felonious acts

Deleted, for you my friend, Teresa, so the neighbors don't have anymore reasons to come after me with torches. :)

Country come to Town

We were packed up and headed to Raleigh. Blair was going to spend Monday with us and then head off bright and early Tuesday morning. I had the girls with me, but Blair was pulling the trailer that had everything else on it. I got to the hotel first. It wasn’t the Dew Drop Inn. It was a nice place with suites and everything. Well, as soon as we got there, Rena had to use the bathroom and Rachel and Riley both need to be changed. Little did I know, but Rachel had poured her juice all over herself, so she was completely wet and needed changing. None of the girls had shoes. And Blair was about 10 minutes behind us. What’s a girl to do. So, I parked out front, left the car running with the dog in it and carried my motley crew inside the nice hotel. Straight to the bathroom we went. Out we came with 3 shoeless girls and 1 in nothing but a diaper. Mind you, we hadn’t actually checked in at this point. I’m surprised that no one was asking us to leave. The girls, after having been car-bound for 4 hours, made themselves right at home in the lobby. Luckily Blair showed up we were able to check in and get settled.

Raleigh was probably the busiest part of my trip. I was so excited to be back home and there was so much I wanted to do. First I went to get my hair cut by my favorite hairdresser, Chada. This women cuts my hair for an entire hour and it always looks great when she’s done. It always looks great the next day too. Then we met my friend Amy for a little shopping and dinner at the Kanki. Yummy. I ran into an old co-worked there and it was so nice to see someone I know!

The next day, I met one of my best friends and her daughter and we went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Great museum. We had a blast, despite the fact that it was H-ot! This place has it all: A butterfly house, and insectarium, bear, lemurs, bubbles and more. It really is a cool place and if you ever get a chance, you should go. The girls had a great time and so did Sherri and I.

I stopped off at the cemetery on the way back to visit my mother’s grave and also a high school friend’s grave. It was a nice quiet spot.

Then I checked out the old ‘hood, where I stalked my old house waiting for the new people to come home from work. I really wanted a cutting from a bush that’s growing in the yard, but I didn’t have anything to cut it with. I ended up not getting it…this time.

I had forgotten what spectacular sunsets there are where I used to live. I know, I know, the sun sets here too. But these sunsets take you’re breath away. I pulled off the road and took a picture, but it just doesn’t do it justice. After admiring that for awhile, I headed back to my friend Sherri’s house for dinner and a little more playing. It was still H-ot, but we played out back on her trampoline. Riley LOVED it. I wish I had video of her running around on this thing. She was scaring me to death, but I was laughing too hard at her glee to do anything about it. Plus, we couldn’t catch her! Rena and Rachel liked it too, but Riley was the dare-devil.

The next day, I stopped by school to say hey to the people I used to work with. Plus I had been promising the girls some playground time. I got to see a few people, but I was really hoping for more. I haven’t worked there in 3 years, but it feels much longer and I miss them all terribly. Then I went to another friends house where I spent most of the time furiously emailing myself pictures from my cell phone from the last 2 ½ years. My cell phone was threatening to kill itself and take my pictures with it. I couldn’t let that happen. Winnie was a trooper though and even though we got to visit, it wasn’t nearly long enough.

Off to my cousins house for the next stop. My Aunt Devilla had called my Aunt Delores and plans were made for a trip to my cousin’s house where the girls could play and we could relax a little. I ended up having a great time and actually staying longer than I had intended. I really wanted to ‘tour’ Raleigh a little bit and see how things had changed. I did a little bit of that. I like to drive past my Grandparents old house. I’m always amazed at how small it is. This area of town has THE hottest real estate, though. These little 900 sq. ft. houses sell for well over 100,000 dollars. Well over.

Then it was time to leave again. Sherri came and helped me hook up the trailer and then it was off to the beach again. This time: Uncle Randy’s and Grandaddy’s.

Next stop: Grandma’s house

This was the longest stop on our ‘tour’ and Blair was with us the whole time. It was nice and relaxing. We spent a couple of days on the beach and a couple of days shopping. No pressure, lots of sand and r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.

Rena had a great time following Grandma around everywhere. Rachel bonded with Grandpop and Riley enjoyed chasing the dogs around.

Grandmom and I went shopping one day and Grandmom got the girls these cute little bathing suits. Hopefully we’ll still be able to wear them next year too. It was fun to explore the little shops on the outer banks. I found these really cool blown glass pumpkins that were absolutely beautiful. They were a little more expensive than I wanted to spend, but I can’t get them off my mind. I got the business card and I’m seriously thinking about treating myself.

Blair’s parents live 8/10ths of a mile from the beach. Despite that fact, Blair and I got into an argument over whether to walk or drive to the beach. I won. We walked. Seriously, Blair wanted to move the 3 car seats from one vehicle to the other, load up all the towels, chair’s, toys and more into the vehicle, somehow attach the garden cart we’d brought to take to the beach and drive the 8/10ths of a mile. Unload the vehicle, load the garden cart and cross the dunes. Really. Men. So, instead, we did the sensible and healthier thing. We loaded the girls and the stuff in the garden cart and walked to the beach. It’s probably the longest uninterrupted time Blair and I have spent together in a while and it ended up being his favorite part of the trip. Mine too.

The girls loved playing on the beach and Rena even met a new friend that was visiting next door. The beach was great and I really wasn't ready to leave.

first stop - Maryland

The first real stop on our vacation was to Maryland to see Blair's best friend and his wife and son. "Baby" Joey turned one and we got to go to his birthday. It was alot of fun seeing everyone. "Baby" Joey's Mom is pregnant again, too! They used to visit us alot when we were in NC, but now it's just too far to go. The birthday party was great and the girls had alot of fun. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend any real time with Joe and Maureen.

I've been busy recuperating from our summers big adventure. We were gone for 3 glorious weeks back to NC. Most of our time was spent on the coast, but I did spend a few short days inland in Raleigh, reconnecting with friends and family. It was great. I cried evertime we left somewhere!

We started in Maryland at our Godson's 1st birthday and ended in Southport, NC with my birthday. There was lots of family, friends and surf inbetween. If my children will ever all nap at the same time, I'll post pictures of all we did.