Charleston with Mom & Dad

My parents were able to fly out to see us for part of my dad's spring break. We were so excited for them to come, Paige went running (across security lines) as soon as she saw them. While they were at the house my dad fixed a number of random things (Ben says he saves up the drill battery just for my dad ;), my mom helped me organize baby clothes, my dad and Paige put together a doll highchair my dad built and brought, and a rocking chair we got a screaming deal on.We also squeezed in shopping and tried Cookout for the first time and it was amazing!

She loved "helping" Grandpa. She "helped" with a lot of projects

Finished products

Thursday morning we headed out to Charleston. I started the trip by puking right before I got in the car, which apparently started a trend...I'll get to that. After our over 5 hour drive, we unpacked and hit the town. We checked out the giant market, drove down King street to ooh and ahh over the gorgeous giant houses, and then grabbed some dinner at High Cotton. I had been nauseous the whole day and was pretty miserable by dinner, but everyone else seemed to love the food (Ben had to try some chicken dish his friend had raved over) and Paige was in awe at the live band. Pretty sure she was their biggest fan.

The next morning was a bit of a bummer for the boys. They were supposed to go out on a fishing trip, but the rain was so bad they had to cancel. Really the rain/cold weather made us all sad that we didn't get to use the fabulous looking pool and beach, but we still had a great time exploring the town. In the morning we took a carriage ride through town. As we rode Paige was eating popcorn, then got fussy and asked for Grandpa. As soon as my dad picked her up she puked all over! My dad, Paige, and Ben were all covered (and the caramel corn bag which my mom wiped off first...priorities :) and the whole carriage smelled like vomit. We laughed it off and kept riding.

Snot nose sick baby

Best part of the ride was seeing Mr. Piggley Wiggley's (as in the grocery store) beautiful house and seeing him getting into his car! A celebrity!

Notice the small pig statues

Next we strolled through the market some more, stopped for crepes, and headed back to the hotel for some fresh clothes, and a little more puking.

Was struggling with my camera, but still a fun picture

Then we headed off to Fort Sumter, which we soon learned was where the Civil War began (who knew?!). It was very interesting learning about the back and forth between the north and south and seeing where the first shots took place.

Ferry ride over to the island

Love this picture of her exploring

We originally thought we would head back to town for dinner, but then learned that the giant 10k across the huge bridge was taking place the next day, so traffic was crazy, so we stayed over on Patriots Point and found a little seafood place.

We had to document these crazy birds by the pond at our hotel. My dad was amazed and my mom and I were creeped out by the hundreds of them!

Excuse how haggered I look, just notice the crazy birds!

The next morning we avoided the race crowds (although the hotel did provide us with water bottles and wash clothes in case we decided to join in!) and started our drive back. This time we drove through Myrtle Beach, which looks like an awesome place to vacation!

We were so sad to see my parents go the next day, Paige started crying when they left. Thankfully we'll see them again soon! Thanks for the fun trip Mom & Dad!

Playing in Cameron Indoor

While I thought Ben was busy getting his MBA at Duke, turns out he was just playing on 3 different basketball teams ;) (I guess he already landed the internship, so I can't complain). Well his co-ed intramural team made it to the finals, which meant the got to play their last game in Cameron Indoor. To some this may sound like nothing, but this is where Duke plays/where Coach K coaches, and was basically a dream come true for Ben. My parents had just come to town, but were sweet enough to rearrange some things so Ben could play and we could all go watch. And his team won! Duke grad school hardest level co-ed intramural champions!

Making a shot in Cameron! 

The Team

His friends, Drew and John

Easter

Easter was so fun this year, now that Paige is getting older and "getting things" more. We did a lot of Easter egg hunting. Our first one was at a park with playgroup.

We visited the Easter bunny. She was excited at first, then was a little hesitant and ready to get off.  She has definitely become more receptive to sitting on laps since Christmas - when cried, screamed, and yelled while sitting with Santa.

Saturday we had the LDSSA Easter dinner, complete with more Easter egg hunting!

Her little friends

Sunday morning we hunted some more! I had the baskets all set out for Paige when she woke up. She immediately went to Ben's, grabbed his bag of Reese's and put it in her basket, and proceeded to hunt for eggs. A smart girl :)

Her new Elefun game was a hit

Then an attempt to get a picture in our Easter clothes. Paige didn't smile at the camera the whole day, and again, my camera must have been on a weird setting.

After church we had friends over for a delicious Easter dinner (I even successfully made the ham!), followed by another Easter egg hunt, and a sad Duke loss.

Amongst all of our Easter eggs we still tried to focus on the real meaning of Easter. We had a sweet FHE with Paige, complete with a rolling paper rock across the tomb (anything to attempt to keep her focus). I happened to be teaching the third verse of If the Savior Stood Beside Me to the primary. It is one of my favorite songs and a perfect Easter song to help us think of the Savior.

Girls Weekend

The end of March we had a girls weekend with the LDS business school wives. Friday night we headed to Cary for dinner. It was so fun chatting and staying as long as we wanted.

 Then some of the group headed to a hotel for a sleepover, but I headed home for a Zofran and my own bed (lame pregnant girl :) The next morning I met up with them for brunch and then pedicures.

We finished the day off with some shopping in Raleigh. I forgot how nice it can be to shop without a stroller! It was a great weekend! So glad I have these girls out here!

Spring Break Stay-cation

In March Ben had a 2 week spring break from school (I know, crazy!). Normally we would be tempted to travel, but since I had just gotten back (at the beginning of the week) from WA, and we had just barely been to Dallas and to DC, and not to mention that we're students without an income, we decided to have a "stay-cation". It actually ended up being just a nice relaxing time to do whatever we wanted.

We checked out the local Farmer's Market. Let's just say it was...interesting and we felt out of place.

 We hit up Chuck-E-Cheese

We made our first trip to Monkey Joes. Paige, and I'll admit Ben and I, loved it! She is our fearless little girl and loved bouncing, sliding, and jumping on everything. And she showed off her excellent climbing skills.

Climbed this all by herself!

Ben's favorite part

We loved having daddy around to go shopping with us. Ben is now convinced we go to at least 1 store everyday :)

We met up with our friends at the children's museum (and Costco pizza after, of course)

We visited UNC (aka the enemy :) campus and discovered the basketball museum. It was actually really cool (Ben was pumped) and fun to see the mini shrine to Michael Jordan.

It was such a beautiful day we walked around UNC's business school grounds and had a picnic. (apparently my camera was on a weird setting...too complicated)

It was a relaxing spring break and just fun that we're this age and still have a spring break! We'll have to suggest this 2 week break idea to Bain ;)