Back when Bo came to town.

Bo (my sister, Amiee) is an incredible auntie. For Labor Day weekend, she made a quick trip to Durham to hang with her favorite gals, and they LOVED it. She was here for about 4 days, and we made pretty good use of our time, if I do say so myself (at least for people with little children in really hot weather).

Amiee had one culinary request for her visit: Donuts from Monuts. I love when Amiee comes (for many reasons but especially) because she always asks for Monuts. We tend to forget about Monuts just in our day-to-day life. They do more than donuts, but we reallllly love their donuts. They have super fun and eclectic flavors, so we get a mixed dozen and everyone tries a bite or two of everything. We probably all looked like Lily when all was said and done, but she's really the only one who we could photograph in a socially acceptable manner.

Amiee's visit overlapped with the dinner we hosted for Brad's Greek class (every time he has precepted or taught, we've invited his class over for dinner at the beginning of the semester), and it was extremely helpful to have an extra adult to help with prep. And by prep, I mean chase Lily around and keep her from climbing everything.

She also bought Claire this Belle and the Beast gown, which was the dress of Claire's dreams.

She was just beside herself.

We also watched Beauty and the Beast with the girls for the first time. This was Lily's take on things.

She actually enjoyed it, but she missed her morning nap, so she was just kinda hanging on.

Also that weekend, we ended up scoring free tickets for the Duke/North Carolina Central University football game (including vouchers for hot dogs, drinks, and popcorn). Obviously, we decked out in Duke blue and went to cheer on the Blue Devils (have you ever wondered why they're the Blue Devils? Read this.).

And look who was there for pre-game fun!!

Bought this cheap shaker. It was a very wise purchase. Also, this was very pre-game. A lot more people showed up by game time.

This little hand sign Claire's trying out is the hand sign that the college kids were using while cheering. I'm guessing it's for devil horns? Maybe bull horns for Durham: the bull city? An attempt to be like all the Texas schools?

I thought this was funny. I'm not sure if you can tell, but there are devil horns, tails, and pitchforks all over this sign.

Found this camel monument outside of one of the science buildings.

We left at halftime because a couple of girls were getting tiiiired. Claire and Lily were, too. Also. Immediately after this, we had to get Brad to use his card to get us into a random, locked building because Claire HAD TO GO POTTY NOW.

On Sunday, we all got to church on time and had beautiful weather. I can't remember what we did for lunch...I'd like to think we took Amiee somewhere fun, but it's completely possible that we ate leftovers; it's escaping me now.

Our attempt at a Sunday morning sister shot. Lily would not cooperate.

But we did get this one!

And Lily does not stand upon ceremony for Bo.

Amiee's birthday is in October, not early September, but we knew that we wouldn't see her until Christmas, so we had a mini party for her during her visit. We made some cupcakes and gave her our present, and Claire loved it because almost no one enjoys a party more than Claire.

We had such a great time and were quite sad when she had to leave. We're very much looking forward to seeing her at Christmas! We love you, BO!

Brad and I needed to take care of a few things at Target, so Amiee (and the Target dog) entertained the girls.

Amiee is really a wizard at getting great pictures with the girls. I stole, I mean borrowed, these from her.

My personal favorite.

Fun stuff around Durham

We've done some really fun stuff around Durham over the past couple of months! Despite the reasons that we don't love Durham, I will say that it is a hopping place and very family-friendly. There are always things to do, and Brad is especially good at finding them!

Right before the school year started, we went to the free Duke Symphony Orchestra concert on the lawn. The weather was perfect, the music was great, and we all had a fabulous time! It's an annual thing and obviously a popular event, as there were gobs of folks there. We took a picnic and some bubbles and let Claire romp and run and have the best of times. And as a bonus, the lady sitting next to us on the grass had brought her pet: a little hedgehog named Henrietta! She let Claire pet and play with Henrietta, which was thrilling.

This is a terrible picture, but I was trying to get a good shot of the lawn as it was filling up. I did not succeed.

I snapped a couple pictures of Lily that have become some of my favorites.

Claire had the most wonderful time.

A couple of weeks ago was "Talk Like a Pirate" Day at Krispy Kreme, and we capitalized on it. I had put it in the calendar weeks before but completely forgot about it until my phone reminded me the day before. I looked up the details and remembered that you got one donut if you talked like a pirate, but you got a whole dozen if you dressed like one. So, obviously, we dressed Claire up and taught her to say, "Arrrrrgh, matey!" It was hilarious! I rigged up an eye patch (she wasn't crazy about it but was a good sport), tied a scarf around her head, and had her carry Fawkes as her parrot (although he's technically a phoenix. Shhh...). And because she has nothing pirate-y in her closet, she wore her striped Elsa dress, and we called it a day. We got our donuts and thoroughly enjoyed them for days.

Arrrgh!

Just kidding. I'm not really a pirate.

I just like donuts.

Brad is awesome about keeping up with the announcements from Duke about free activities that are family-friendly, and a favorite one recently was a showing of Finding Dory in one of the theaters on campus. We'd never taken Claire to a movie before, and we thought this was a perfect opportunity (kid-friendly movie, relaxed setting). Claire had never seen Finding Nemo, so we rented and watched it the day before. We told her we were going to go and see a movie on a GIANT tv, and boy, was she excited. It ended up being just the perfect first big screen movie for her. She was absolutely gleeful throughout the whole thing, enjoyed the popcorn that we took with us, and said that she "missed" the movie when it was over.

At the Duke chapel on our way to the theater. If you look carefully, you can spot Claire- the tiny dot on the ground to the left of the doors.

Another angle of the chapel.

There was this fun mural of Durham on the wall of the student center that I tried to get a good picture of, but Claire was either dancing around like in this picture...

...or scratching her bug bites. Bless.

"It's a GIANT tv!!"

We've recently made some new friends (actually mutual friends of some friends that moved away this summer) who live in a complex that has a pool. They invited us over to swim a few weeks ago, and while the water was a little too chilly to do too much actual swimming, we had a great time getting to know them a little better and sitting in the sun.

My happy baby.

And our good big girl.

We are still getting the hang of our limitations with two small children, but we've been able to do quite a few really fun things along the way! And most of them have been free, so YAY. We're excited about what fun activities may present themselves throughout the fall.

Eating our way through town.

Read anything about the Durham social scene, and you'll sooner or later read that Durham was voted by Southern Living as one of the "Tastiest Towns in the South." That was one of the things that I held onto to keep myself encouraged and motivated about moving from Boston. (Do not misunderstand: Boston has EXCELLENT food. I wasn't expecting Durham to be superior; I was just encouraged that it should at least be good.) Brad, Claire, and I dearly love our food. 

I grew up in the Huntsville, AL area, which primed me for a particularly demanding palate. Huntsville is chock full of amazing local cuisine. I am not even kidding. Without even meaning to, I grew up as a person who naturally shies away from chain restaurants (with a few exceptions: Chick-fil-A), and naturally gravitates toward local eateries or LOCAL chains (Huntsville/North Alabama has quite a few awesome local chains: Rosie's...can I get an "AMEN!!"?) One time, Brad, Claire, and I were flying South (from Boston, obviously) for some holiday or another, and as we landed in Huntsville, I overheard the two businessmen in front of us talking about where to eat in the area. The first guy said something about finding a <insert generic chain restaurant name here> to eat at for dinner. The other guy said, "I hear Huntsville has really good food. We should look up some local place." If the hustle and bustle of deplaning hadn't already started, I had a list ready to reel off to them, whether they were ready or not.

Brad wasn't quite so picky about this kind of thing until we lived in Boston. I've mentioned it before, but Boston is very anti chains (except local ones: Boloco, Dunkin Donuts- that's right, it's originally from Providence, Home Goods). So, outside of a few carefully selected chains that make modest appearances, you don't find too many chain restaurants, which leaves GOBS of awesome local places. If you're ever visiting Boston, you should check in with me. I can make you a nice list. 

Anyway, we were very excited about trying local places in Durham. So far, we have had some good experiences. We haven't been to too many, but the ones we have been to have been worth mentioning:

1. The Q Shack. Not unsurprisingly, this is a barbecue place. Happily for me, it's not Carolina-style bbq (I'm sorry if you love Carolina-style; I'm not so into vinegar-y bbq). It's definitely more along the lines of Memphis bbq, which I definitely prefer. The first two times we had Q Shack, we ignorantly ordered pulled pork. This is a mistake. You must always order either the ribs or, better yet, the brisket. It is fantastic!

At the Q Shack with Nastia (blog on that to come!)

2. Bull City Burger and Brewery. First of all, I'd like to mention that this one is downtown and has parallel parking. And when I say "parallel parking," what I mean is that the clearly delineated parking spaces are so big that Boston drivers would wedge two cars into a space meant for one. They are shockingly big. The burgers at Bull City Burgers (Bull City is a nickname for Durham) are really unique and specialty. They come with interesting toppings like pimento cheese and tomatillo salsa (not on the same burger). We really enjoyed the food, but the BEST part was the CORNER FULL OF KIDS PLAYING APPARATI. It was awesome. We snagged a table right next to the little play kitchen and the bookshelf full of books and toys. It made for a very peaceful meal; we ate, Claire played. Glorious.

Play area. THIS IS GENIUS.

3. Foster's Market. We were invited to join some acquaintances for a Labor Day brunch at Foster's. It's definitely a local place that uses primarily local produce and meat. In fact, Foster's provides land to a local CSA (community supported agriculture) in exchange for produce. They serve regular Southern breakfast dishes plus some more interesting/gourmet style options. For example, I ordered an English muffin topped with two fried eggs, pimento cheese, and tomato jam. It was de-licious. My dad would have hated it; he hates pimento cheese AND tomatoes. Isn't that sad? I'm definitely looking forward to a return visit. I hear their chess pie is fantastic.

4. Jimmy's hot dogs. The hot dogs aren't necessarily worth writing home about, but the BANANA PUDDING. Whoa. It's a dollar for a big individual serving, and it's the best dollar that you could spend. It's so good. Mm Mmm.

5. Kipos. Technically, Kipos is in Chapel Hill. It's Greek, and it's awesome. We ordered a bunch of dishes, so that we could try several things. We made total pigs of ourselves, loved every bite, and can't stop thinking about it. Also? Claire had a total crush on our waiter. That girl.

We plan to keep eating our way across Durham. It's a good thing that Brad's program is five years; we'll need it to get to all of the places we want to try. I'll keep you posted.