Outer Banks Weekend

For Halloween we headed to the Outer Banks for the weekend. We kept looking at our schedule and realized this was one of the last weekends we had before it gets really crazy around here. We had always talked about how we really wanted to go to the Outer Banks because you can't live in NC and not go there. We stayed in Kitty Hawk across the street from the Wright Brothers Memorial. Since it was the off season out hotel was cheap, we were right on the beach, and there were no crowds.

It was such a nice little weekend getaway. We relaxed, ate great food, explored some sites. It was a much needed break from our schedule in Raleigh.  One of the highlights was the weather. We kept getting coastal flooding warnings and high wind warnings on our cell phones all night long. It made it exciting to watch the huge waves and the wind was crazy! We woke up the next morning to garbage cans and exit signs all over the place. It was a little scary but really fun. Overall, it was a great weekend and it was fun to spend it with Andrew.

NC State Fair

Since we moved to NC we have heard all about the state fair. Lucky for us we live about 1 mile away from the fairgrounds. My mom and I had never been to any kind of fair before so we didn't know what to expect. I was actually really surprised on how clean it was and everything was put together nicely. We watched some lambs get judged, Kenyan acrobats, an acrobatic family, pig racing and walked around some booths. We also found some of the best BBQ that we have had here. We loved it so much we almost made Andrew go back the next day to the fair just to get it. haha

The biggest highlight of the fair was the fact that it was a "Southern" fair. They had deep fried EVERYTHING. We waited till the end of the night to try some. I had deep fried Samoa girl scout cookies, my mom had a red velvet funnel cake, and Andrew wins for the strangest one, reeses wrapped in bacon. Let's just say around the second and third bite he was regretting his decision. My mom and I just sat back and were laughing at him.

Another southern charm was the tobacco stringing. It has been weird living in a state where one of the top crops produced is tobacco. They just had tobacco sitting out and were teaching kids how they string it and let it dry and then eventually turn it into tobacco. We were very fascinated by it all. I forgot to snap a picture.

It was a really fun night and a great first "fair" experience for me. Since we live so close we got to relive it every night with fireworks at 9:45 right on the dot.

Mom Kings Second Visit

My mom surprised me back in September by giving me a call to let me know she would be coming out in Oct. It was exactly what I needed. Andrew was in the middle of another finals week and it is always nice to have someone to party/talk with while Andrew is focused on school. It also was a blast to go shopping for our little girl and it was around the time that all my clothes were not fitting anymore. So it was nice having her around to help me put together some cute maternity outfits.

One morning we just sat on the couch and talked for hours. We kept getting up to get ready for the day but just kept talking. It was a blast! Andrew is such a good sport to sit there and listen to us go on and on. :)

We went on some adventures while she was here. We went to the state fair (that is worth a whole separate post) and we went to the Historic Yates Mill. It is a really pretty mill just 20 minutes away form our house. We did a short beautiful hike and learned about grinding corn and wheat. We are going to go back in a few weeks to see all the fall colors. It has been weird to adjust to not having fall colors till late October and early November.

We always love to have visitors and have a little bit of home brought to NC. For anyone who wants to come visit, just hop on a plane and we would LOVE to have you. :)