Kicking off Summer!

It's become an annual tradition to spend Memorial Day weekend down in North Carolina, and this year was no exception. With all of this drab weather we had been having here in Pittsburgh, we knew we wanted to kick off summer down South...we even extended our trip an extra day so we could have a 5 day weekend. Every Memorial Day weekend spent in NC is always great, but this year was hands down one of the best!

Rob and I made the drive down to Raleigh on Thursday and arrived just before dinner. We met up with my parents, my sister Kelli, and her boyfriend Eric at one of our favorite soup + salad bar restaurants (off topic: Pittsburgh needs more of these types of restaurants!). The next day we headed out to do a little shopping around Raleigh. We later met up with Kelli and Eric for dinner and a movie...we saw "Hangover 2" - hilarious! 

On Saturday, we had a big family-style dinner at my parent's house before heading out for a night of mini golf and go-karting. Mini golf has become somewhat of an annual Memorial Day tradition in our family. Despite the yearly tradition, I can never quite improve my golf skills, but I have fun trying nonetheless. Below is my sister and I stopping for a quick photo along the course.

On Sunday, we made the 2.5 hour drive out to Charlotte for NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 race! We got to the race pretty early, so we decided to walk around the various pre-race activities that were set up outside of the track. When we were sufficiently worn out from walking around in the near 100 degree heat, we headed inside to find our seats. We were extremely happy with our seats...we were about 11 rows back just before the start/finish line. This was both mine and Rob's first NASCAR experience, and we were both pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed ourselves (we're already planning another race trip to MIS in late August!). We've both been NASCAR fans for quite some time now, but our love of the sport was definitely fueled by the Coca-Cola 600! Even though our favorite driver, Kyle Busch, ending up DNF'ing, we still had a fabulous time! 

A few things we learned from our first-time race experience:

1. Sunblock will be your best friend. 
2. It is L-O-U-D. Don't forget your earplugs, or opt to purchase the noise-cancelling head phones as Rob is wearing below :) 
3. Bring a cooler with plenty of drinks.
4. You will end up with tiny bits of rubber all.over.you. It is inevitable, and part of the race experience.
5. Southern Hospitality really does exist. Not all NASCAR fans are "rednecks".

The morning after the race we woke up early to make the 8 hour drive back to Pittsburgh. Before we got on the road, we made a quick pit stop to Joe Gibbs Racing Shop to see the cars up close and personal. (For those who don't follow NASCAR, Joe Gibbs is the team owner for Kyle Busch). I was SO excited to see the #18 M&M Camry up close!! We took a quick tour of the shop, bought a few souvenirs, and started our journey home. And in true Southern style, we ended our trip with a quick bite to eat at Bojangles :)

A few days after we got back home, my parents came up for a visit to see the new house. This was the first time my Dad had seen the house and the first time my Mom had seen it since we first closed on the house last November (she came to help us paint before we moved in). Somehow we managed to fit A LOT in during their 2 1/2 day visit! Just a few hours after they arrived, we headed down to PNC Park to catch a Pirates game...lucky for us it was a beautiful night AND the Pirates managed to pull out a win! 

The next two days we spent working on the house doing various inside and outside home projects. Somehow in just 2 short days we managed to plant 27 plants & 32 flowers, install 2 ceiling fans, install a motion detector in the backyard, build a basement shelf/organize a sizeable portion of the basement (I'd say about 75%), as well as a few other small home projects. Oh, and I think we beat our record of number of trips to Home Depot and Lowe's in one weekend....10 trips total! We spent the mornings/afternoons working on said projects and spent the evenings having dinner/socializing with my parents. It was a nice combination, and a great way to spend a productive weekend! 

All in all, things are coming together nicely with the house. It's coming up on the 6 month mark that we have been in the house, and now that the weather is finally cooperating here in Pittsburgh, we are getting things underway for our outdoor home projects. 

We leave for Vancouver in just over 3 weeks...countdown to vacation is on!