We left Fairfax after a delicious homemade pancake breakfast and head toward a friend's house in NC. When I mentioned that we were doing a road trip she said, "come visit!" and I couldn't think of any reason not to :) In addition to it being a wonderful invitation and nice to see a friend, she lives super close to Raleigh-Durham airport, which was a great place for pete to fly in. Sold!
So off to Cary we went. We arrived on a bright sunny day and hit the pool.
How I managed to have children who are actually half fish I'll never know.
We've been saying that we're on a regional BBQ tour, so that night we tried Carolina style. Did not disappoint. Lea prefers hers with less vinegar, but we've discovered that jax will eat any manner of ribs.
A low key night teaching our hosts how to play Exploding Kittens and watching the Flash followed dinner, and then bed for all of us.
While all this was happening Pete was at home and we were making some very very hard decisions. Sally, our furry love, had rapidly declined since the kids & I left town. Pete was sure she wouldn't make it until our return. In consultation with our vet, we made the almost impossibly hard decision to say goodbye. Pete was amazing throughout. I shed many tears. We decided that returning home wouldn't be the right choice for anyone. I don't know how to wrap up this part of the post other than to say that we all loved this girl so much, and we will miss her to infinity, and I am sure that it will hurt again anew when her furry face isn't there to greet us upon our return.
Love her and her sweet face forever.
Back in Cary Friday morning the kids and I were taken to Rise for biscuits and donuts. What could be better? I loooove biscuits, and these were GOOD.
We then head to Hemlock Bluff, a cute little nature park right in Cary.
We had the treat of seeing a lizard change colors right before our eyes. I had never seen that before and it was so cool.
See how green it is?
Same lizard, not 20 seconds later. And not a trick of the camera; it really changed color!
Back to the neighborhood for many hours of swimming, followed by a quick trip to the playground to play on some brand new climbing equipment that was super fun.
New school hadn't even opened yet. We helped break it in.
Pizza for dinner followed, and then we got pete at the airport. I thought he was supposed to arrive at 9, but it turned out that is flight got in at seven. Yay! Of course, his second flight was delayed so he got in at...9. Oh well. It was a very happy reunion, tempered by sharing the sad news about Sally with the kids. I was relieved that they agreed that the trip should go on as planned.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and thank yous and we head west toward the Great Smokey Mountains (while our host prepared to head off for a Scottish adventure!). But before rustic charm, we had the glamour of the Biltmore Estate. But that's for the next post.
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