Honey & Beehives: Our Trip to Raleigh, NC

We had such a great time visiting North Carolina this past week. It was such a smooth trip (well, kind of). Smooth meaning that we were able to hop on a plane and in less than 1.5 hours in the air, we went from Orlando to Raleigh (nonstop=thumbs up). We were picked up by our lovely friend Michelle and taken straight to the Videri Chocolate factory. yummy... dark, milky, salty chocolate... emmm. We're so excited for them. I really love the name and logo----> Check out Videri. They're relatively new so I think the website will be more extensive in the coming months.

Boy oh boy, we love Raleigh and its parks. Olivia was boucing from one playground area to the next. They really dedicate a lot of space for kids in the community. Love that. We visited a children's museum... so awesome! Check out Marbles Children Museum. Kids galore smiling, laughing, learning, playing... just a wonderful and creative place for kids to be. Zach and I wish we had a place to take Olivia like this in Florida. She is bored with some of the parks plus it be HOT outside.

Michelle and Chris were super sweet to let us stay in their cozy home. We had a ball playing music, making food and petting Miss Maggie the cat. Olivia enjoyed meowing all week. It was pretty cute to hear. I hope she didn't traumatize Maggie too bad. Let's see... Michelle took us to North Carolina Museum of Art. We took a stroll around the Museum and found such amazing sculptures and structures all over the grounds.

One of the days, we went to the Rose Garden. So pretty and super relaxing. I imagine the locals coming here for a romantic picnic. The layout is like a maze which can be fun and scary with a toddler. She's now a runner (which wears her and us out easily). She's fast and I sometimes for a second or two can't find her (very scary) I keep asking her to hold hands and she's beginning to nod her head yes and lifting up her hand. I hope she continues to do this :). // As you scroll down, her face is hilarious in the second photo (so cute).

Pullen Park is awesome for kids to run around... hop on trains, go on carousels, play on swings... so many things to do. Crazy, how much there is at this place. We could have easily spent the whole day here. This is a nice place to meet up with other families and chill out together while the kids go insane.

Here's some around town photos:

Alright so this is mostly what we did. We look forward to going back in May/June. I think next time it will be just the two of us. It was hard to go to restaurants, have long conversations, observe people and places as much as we wanted with little Miss Olivia. She definitly wants your full attention... as we should be but, I think we need another visit to seal the deal and look for jobs up there. So we'll be seeing you soon, Michelle and Chris! Here's some more random photos from the trip.