Aunt LAURA!!!

I picked Laura up Friday night, and after about 10 minutes in the car, we ran out of things to talk about. Awkward silence. I almost turned the car around to take her back to the airport, but remembering how important it is to my parents that we get along, we decided to try to work things out. Fine! It's so hard to get along with her. Also, I forgot to bring snacks for the long car ride back (with so much food, we might as well start right away!), and since she hadn't had much to eat that day, we stopped at Bojangles. After an agonizing decision-making process, we left with our fried chicken and biscuit. Welcome to the South.

The next morning, the girls cooperated nicely and let us sleep in until 8--they were thrilled to see Laura. Dave picked up breakfast at Bojangles (we seriously don't eat there that often--Laura likes biscuits!), and after eating, we went out to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. It was gorgeous.

Chalk drawings:Laura teaches Mabes the art of spinning bubbles:

After Annabelle's nap, we went to the Nature Museum. We felt like we had to do something to break up the eating, plus--thanks to getting a family Exploratorium membership at Christmas--we got in free. We wandered around, saw some bugs, snakes, birds, butterflies, turtles, and an owl.


Okay, I have to admit: when I was telling Laura some of the things I'd thought of doing that day, I mentioned the Nature Museum and added, "Plus, it's right next to Freedom Park, one of the nicer parks in Charlotte. AND, judging by the Bachelor previews, Emily meets Brad at that park on the hometown dates episode airing Monday." Sold. It was a gorgeous afternoon, so we took a stroll through the rather crowded park. We embraced on the bridge, Bachelor-style:

And then we went to Cookout:
We have late church (boo!), so we spent Sunday morning playing and eating waffles with spekuloos* (yay!). Went to church, came home and had Sunday dinner, put the kids to bed, and then had popcorn. It was a good day.


Monday was Presidents' Day, but because of snow days last month, Mabes had to go to school. This worked out nicely--after dropping Mabes off at school, we put Babybelle in the jogging stroller and Laura, Dave, and I went for a run. It was a good run, punctuated by Laura periodically throwing her arms out and shouting, "I LOVE this weather!" We had time to come home, shower, eat breakfast and head over to Mabes' school to eat lunch (brunch?) with her. She loved getting to show Aunt Laura her school, and tell her friends that her Aunt Laura from New York was coming for lunch.

Then Laura and I went shopping, though the highlight of that trip was sitting out in the sun, eating frozen yogurt, and just chatting. It was perfect. That afternoon, the girls had a bit more time to play and go for a walk with Aunt Laura, and then it was time to head to the airport. As if sending her back to 30 degree snowy weather wasn't bad enough, halfway to the airport Laura realized she forgot her coat. I tried to get her to take the Strawberry Shortcake blanket we had in the car, but she assured me she'd be fine.

We did...well, not much. But that's why I love my family. Some visits are packed with things to do (organized by a yellow legal pad), while others are pretty much just hanging out. But it's always fun. Mabes had a hard time going to bed that night, and the next morning she told me she didn't sleep well because she was so sad Aunt Laura had to leave.


*And I thought the Dutch were brilliant! Kudos to that whole region for delicious breakfast foods. The jar of spekuloos says it's made from Belgian gingerbread cookies, but I think they somehow manage to get rainbows, sunshine, and perhaps a little crack in there.