photo of South of the Border, at the NC/SC border off of I-95. Yes, I was driving at the time, but it was directly in front of me, so only had to hold the camera right above the steering wheel, and with the digital camera, you can take a photo using only one hand, and there was very little traffic at the time.
On Thursday night, a few of us go to a seafood buffet restaurant called Crabby Mike's, it's become our Thursday night tradition. Here's their sign and their crazy "crab" van:
Here's a picture of Dawn's daughter Emily, posing with the dolphin near the restaurant entrance. Dawn and I have been best friends since the 1st grade. Dawn and I have attended all 12 PALS Flings. Emily is 6 and has also been to the PALS Fling, and Crabby Mike's, every year since she was born (her first trip when she was about 1 month old).
A photo of Emily again, with Mother Dawn and Aunt Susan. Can you tell that Emily is NOT camera shy.
One of the reasons we go to Crabby Mike's is for, of course, crab legs. Here is plate of crab legs that were beginning to be attacked:
Excuse the fingers in the above photo. That was Emily's fingers. Did I mention that this child is NOT camera shy? I had another photo of the plate of crab legs, without Emily's fingers, but that photo came out a little blurry, so the above photo was the best shot of the crab legs.
And finally, we have Mama Ida (Dawn and Susan's Mother, Emily's GrandMother), about to eat a piece of crab meat (that Dawn shelled and gave to her). Ida never understands the effort and work required to crack crab legs to get such small pieces of edible food ... these comments sometimes include a shaking of her head. Can you read the look on her face. It's the, "ok, I'll eat it, but I don't really like it that much" look.
Now on to PALS Fling photos. On Friday night, everyone gathers in the conference center. Activities include a grab bag exchange and an ornament exchange. There are always certain grab bags that get stolen often, based on the creative look of the grab bag "container". This was one of the popular grab bags. Actually, I believe this is by far the most interesting, grab bag container I've seen in the 12 years I've attended the PALS Fling:
The above grab bag was brought by Amy. It tied for 2nd place for number of times stolen. First place was a canvas bag with pretty cat pictures on it (I think that was first place). If you click on the above photo to see a larger image, you'll see that the sign attached to the panties says "Put on your big girl panties and cross stitch." I don't remember who ended up with it at the end of the night.
Here is the grab bag I got, which was brought by ConnieNE and was packed full of goodies and had a reindeer ornament hanging from the corner. Thanks again Connie:
Here are photos of other grab bags. In the second photo below, the small rectangle tin was the grab bag I brought. It had contained chocolates I brought back from Brugge, Belgium earlier this year for my co-workers. It was packed with various overdyed flosses and silks.
And, here are the ornaments for the Ornament Exchange. All of the ornaments brought were beautiful.
I have a few more photos I'll share of ornaments stitched by Dawn, her sister Susan, and Mama Ida. For cross stitch "shopping", I mainly bought fabric. Plus I did get some things from the stash room. I'll share the rest of these photos in a few days.
I'm already quite comfy sitting on my sofa, watching a few TV shows I DVR'd while I was gone (bouncing between those and football). Time to put down the laptop and pick up some cross stitch. For those at the PALS Fling, it was great seeing you again. There were a few that had not been in a long time, ConnieNE for one. There were also some new faces at the PALS Fling, who will hopefully come back next year. For those that could not make it this year, you were dearly missed and I hope I'll see you there next year.
Hugs to all.
