The WHOLE gang is HERE!

The Parays arrived on Friday.  This is the first time tho whole family was able to come.  Everyone was so excited to show Tito Denis around.

Our large group required we take two cars everywhere but that's the same reason we were able to go our first destination at a major group discount, the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.  Chris picked them up from the airport and met the rest of us at a spot outside the airport.  We had gotten the fixings for sandwiches and lunch on the way.  We put lunch together real quick in the back of the Beast, redistributed people between the cars and headed to the museum.

It was an absolutely perfect day to tour the museum; the weather was sunny and cool, and the school buses were all leaving as we arrived, so it wasn't crowded.  Sophia had wanted to see a zoo while she visited so I thought this was a great compromise of science and animals; while being a lot closer than the actual zoo.  Ironically, my family had never gone on the walk to see the animals, so those exhibits were new to us as well.  With the cool air, all the animals were active; bears, wolves, lemurs, snakes, skunks, opossum and the butterflies had just been released that day so they were abundant and striking in color.  We let the older boys go off and explore on their own but we came back together from time to time.  There are just so many hands-on activities to enjoy, there was plenty to entertain everyone.  We left just a little before closing to avoid traffic and headed home.  The boys grabbed pizza from Harris Teeter for dinner on the way home and we settled into the business of getting reacquainted.

Saturday we laid low in the morning.  Lance had baseball practice and unfortunately Matthew had homework.  We met Lance and company at the field toward the end of practice and headed off (by request) to the Farmer's Market, and quick surface tour of NC State.  We of course got cookies and then headed over (by request again) to the NC Museum of Natural Science downtown.  Once again we let the big boys explore on their own and we all got back together to eat dinner in the cafeteria.  We closed down the cafeteria and headed out to do a walking tour of the sights downtown. 

We explored the capital and all the statues.  Sent the boys off to figure our which of the four corner churches was the oldest, then walked over to the governor's mansion.  So many beautiful architectural spots to see and a nice way walk-off our dinner.

Sunday, was their departure day so we hung around the house most of the day; walking the neighborhood again, talking and catching up on life.  There is a limit to how much you can share across the miles, in person is far superior.  I had planned the itinerary backward so we could do what we wanted and get them to the airport on time.  We started with a late lunch at Red Robin and then drove up to take a walking tour of Duke University.  We had passed part of it on the way to the Life Science Museum. I thought that was all there was to see.  I was totally blown away (as we were all were) at the visual beauty of the main campus.  What an architectural delight! 

It's nestled along Duke Forest and looks like a castle from Europe. We needed a public restroom so we asked a student where to find one.  We were directed to the library.  This is the library entrance. 

I expected Juliette to come out any minute.  It reminded me of the Boston Museum of Art more than an college campus library I had seen.  As a bonus, the chapel organ was playing during our visit too.  We missed the bells but we'll be back.  Unfortunately, we needed to leave so our friends could catch their flight home.

Though we did a lot, we still found plenty of time of reconnect and relax.  I believe we are all much better for the time spent together.  Hopefully, we will be together again soon.