Durham Bucket List

Things have been crazy, but we are settling into our new home in Iowa!  More to come on that soon, but for now I wanted to share a bit about our last weeks in Durham.  Although Iowa is growing on me, I really miss Durham already!   I miss the beautiful surroundings, great restaurants, and our friends.  Before leaving, we had a little "bucket list" of things we wanted to do.  Little Miss Ava thwarted a few of our plans, but we did get to cross a few things off and make some great memories before moving away.  Here were some of our bucket list adventures!

{Lunch at Nana Taco and shopping at Southpoint}

{An afternoon at the Durham Museum of Life and Science with our friends from church, Joana and Isaac}

{At the museum riding the train and seeing the animals}

{Walking the Duke East Campus loop}

{Fuqua Friday happy hour - saw my Pi Phi friend Angela who was in town!}

{Walking the Duke campus and taking pictures}

{A weekend with Aunt Julia}

{A going away party with our small group - Mary Elizabeth gave Ava a John Deere phone toy!}

{Kristen and Lori from our small group loving on Ava}

{Visiting the Duke Gardens}

{Last date night at Rue Cler.... our fave!!!}

We miss you, Durham, but we'll be back!!!

Springtime Family Pictures

Spring has arrived in North Carolina! It's beautiful here, and all the trees are in bloom. On Friday night, Ava and I went to an event at the Fuqua School of Business on the Duke campus (where Brent has spent the last two years), and I saw a family taking pictures out front with the trees. Of course I knew that I needed to have some family pics there, too! On Sunday, we loaded up the SUV with the whole family including Blazer. Our friend Elvis met us on campus and took some amazing pictures of all of us! (By the way, these were all taken with an iPhone!  At the risk of sounding like I'm ninety-five... Isn't technology amazing?!)  We caught the blossoms right before they all fell off. Since we're about to move (more on that soon), these pictures will be a nice keepsake from our time here in Durham at Duke. It's been the best two years of my life so far, hands down.

Thank you, Elvis!!

A Visit from Winnie & Papa C

Last week we had the good fortune of having my family come visit for six days!  It was glorious.  My mom was anxious to see Ava again, and my dad was meeting her for the first time.  Aunt Julia also came in from Virginia to log a little Ava time.  It was my mom's Spring Break, so it worked out perfectly.  My parents' grandparent names are Winnie and Papa C.  (They've had them picked out for a while!)

Aunt Julia came early for a little playtime and to help me with the grocery shopping and cleaning before my parents arrived.  We appreciated it so much!  Ava was ready to greet Julia in her "I heart Auntie" outfit and leg warmers!

Aunt Julia was jealous of how many headbands Ava has!

When my parents arrived, Papa C got to meet Ava for the first time, and Winnie saw how much Ava has grown since she saw her last!

We went for a three mile hike on the Wa-Duke trail one afternoon.  It was cool enough to necessitate a sock monkey hat.

 

After church on Sunday, we went out to lunch at Happy China with our Chinese friend, Elvis, who goes to church with us each week.

On Monday, Julia had to go back to work, but Brent and I took mom and dad to Chapel Hill for an afternoon of shopping on Franklin Street and lunch at one of our favorite places, Mediterranean Deli.  Ava slept like a champ the whole time!

While my parents were in town, we also had a visit from Brent's friend Olivia.  Ava loved her!  My mom also took it upon herself to organize my linen closet.  This qualifies her for "best mom ever", if you ask me.

When my mom wasn't organizing linen closets or cleaning, Ava got tons of quality time with her Winnie.  How cute are these pictures?  We're trying our best to start Ava out as a reader early.  It's just a small detail that she never even looks at the book we're holding...

My parents were nice enough to watch Ava while we went out on a real date!!   We went to a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Revolution.  It was perfect!  We ate a ton of good food, but here is a pic of the Tuna tartare appetizer that was as delicious as it was beautiful.  Yay for not being pregnant and being able to eat sushi again!

We spent an afternoon at the Nasher Museum of Art on the Duke campus.  We ate lunch at the Nasher Cafe and saw a few exhibits, our favorite of which was a photography exhibit.  Ava tagged along in her stroller.  We were careful to time each outing so that it coincided with her nap time.  We are still in that magical time when she can sleep in her car seat or stroller.  In fact, she sleeps BETTER in the stroller than anywhere else, so one outing a day is a must.

On the last day of their visit, we played dress up.  We put Ava in the rosebud dress I wore home from the hospital as a newborn!  We intended to have Ava wear it home too, but with all the drama we went through at the hospital, that just wasn't gonna happen.  Better late than never!  She looked adorable, so we had a photo shoot to document the occasion.

Three generations of lovely ladies

Thanks, Winnie & Papa C, for an awesome visit!  We love you!!