Raleigh

Nate and I took a quick trip to Raleigh this last week to visit family. I love going to Raleigh and have many fun memories of visiting my grandparents and aunt and uncle since I was little. We flew in on the fourth of July and were in Raleigh by 9:30 am.

Our flight left Indy at 0600 

Nate was very excited about the aisle seat

We had breakfast with my aunt and uncle at a local diner, and then headed to their house. My aunt is a planner. Whenever she knows we're coming, she asks for a fun to-do list. Well, I requested a pedicure (especially since we just moved and my feet were tired). So while the boys put together chicken kabobs to grill at G and G's for dinner, we went for a pedicure. I almost fell asleep in the chair I was so tired. For dinner we packed up food to take over to G and G's. Like I mentioned earlier, we had chicken kabobs, peas, homemade cornbread casserole, jello salad and rice, yum . We didn't go see any fireworks, only saw a few on our way back to my Aunt and Uncle's, which was fine by us because we were pretty tired.

The next day my aunt and uncle had to work, so we spent the day with my grandparents. We went to one of our favorite local places called Milton's for lunch. We have been going to Milton's for as long as I can remember. They have great pizza! Afterwards, we just hung out and worked on a very hard puzzle. This puzzle was a picture of a train, and in the shape of a train. So there were lots of curved edges and weird pieces! One thing that I loved about our time there was the almost daily thunderstorms. It was hot and warm and sunny all morning, and then it would cloud up quickly around 3 pm, have a quick thunderstorm and peaceful rain, then clear out by 6 pm. Loved it! Absolutely no threat, just great afternoon storms. Well, when we were working on this puzzle, we had another one of these great storms roll through. Luckily it didn't last long, so we weren't out of AC for long.

Gma and I working on the puzzle

For Friday, Aunt Cynthia had big plans (remember how I said she's a planner). Here was our schedule: Pullen Park in the morning, lunch at The Roast Grill, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in the afternoon, and then Ascazu Artisan Chocolates. We started out mid-morning and headed to Pullen Park. Pullen Park was the first public park in North Carolina and Aunt C use to love to take my sister and I there when we were kids. They recently reopened the park after a huge makeover, so she was really excited to go check it out. The park is quite large with a train, indoor carousel, picnic areas, playground, and paddle boats.

Aunt C says she has a photo of us when I was little in this same spot

After Pullen Park, we headed to the Roast Grill for lunch. Nate saw this place on TV once and asked if we could go here. They serve hot dogs with cole slaw (a North Carolina thing), or in our case, with chili, mustard and onions, and they were fantastic! No ketchup to be found in this joint, which is just fine by me. It was very small inside with a small bar and and two tiny tables.

After lunch we headed down to the museum. Aunt C is fascinated with snakes, as long as they are in cages, so we made sure to see the snakes. The museum also has very large emeralds. 

Capitol building - walked by on our way to the museum

Checking out a turtle

After the museum we decided we had had too much fun for one day and decided to skip the chocolate store, sad. Instead, we headed for a tavern downtown for a beer and snack.

The next day we decided to go to a movie and I quickly suggested Madagascar III. I had been waiting for a long time to see that movie, and it didn't disappoint! I just love the dancing zebra. But before that, of course, Nate had to have to Krispy Kreme for breakfast and Aunt C requested that she braid my hair. Aunt C has loved braiding my hair ever since I was a kid. The whole weekend Uncle R kept saying to her, "she's not 5 any more you know." :) 

Braided hair by Aunt C

Nate loves donuts!

Dinner at On the Border

With G and G

On our way home

We decided to fly stand-by for this trip since I would have some time to get stuck. On the way to Raleigh it was smooth sailing (probably because it was a holiday). But on the way back, not so great. We made it into Chicago just fine, and then everything was overbooked into Indy. So we decided to rent a car and drive back. It actually wasn't too bad of a drive, 3-3 1/2 hours. I'm just thankful we made it home that day and didn't have to find a hotel.