My family came to Raleigh for a visit this past weekend. It was a great time. They arrived Thursday afternoon (August 8) and left early this morning (August 12).
On Thursday, we took them to a Durham Bulls game. It was $1 Hot Dog Night, so you know it was a good time, haha. It was the first time we’d taken them to a Bulls game and into that Tabacco/Warehouse District in Durham. The Bulls won and we all had a great time cheering them on. I’m glad we took them to a game. They were especially excited to see a Yankee player, Shelley Duncan, playing.
Hanging out in the Tobacco District before the Durham Bulls game started.
Jay and Katelyn got shaved ice to cool off.
My parents.
We hung around for a bit on Friday. It was really hot outside, so we went down to the pool for a little while to chill (literally and figuratively). Jay worked form 7 a.m. until noon, so once he got back from work, we made lunch at home and ate together. We did little things around town that afternoon, including a trip to one of our local malls. Jay and I had to catch up on the first eight episodes of Season 5 of Breaking Bad this weekend, so we watched a few episodes of that on Friday as well. My dad’s birthday was Saturday, August 10, so on Friday night, we went to his favorite Raleigh restaurant at his request – The Raleigh Times. The whole family walked around Downtown Raleigh after we ate and took pictures for unofficial Instagram competitions, lol. If you notice, my sisters and I each have a different version of the exact same picture up. We had a ton of fun downtown on Friday night.
Fun with pictures in Downtown Raleigh. We took an album cover picture and named our band “Los Hermanos.”
Saturday was Dad’s birthday, so we did another one of his favorite activities: walking/hiking. Jay was working until 4 p.m. on Saturday, so I took my parents and sisters for a six mile walk on the Greenway. We hung out in the A.C. afterwards until Jay got back from work. My parents wanted to make sure we all went to church, so we took them to 5 p.m. mass at our parish on Saturday evening. After church, we went over to Jay’s parents’ house for some pizza and birthday cake. Jack’s birthday was Sunday, August 11 and Kayla’s birthday was last weekend, so needless to say, there were a lot of birthday cakes going around, haha. I had a little piece of each one and was so full when we left that I swore off eating for the rest of the month, lol. My mom and I had stopped by Harris Teeter to get a birthday cake for Dad & Jack and we thought ourselves funny when we had them write, “Happy Birthday, Our Dads” on it. Before we headed over to his parents’ house, Jay had bought the new app “Face Up!” which is based on a game that Ellen DeGenerous plays on her show. We played Face Up! as a big group after we ate. It was hilarious, particularly the way we played it with 10 people shouting clues at 1 person. I want to play that game again soon.
From our walk to Shelly Lake on Saturday.
It originally said, “Happy Birthday Dads!” hahaha
Birthday Dads.
On Sunday, we hit up the flea market in the morning and walked around it for a few hours. Upon arriving back home, we buckled down back into Breaking Bad mode and watched all but the final episode in the first part of season 5. At my sister’s suggestion, we waited until about 7:30 p.m. to watch it, so we could go almost straight into the new episode that aired last night without having to wait more than a half hour. Good thinking, Christie. We dispersed to do our own thing before dinner; Dad and Jay had a catch, Christie showered and chilled out, and Katelyn, Mom and I went to the mall and to Michael’s. We met up for dinner at Lynwood Grill (another request of my dad’s) and had our last family meal together in Raleigh for this trip. The rest was simple: Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad, and talking a lot about Breaking Bad!
They left around 6 a.m. this morning. I’m sad to see them go, because I know they won’t get a chance to come back and visit for a while. It’s difficult to live far away from family when you grew up so close to family, especially during the times when you know everyone is together for a family dinner or a birthday, but that just makes you appreciate the time you have together all the more. It was a great weekend and appreciate it, I did! 🙂
