Trip to North Carolina

We drove down on Sunday, arriving in the early afternoon.  Jon and Kelly's new house has a pool, so after grocery shopping and dinner the littles took a dip in the pool as their "bath" for the evening.

 

Jon had left that morning for a work trip to the Dominican Republic.  Kelly worked on Monday and Tuesday, so we babysat Carter.  Monday we took a trip to a children's/science museum that was just huge.  It had an outside and an inside, and we spent 2.5 hours there and didn't see everything outside, much less any of the inside.

First, the butterfly house

A train ride through the outdoor area ...

... which Carter did not enjoy.

Everyone loved the fossil area where you could dig for shark teeth.

Hannah found a tiny sink in the bathroom; Sophie found a high perch in the old-timey caboose.

The many options for play in the "mist" area were a hit also.

On our way to the "mist" area we encountered a snake in the path.  A museum worker who came to investigate named it as a copperhead.  We were able to get by without incident, thankfully.

On Tuesday Grandma and the girls took Carter to his Gymboree class while I went to a nearby lakeside park for a run.  Kelly and Jon's house is on a cul-de-sac that fronts a semi-busy major road.  There is a subdivision a quarter mile away that provides for a safer run, though not a very interesting one.  I enjoyed my run at Shelley Lake, however.  That afternoon there was more swimming, as well as an ice cream outing that evening.

Carter is not a fan of the pool ...

... but he loves his ice cream!

When we returned home from getting ice cream, Jon was back from his trip.  When Kelly got home from work she was not feeling well, so Wednesday was spent at home with her resting and getting ready for their trip to New Hampshire.  Jon came home to join us for lunch and go for a swim with the girls.

Thursday morning we left mid-morning and went home via Roanoke so that we could pick up Granny for a visit to Broadway.  More on that visit in the next post!