Chasin' Raisins: Remembering Sunshine!

Our friends the Parays left last night. Today it is raining, which matches the mood of every member of my house today. Ironically its raining in Florida as well. I could let it get me down but I have decided to bring out the sunshine instead by remembering the great time we had together this week.

The Parays arrived on Sunday. That meant I could pick them up this time and Chris could stay home with Little Miss (our car is too small for everyone to come). I was so excited talking to Mae on the way home I missed the exit (oops), but since the next exit was the Farmer's Market we decided to make a side trip. The Cookie people had already left for the day but Mae found a good deal on okra, tomatoes and "Last One" (my understanding of how this type of Spinach is pronounced); which she made into a native Filipino dish for us later in the week (which was quite good by the way). When we got home Chris had been following me on "Find My Friends" so he had a good chuckle. We laughed a lot this week, I needed that.

Monday was scheduled to be the last warm day of there stay, a cold front was expected in the evening that would drop the temps to upper 70s for the rest of the week. This made for rather perfect weather for everything but swimming. So we went ahead and got up early to go swimming before the front came through. A kind friend had invited us to use their pool, which has this great big slide The kids had an absolute blast. They played, and played, they even created an obstacle course/mini Tri they had us time. While they played Mae and I sat in the shade talking and talking. Little Miss had stayed home with Miss Holly so I was at my leisure and it was really nice.

Monday evening, I found myself in an unusual position, watching someone else cook in my kitchen. Mae made Adobo and the dish I mentioned above (with shrimp for them, without for us). Everything was absolutely wonderful. I'd like to say I finally learned how to make Adobo but I think I'll need a few more lessons.

Tuesday morning, Mae and I escaped to walk and talk at Hemlock Bluffs while the boys and girls played at home. Much to Mae's chagrin the only animal we saw was a baby copperhead on the way out. I found it interesting that it ran from Sarge but when I left Sarge behind with Mae to go a little closer to identify it, it curled up and turned on me. Apparently they don't like dogs, good to know. After our walk, we drove around a bit and went to a local Farmer's market I'd wanted to check out for a bit.

Tuesday evening. We took our now regular pilgrimage to Corbett's Burgers and Soda Bar. Our neighbor had generously lent us their van so we ALL able to go for the first time, which was really neat. Yum! Yum!

Wednesday, we decided to take a trip to the NC Museum of Natural Science because Matthew mentioned he has an interest in science and there's nothing like it in Florida. This time again we left Little Miss at home with Holly, which was necessary from a seats available in the car standpoint but it also allowed me to really see the Museum myself. When we went last time we were only able to see part of the main building. This time, we were able to explore the exhibits in both buildings. We ended up spending over 45 minutes in a lab class doing planned experiments and using real scientific tools like pipettes. The place is so child friendly, they even had the experiments set up for different age groups so Titus could fully participate and the older boys could still be challenged a bit.

Thursday, we hung out around the house. Mae and I got in two nice long walks around the neighborhood. She really whipped me into shape with all the walking we did each day this week. I needed the exercise, and it was easy because the time passes quickly when you're talking with a good friend. The kids were all the same way, I don't remember any bickering they just had fun enjoying/treasuring each others company for the week. Strange as it seems, each visit they make to North Carolina seems to bring us even closer together as a family. Now we just have to start counting the days to the next visit.