Fantastic Family Fun

You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

- Desmond Tutu

Week 13: F is for...

When I saw that the prompt for last week was 'F is for...' I knew I was in luck, because I knew I would be with my family for most of the week!  I never have any problems have fun when I'm around the people I love most in the world, so I knew finding 'F' pictures would be easy.

Friday the 13th was Kim's birthday, and my sister Kim's birthday is also on the 13th (in a different month), so you can imagine that we do not consider the 13th bad luck in our family! This past weekend was also reunion week for Kim's class at Duke, so it just made sense for us to gather in North Carolina for the weekend.  Kim's and Blake's flight came through Houston, so I was able to join them and sit with Kim and Morgan for the flight to NC.  It was Morgan's first flight, and what a champ she was!  She slept all the way through both flights, coming and going!  We landed on time Thursday evening, gathered our bags and assorted baby gadgets, and took a ride to the rental car place.  Kim and Blake got their first taste of minivan life (as adults, anyway) and I think Markee is ready to make that leap.  Kim is not quite there yet, but those of you with more than one child know how much sense those sliding doors and extra seats make!

I'll never forget our first minivan - we got a Plymouth Voyager the first or second year they were available.  It was blue, and it was the first new car I had ever owned, and the first one I bought myself.  I was thrilled to trade in my two-tone (brown over white) Mercury Monarch, which was not the least bit child-friendly.  Two more minivans followed - a Dodge Caravan and a Dodge Grand Caravan - until I switched to a Lincoln Navigator SUV.  I went from that behemoth (which is still running!) to a Toyota Prius, and I'm on my third edition of those.  Funny how you can track your life through your cars, isn't it?

Anyway, back to the weekend!  We got to Dave's house and were welcomed by him, the kids, and the smell of luscious pork tenderloin, balsamic Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes, which we were ready for.  They were delicious!  Markee was in California, so we made quick work of getting the kids off to bed and cleaning up the kitchen, then we visited for a while.  On Friday, Kim's birthday, I got Elliot and Gray ready and dropped E off at school and took Gray to T-ball so that Kim and Blake could sleep as long as Morgan would let them.  I have to tell you that watching young adults who clearly have little experience with two-year-olds try to teach them T-ball skills is hilarious.  But it was fun, and Gray expended some energy, so all good.  

We had thought we might make it to Durham with Gray and Morgan at some point on Friday, but that didn't happen.  Naps and meal schedules just didn't coincide that day!  But we took Kim for sushi for lunch, and then we all went out for dinner after Dave got home.  We ate at Leli's Diner in Wake Forest, which was an excellent little place with a huge menu (and equally huge portions!).  Gray and I had gone grocery shopping while we were out earlier and had gotten some yummy looking cupcakes and several flavors of ice cream, so we sang happy birthday to Kim and had dessert at home.  The kids (and adults) were exhausted by the time everyone was tucked in.  Markee got home late and was not feeling great, so we all said goodnight and called it a day.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, but Dave had to work, so the rest of us drove to Durham for a visit to Duke Gardens.  Of course, we were not the only ones who had that idea on a beautiful spring day of a Duke reunion weekend.  It took us almost as long to find a parking place and walk back to the Gardens as it did to get to Durham!  But it was so worth it!  The gardens were beautiful - loads of tulips of all colors, pansies, daffodils, ferns, and many more varieties of flowers.  The wisteria is in bloom, and the dogwoods are just coming out.  The azaleas were blazing!  We threw pennies in the fountain and the kids went gaga over the giant fish in the pond.  We saw ducks and turtles, too, but no frogs.  We got a snack and some Locopops at the Terrace Cafe and had a little picnic while we were there.  Kim's college friend Sara joined us in the garden, and then Kim, Blake, Morgan and Sara went to some of the reunion activities while Markee and I took the kids back home for a nap.  Later, we babysat for Morgan so that Kim and Blake could go to the class party, and Dave grilled some humongous steaks for us.

We went to Simply Crepes (I crave their Creme Brulee' Oatmeal - thanks, Jenny A!) for Sunday brunch, and Kim, Blake, and Morgan went back to Durham for more reunion fun.  Dave watched Elliot and Gray so that Markee and I could get pedicures, then we spent the afternoon just chilling and waiting for the impending storms to hit.  Thankfully, they waited until bedtime to arrive and had fizzled out by the time they hit here.  Greensboro was not so lucky!  We were able to enjoy my favorite meal of burgers on the grill with maybe a little more cupcakes and ice cream.  While I get to stay here all week, Kim and her family had an early morning flight home - thankfully, they made it home safely and on time.

I am so blessed to have kids who love each other and who enjoy spending time with each other and their families, and I'm even more blessed to have gotten to spend time with them.  Sure hope your family has fun together, too!

Jan

PS  Almost forgot to update the Book Report: currently, I'm reading Flora, by an author I used to love and whom I had forgotten, Gail Godwin.  I just finished The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn, The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, The Mercer Girls, by Libbie Hawker, and The Lying Game, by Ruth Ware.  I really enjoyed The Alice Network and got a kick out of re-reading the Pimpernel - made me want to watch Anthony Andrews again.  I always love reading historical novels of things I never heard of, and The Mercer Girls was one of those.  Except I did know about Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!  Hated the ending of The Lying Game though...