handsful

Monday morning came, and it was time to head back south! We took our time packing up since Lainey had more family to meet. Randy’s dad and Kathy had just arrived back from Hawaii the day before, and were anxious to see Lainey before we had to leave.

I think she looks really proud to have now met all 3 sets of her grandparents!

The kids said one last goodbye to Grant and Katherine…

Our first stop on the way home was for lunch and we had this planned for weeks. Let me explain…as kids, Randy and I both grew up spending our summers at the same lake in NC (though, we didn’t know each other then…) and there was a burger joint in the next town called Melvin’s. It was very popular and had THE best hamburgers…ever. Recently we heard that Melvin’s had actually franchised and amazingly enough, there was now a Melvin’s in Raleigh!

The big worry about something like this is, will it taste JUST as good as it did years ago?? Answer…Yes!!! Lainey approved whole-heartedly.

As did Abbey, Marley, Payton and Ethan!

Now, since Melvin’s was right across from NC State Univ (Randy’s college), we stopped by at the bell tower for a quick picture of the kids.

Next was the JC Raulston Arboretum a few miles from NCSU. Back when the 4 kids were almost 4 and 17 months old, we had professional photos taken of them at this arboretum. We had the idea to take them back and take new pictures of our own, with all 5 of them. We had to find a bench like the original one. That was easy.

This was a little trickier…We had to find a fence with holes at the top. Last time, we held up the kids to the circle openings and had close ups taken of them. We asked the lady at the front desk if they still had this fence (there had been a lot of renovation over the years). She wasn’t sure, but directed us to where they could be if they still had them. We walked and walked (in some drizzly rain, by the way) and had almost given up when I spotted them…”I SEE THEM!!!!”

We were so happy to get these pictures, after talking about trying this for a long time. It was such a lovely place (and the drizzle stopped), so we decided to hang out a little longer and…guess what? Get more pictures…

High-five lil’ sis

So many gorgeous flowers…

These boys love her to pieces…

By this time, we were all a little chilly and Randy’s camera was smokin’ from over-use. So, we loaded up the truck and (do you hear a tune in your head?)…drove home. Lainey pretty much did a repeat of the drive up. Slept for a while, watched a little TV, fussed-cried-whined-fussed for a couple of hours, and then we stopped for dinner. Belly full, she fell asleep and slept the rest of the way.

If you’ve made it this far on this post, you have way too much time on your hands. But, thanks a lot!