The Summons

I received a jury summons in the mail ab0ut a month ago. This is the third time since we've moved here that I've been summoned, but I've always called the night before I was to appear and my groups wasn't required to come. So this time when I called I was disappointed to hear that I actually had to go downtown to the courthouse. I was sitting in the huge waiting room with a few hundred other people, watching a video about the process when they paused the video to call 65 people out of the room as possible jurors for a trial. Lucky me was number 20. I was hoping that meant I would be quickly disqualified as a juror and sent home...but it wasn't to be. After several hours of questioning, I was chosen as juror #4 for a criminal trial. Unfortunately I had a full week of appointments and other plans so I spent my nights making phone calls trying to find babysitters and cancelling appointments. After a very hectic and exhausting couple of days, the trial has ended. Not only did I get to see first-hand how juries are chosen and a criminal trial works, but I also learned how truly fortunate I am. Both the defendant and the victim had really sad stories to tell. It was really hard to decide the fate of the defendant. It was a good learning experience, but I'm glad that I can't be chosen again for at least 2 years.

Kure Beach

We just returned from a family vacation to Kure Beach, NC. Dave's family used to take yearly trips to Santa Cruz, CA until about a year before we got married. We've been trying to re-start the beach tradition for several years and were finally successful. We decided to go to NC because the water is so much warmer and we could afford a lot nicer/bigger house there. There were 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and it was right on the beach, with it's own private entrance to the beach.
When we arrived in NC on Saturday, we went straight to Dave's uncle Bruce's house in Kinston for the wedding reception of his cousin, Tyler, to Lauren. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so happy we were able to be there. Then the rest of the week was spent relaxing on the beach, catching waves, playing games, etc. We also went to an aquarium one day, which Addison absolutely loved. She kept running from one window to another saying "More fish, more fish". It was a blast!
Addison had the best time up until she got a fever the last two days and ended up sick in bed for the end of the trip. She woke up every hour the last two nights and barely napped. Needless to say, the flight home was exhausting and our bed felt like heaven that first night home.
There were too many great pictures so I decided to make a slide show. I can't get the slideshow to show on my blog so try going to this website: http://www.slide.com/r/0dbLG3H76D_XcUFIEruaiInq3LhPOBG9?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original