At the end of June we took a trip to visit Ben’s parents who just moved from Brussels to a town in the Winston-Salem area. It was so relaxing being at their house and visiting with them.
Ben’s parents have 10 chickens in their backyard: two black ones, two dark brown ones, two light brown ones, and two white ones.
The chickens were terrified of Emma the first day we were there, and ran into the farthest corners of the coop to get away from her. They just weren’t used to such a little person. Or maybe they mistook her for a fox. She was small and wearing a red-ish looking shirt.
At one point they ran into the house and she tried to follow them in there.
It took a few days, but they eventually got used to her. It helped that she would help Grandma and Grandpa feed the chickens leftovers after dinner.
Grandma and Grandpa’s property is huge and we had fun discovering the area. We never did see a snake.
We did a lot of geocaching and we tried to go shooting.
It was blazing hot most days (high 90s, low hundreds) and very humid, but that didn’t keep me from relaxing and reading a book outside. I was very thankful for air conditioning and loved going back and forth between the cool and hot air.
We celebrated Ben’s birthday, and Ben’s mom and I made him a cheese cake.
Ben’s parents are amazing cooks and we eat so well every time we visit them. It’s like eating at a 5-star restaurant every night.
Ben’s Grandma Jones lives near Ben’s parent’s house, so we were able to spend time with her too. Emma loved having two grandmas in the house. “Two Grandmas!” she would say.
Grandma Jones has a friend who lives in the same town my grandma lives in in South Carolina. So Grandma Jones drove down with us and let us use her car.
We spent a few days at my grandma’s house.
She liked exploring another new house.
Emma had fun playing with her second cousin, Sonam, and her Aunt Palmo and Uncle Erick.
We hung out with her other second-cousin, Jeffrey.
We took a few walks around a pond full of alligators (no alligators were spotted).
We got to see Uncle Tom and Aunt Linda and Sam and Emily and her new son Shepherd. I was able to visit my cousin Amanda’s grave. My cousin died in a car accident a few years ago in 2009.
We visited my brother Mark and my sister-in-law Erica. They live in Tennessee but it was too long of a drive for us to meet them at their house so we meet up halfway in western North Carolina.
Back at Ben’s parents’ house, we met up with Uncle Scott and Aunt Staci and Samantha and Austin. They live in Austin and drove up to be with Grandma Jones for the 4th of July.
Samantha made this cute hat for Emma.
And she played with Emma.
Emma had so much fun hanging around Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma. She spent hours chasing their two salukis who were amazingly patient with her.
She loved playing with some of Ben’s toys from his childhood.
And playing with toys they bought for her.
And she loved being outside. She helped Grandma water the plants a lot too.
After coming home from such a relaxing vacation, it was a drag getting back into the swing of things. Our life just isn’t as exciting without chickens around us, dogs to chase, such great food, beautiful surroundings, and wonderful parents and grandparents. Every time we visit Grandma and Grandpa Watson, we feel inspired to be just a little more creative, a little more adventurous, to beautify our home, to pursue our hobbies, and to eat better food – they exemplify doing all of these things, and we miss them.
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