Our Trip Up North

We "just" got back from a visit up "north" to visit our friends and family. I say "just" because we technically got back Monday night. And I say "north" because it still seems crazy to say we're going north to visit our family because we both have lived in the deep south our whole lives. But now we're even further south, and we still haven't gotten quite used to it yet!

Here's the basic itinerary from our trip:

Monday, April 11: Arrive in Raleigh, NC around noon - packed up in our Camry by 2 - drove to Elizabeth City, NC (3hr drive) - looked around/explored (more on that to come...maybe...) - drove back to Raleigh, NC (3hr drive) - finally able to shower...

Tuesday, April 12: Spent the day in Raleigh visiting friends - spent the evening with our best friends - drove to Charlotte, NC after dinner (2.5hr drive) - arrival at Mena's house around 10:30 - got to sleep in my favorite bed (besides my own that's in storage)...

Wednesday, April 13: Spent the day with Mena and Pepe the dog (Charis was in heaven...she loves dogs...) - ate the best chicken salad for lunch - celebrated Ian, Charis, and Ryan's birthdays with the whole family at K&W Cafeteria (all 17 of us)

Thursday, April 14: Drove to Mimi and Paw Paw's house early in the AM (30min drive) - spent the day with them (most of it outside...Cayman was enamored with the heavy machinery parked next to their house) - of course took photos for Charis' 12 month photo shoot - laughed hard as she DEVOURED a smash cake! - enjoyed a yummy dinner with the Seth Moody family - and then played with bubbles and footballs outside until the sun went down

Friday, April 15: Enjoyed a yummy breakfast with Mimi and Paw Paw - drove to Augusta (2.5hr drive) - enjoyed a fun weekend with my 3 brothers and their families - celebrated Charis' and Ian's birthdays again... - had an Easter egg hunt (over and over...)

Saturday, April 16: Checked our flight itinerary to see what time we needed to be at the airport on Sunday....discovered our CFA travel agency booked our return flight for AUGUST instead of APRIL - Ian spent a few hours getting all that straightened out

Sunday, April 17: Instead of rushing around to fly home, we enjoyed one last day with family - the kids had a water fight out in the front yard and got soaked...fully clothed - Ian and I went out on a date with my brother Clark and my sister-in-law Kathy (SUSHI at my favorite Augusta restaurant Takosushi!)

Monday, April 18: Check in at Augusta Regional Airport at 11ish - mom got a gate pass so she was able to hang out with us at the gate until our flight left at 12:49 - ate lunch and rested at Charlotte's airport until our flight home left there at 4:30 - got in our VAN at 6ish - drove straight to Chick-fil-A for supper (Cayman requested it...) - home at 8 - showered and in bed by 9:30 (EVERYONE)

We had such a great time visiting our friends and family! We LOVE spending time with all of them. It's fun for me seeing all the kids growing up together.