29 July 2013

Downtown Durham

We spent the last day of the gang's vacation in Downtown Durham.
It was fun to see the Lucky Strike factory because we had just learned about it at the Duke Homestead museum the day before. We checked out the Durham Bull's stadium and walked the streets of downtown, soaking up all the charm.  It was a really fun outing and one of the highlights of the trip. 

25 July 2013

Museum of Life and Science


The Museum of  Life and Science in Durham is packed with fun stuff to do and see.
It was Mike's favorite part of the whole trip. 
There are animals, bugs, and butterflies to see, gadgets to play with,  dinosaur bones to dig up, and  more.  The butterfly house was so cool and definitely a favorite. Butterflies are beautiful. 
It had been a hot gorgeous day the whole time we were there, then all of a sudden dark clouds appeared, and we got caught in the biggest downpour any of us had ever been in. We were all completely soaked,  along with everyone else in the park. We dashed inside for cover and waited out the storm as long as we could.  It was a hilarious sight and experience. 

22 July 2013

The Duke Homestead

 
The Duke Homestead is a historic site here in North Carolina. It is the home and farm of Washington Duke, where he first grew and processed tobacco. His sons later founded the largest tobacco company in the world.  It was really neat to learn all sorts of little facts about the tobacco industry - like, we can thank the tobacco industry for sports cards and Duke University. 

21 July 2013

4 July 2013


Fourth of July was packed with fun this year. 
We started off the day with a little tennis tournament and then went to a local city pool. The pool reminded us of the Sandlot pool. There were no lounge chairs so we had to lay on the concrete. Jade made a bunch of new little girlfriends. They all were in love with her and kept calling her "my baby". It was so cute to see them love her immediately. Jade is always stealing people's hearts. After the pool we headed back to our place for a giant BBQ.  My parents are angels and made us baby back ribs, prime rib, and lots of yummy sides. We were all stuffed to the brim. Once it was dark we had ourselves a firework show. It was such a fun day and we were so glad to have my parents and Mike in town for the holiday. 

18 July 2013

8 Months


8 Months {on July 1st} 
She has become a lot more talkative.
She has tried all sorts of new foods. Carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, & bananas to name a few. 
She claps- or learning to clap. 
She army crawls and steam rolls.
Her two bottom teeth popped throw & they are so cute!
She is one determined girl. She wont give up until she has what she wants - this is a good and bad thing.
She loves standing/baby walking. 
We always joke that she is going to walk before she crawls. 
She has developed a fake cry.  She already knows how to get what she wants around here. oops. 
She flaps her arms like a little bird when she gets excited.
She loves to drink water from cups and straws. She thinks she is a big girl and can do it all by herself.



17 July 2013

Travel Video | Washington DC + Alexandria



Marissa made this cute video of our dream trip to DC & Virginia.
That weekend has my heart.

16 July 2013

Old Town Alexandria




On Sunday, we explored Old Town Alexandria.
We went to the most tasty custard place called the Dairy Godmother. 
Their special for the day was blueberry custard and it did not disappoint. Ive been craving it ever since.
Old Town Alexandria is oozing with charm. We love it there.

That night we had a delicious sunday meal, complete with steak,  lobster, and crab. 
We even had Tyler 's mission campion and his family over for dinner.
We love that family. They are darling and they are going places. 
 Chunner made an appearance too, and after dinner we all gathered round for a couple games of Snaps and Mafia.  It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend.