Instagrammin' in November

Looking at our November through phone pics and it feels like summer again!  I spent the beginning of the month having a fun weekend in Wild Dunes near Charleston with tennis friends at a tennis tournament called Racquet Wars.  My partner and I won our first two matches in the waterfall bracket and ended up in the top division.  We have an awesome match, losing 6-4 7-5 to the eventual winners.  We definitely earned our beers!  We also celebrated Jonathan's 44th birthday with a homemade cake that was light and fluffy, using all the tricks we've learned from watching The Great British Baking Show.  The weekend before Thanksgiving, my parents came to visit so we took them to our new favorite Charlotte walk that takes you through the fun sites of South End.  We also got to visit with my mom's sister, Aunt Cathy, who has now moved back to the Charlotte area--so excited to have her, and soon Uncle Doug once he retires, back in town!  And, to close out our November, we went on our big trip of the year.  The family vote this year was to be home for Christmas and to go somewhere in the Caribbean.  So, we booked a 5-day trip over the Thanksgiving holiday to a Hilton all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We definitely did not miss the turkey this year...

racquet wars with wsrc tennis friends elaine, melissa, angie, teneika, and my partner suzy | suzy and enjoyed some post-match beers while we watched angie and teneika play a match. | it was an unseasonably cold weekend, but you couldn't beat the views and seafood dinners. | jack performed a zombie play with his honors drama class--he literally told us the day of that he would be performing after football practice, but ella and i managed to catch the play regardless. jack was pretty good. | happy birthday to jonathan! | we love nonni and papa! | we took them to some of our favorites--south end rail trail, ping pong table near futo buta, jenni's ice cream, hearts wall, and omb. | lunch and new house tour with aunt cathy | and jamaica!  our view from our hotel the first evening. | we took one day trip out of the resort to head down to downtown montego bay for a photo session with a local photographer (raheem) who we had booked through flytographer. | the last photo is his beautiful sneak peek that we received before we'd even left the island.