Spending Time With The Fuquas

As Matt mentioned in his recent post, we had family in town from April 3 - 11. The Fuquas (my sister and her family) came from April 3 - 7, and the Taylors (Matt's brother and his family) followed from April 8 - 11. Matt and I really enjoyed both visits, and we've since talked about how quiet it is around our house now that the kids are gone.

It was the Fuquas'--Brent, Renee, Rachel, and Ryan--first visit since we bought the house, so I was really excited about showing them around Durham. My sister and the kids have been to North Carolina (for my graduation from UNC in 2005), but it was Brent's first trip. Our itinerary was:

Saturday: Breakfast at Elmo's, Visits to Franklin Street and the UNC Campus, Backyard Cookout
Sunday: Church, Visit to Duke Law, Mapleview Farms, Umstead Park, Wii Challenge
Monday: Lunch at Foster's, Museum of Life and Science, Wii Challenge, National Championship Game
Tuesday: Visit to Franklin Street for Championship Gear, Fuquas Depart : (

In lieu of a detailed rundown of the weekend, I'll simply share some of my favorite memories. There are many of them, but I'll just note a few:

• -Fighting off sleepiness from the 8-hour car ride, one of the first things Rachel said to me after entering our house was, "Aunt Erica, I like this place WAY better than your old one."
• -Brent eating up the comments and dirty looks as he wore his Duke/Fuqua shirt around Chapel Hill
• -Acting like a kid again...riding scooters and playing kickball with Rachel, Ryan, and our neighbors' kids
• -Reading the notes that Rachel wrote Matt and me challenging us to a game of hide-and-seek
• -Listening to Ryan sing various songs as he walked through our house (he sings a lot!)
• -Getting some time to chat with just my sister and Brent
• -Watching Rachel and Ryan fly their kites at Mapleview Farms...I forgot how relaxing and cool kite flying could be
• -Seeing Ryan "entertain" those around us at Mapleview Farms by showing off his John Travolta moves
  
• -Playing football tag with Matt and the kids at Umstead Park
• -Eating our first meal on the new dining room furniture (woo hoo, so domestic!)
• -Hearing the sweet prayers that Rachel and Ryan both offered before our meals at home
• -Playing Mario Kart with Brent and the kids and being "Donkey Konged"
• -Watching Matt play tag with the kids and seeing how much they love being around him
• -Finding "the drawer" at Foster's and contributing our own notes to it
• -Seeing the joy on the kids' faces while running around the Sound Room at the Museum of Life and Science
• -Having a butterfly land on my hat during the Museum's butterfly release and hearing Ryan exclaim "Aunt Erica, it's still there!" every few seconds during the minutes it hung around
• -Seeing my sister get some down time and the ability to just sit and read a book
• -Listening to Rachel develop and record a really great beat on our keyboard (she is a whiz at musical instruments!)
• -Smiling when Ryan asked "Aunt Erica, is this the team who won?" as I put a Tar Heels hat on him in a shop on Franklin Street

Ever the thoughtful husband, Matt put together a slide show for me of various photos from the Fuquas' visit. I'll be posting it, along with some videos, later tonight.