A little break

The last few months for our family have been wild and crazy. Brandon has been super busy with school and work. The girls have been keeping me on my toes with all their activities and events. Some days we just have to get out and do something to prevent them from running over each other or me. But, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Brandon's 2nd term is almost over. He has finished classes and now just has to complete two 6 hour exams and one 24 hour exam after Thanksgiving. Caroline's violin recital is in a few weeks (and I think she's ready), and Christmas is just around the corner. I'm so ready for all the chaos to be over. This weekend we got a little taste.

My Dad agreed to watch all 3 of our girls and let them spend the night so Brandon and I could go to my first Duke game together. Brandon has season tickets to the Duke basketball games. During camp out 3 of 6 guys in his group were able to earn the pass. They agreed to split up the games evenly so everyone could see some of the games. As a spouse of a graduate student I also have access to a Duke ID which allows me to use the student tickets for games. Coach K's first home game after breaking the record happened to be the game that Brandon signed up to have tickets for both of us. Going into the student section was a new experience for me. I've sat close to the floor before, but had an assigned spot with an actual seat. Duke does it a little differently. The student sections are standing room only with no assignments. Brandon explained to me that this is on purpose. Duke really gives themselves the best opportunity to have home court advantage. Hearing all the chants and songs, the choreographed hand gestures, and just the pure volume of cheering and booing would be enough to send me home crying if I missed a shot. I made it though the entire game and cheered on the Blue Devils, but we skipped out on the ceremony to celebrate Coach K. Hey, I'm 32 years old, it's been about 12 years since the last time I stood for an entire game. - and even then I don't think I was too happy about it.

After the game we drove to the DBat and enjoyed some fantastic food at Cuban Revolution http://thecubanrevolution.com/. If you are looking for a great place for some tasty food and cold drinks this is your place. It was great after a long day of child rearing and yelling at 7 foot tall guys.

Saturday, after a long night with my children, my sweet Dad asked if he could take them to see the Raleigh Christmas parade. I took pity on him and offered to accompany the 4 of them to the big event. I prepared for the freezing temperatures and obnoxious crowd, but it really wasn't that bad. We found a place in the sun, snuggled up with a bunch of other locals and enjoyed the sites. To be honest we did sneak out a little early, but I wanted to beat the traffic. I had another surprise in store for the kids.

I drove straight from the game to Siler City to meet Brandon's mom and sister. Debbie wanted to watch the girls for us for the rest of the weekend. I didn't tell the girls who we were meeting and where we were going. They were thrilled to see their Nana and Aunt Momo walking up, and even more excited when they realized they didn't have to go back with me.

I drove straight home to meet Brandon. He had just finished with his studying for the weekend and was able to take the next day and a half to spend alone with me. We left straight away and did a little shopping. Had some great sushi for dinner and I even dragged him to the Breaking Dawn movie. (I think he secretly likes going). The next morning we woke up late and headed out to breakfast. We had a wonderful outdoor brunch at a little German cafe in Durham http://www.guglhupf.com/ If you haven't gone you absolutely have to on the next beautiful morning or afternoon. It is so worth the drive. That afternoon we decided to work off our frittatas and fruit and set our bikes up for a 20 mile ride down the tobacco trail. We were having a great time until about mile 18 when the novelty wore off. It made me think about all my dear friends that just completed a marathon. I was on a freakin' bike and done after 20 miles, they still had 6 to go and no bike to get them there. Way to go guys!

That evening we met the girls in Mebane for dinner and brought them home for our short week to begin. I tried to ease the pain by taking them all to the new Pullen park this morning, but they are certainly making me pay for our time off with a little bit of reprogramming from their time with the grandparents. Luckily, Brandon is back home in 2 days for a 4 day weekend. It won't be school-free, but we are all looking forward to a great holiday, and some time all together again.