On Friday we were able to spend some time with Bethany in the morning hours, and then headed into town and had a delicious NC barbecue lunch at Carter Brothers. We also drove by some of the damage caused by the tornado that swept through the area early last week. It was pretty crazy -- many houses were severely damaged and trees were down everywhere. It is incredible that no one was killed.
Later in the afternoon, we spent some time over at Jarrett's grandparents' house. It was nice catching up with them and giving them some time to enjoy Elsa. There is so much space out there in the country -- if her little leg had not been broken, she would have had a grand time running around in the fields, for sure. One of these days!
That evening, Stephen came over and we cooked a nice pasta dinner and had some good, unique beers that we picked up at a local beer specialty store. These were probably my last for awhile now that I am on this new gluten-free (and, at least for now, dairy-, egg-, and soy-free) diet (more on that later, I am sure). As per usual, we had a really fun time hanging out around the dining table and chatting about life and all that comes with it.
On Saturday morning we lazed around for awhile. A couple of big green tractors were preparing the fields in front of the house for the season's crops, so that was a pretty big deal to Elsa to be able to watch them out on the front porch -- especially because one of her current favorite books has a tractor on the last page with a cut-out photo of her inside of it! Later, after comparing Elsa to her Aunt Bethany in a photo that was taken of her years ago on a carousel at a nearby park, decided to head to said park and let Elsa ride that carousel and the train that runs by the lake. We were not expecting the crowds we ran into when we arrived, but apparently there was a big Easter festival going on, complete with an Easter egg hunt, a fire truck onsite, a guest appearance by Sparky the Fire Dog, and free rides on everything. Thankfully we missed the Easter egg hunt, which I think pared down the crowds at least a bit, and we were able to get Elsa on both the carousel and the train, which she much enjoyed, though its hard to tell in the photos. She gets so serious and concentrated when she experiences new and different things. But then she immediately asks to go "again, again, again."
After Elsa woke up from a short nap, we headed to my parents' house in Charlotte, where we spent Saturday night eating some yummy snacks and watching the first half of the Duke game. We then went to an early Easter service at my parents' church and had a yummy gluten-loaded lunch at Buca di Beppo.
Our time was short-lived with everyone, which was kind of a bummer, but it was still nice to be able to see those we could for the time that we had.
And we are now home, covered in pollen and immersed in yellow-green-tinged air, but are immensely enjoying our blooming yard. It is the first time experiencing our new landscape in the spring, and it is almost silly how incredibly thrilled I am to see each new leaf and bud make their appearance.
Hello, spring and warm weather!
No comments:
Post a Comment