Earlier in the week, my mom met us in Raleigh and we went to a garden center to buy lots of plants (our love language!). So, celebrations started on Wednesday!
Then we had a picnic at Pullen Park in downtown Raleigh and rode the train. Poor little Sam scraped up his face, so he looks pitiful in these photos, but he had a great time :)
We had actually planned for the boys to spend the night in Zebulon with Mema and P\paw that night so that Stuart and I could attend a resident event, so after I left them in Raleigh that afternoon, I took myself out on an early birthday date to Guglhupf. Cheese plate and sauvignon blanc plus some reading and journaling. Good for the soul!
While the boys were enjoying their time in Zebulon...
I took advantage of my free morning the next day to rework all of our potted plants, mostly replacing old ones with new ones from the garden center trip. Lots of edibles this year - kale and swiss chard on the front porch, herbs and ranunculus and variegated geranium on the deck with some new strawberry plants, and lots of pansies at the mailbox.
Thursday evening, I met both of my parents back in Raleigh to exchange the boys. Goodberry's frozen custard for dessert :) (a bowl of sprinkles for James since custard is made with eggs...)
Friday morning, the little boys and I drove up to Roxboro to visit with Uncle Matt, Aunt Mere and Canaan...
and to meet their new baby A! Matthew and Meredith completed their foster parenting licensure a few weeks ago, and baby A is their first placement. Loved snuggling with her sweet little self.
Saturday, we took a family trip to Lowe's for supplies to build a fire pit (happy birthday to me!)
After Lowe's, we ended up at Southpoint Mall for Touch-a-Truck... they had all kinds of huge vehicles for kids to climb in and play all over. The firetruck was a big hit...
Sam was pretty over it after a few minutes, until we found the popsicle truck :) They did have a food truck there, so we had lunch and then LocoPops for dessert.
During naptime, my man built my fire pit for me!
After nap time, my very best friend Casey Reagan came over and babysat the boys all evening so Stuart and I could go on a date. We started at Alley Twenty Six in downtown Durham...
Then we walked across the street to The Durham, a hotel with a rooftop bar with a beautiful view of Durham. There were better views, but this one included the sunset.
We then walked down the street to Rue Cler, an old favorite French restaurant of ours for brunch, but we had never gone for dinner. It was delicious, as expected.
Beignets for dessert, of course.
Stuart brought me breakfast in bed on Sunday - 30th birthday!
After church, we had lunch at Geer Street Garden (another favorite) with our heart people. Not shown, but Wen and Casey were with us, and that's Ezra down there in the bottom photo next to Samuel. We love them and it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon of my 30th birthday.
All in all, several days full of my favorite things - favorite restaurants, family time, some alone time, playing in the dirt, date night with my hubs and time with our best friends. Looking forward to the best year yet.
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