The drive from Winston-Salem to Greensboro was blessedly short. We were able to enjoy a relatively leisurely morning at the hotel before heading to over to visit Mark's sister Karen and her family.
When we arrived at Karen's Aubree, Ally, and Cora got busy playing a raucous game of Guess Who. Just kidding. These girls were anything but raucous. And speaking of wild children, Bryce spent a few hours helping Cora clean her room. He insisted he was doing it by choice and was having fun.
Before we visit new people, we always tell the kids about who they will be seeing. Nellie especially likes to hear about new friends and relatives that are her age. When she learned that Karen's girls are quite a bit older than her, she quipped, "That's okay. They can just be my babysitters!" As soon as Nellie discovered that Cora is a little-kid lover, she glommed right on to her and insisted on being glued to her side the rest of the weekend. Patient Cora didn't mind a bit.
The first order of business once we left the house was a visit to the Greensboro Historical Museum.
We've visited a lot of museums on this trip, and I was a little worried that a small town history museum might be a struggle for the kids, but they had a great time! One of the highlights was a room full of typewriters that the kids could use as much as they wanted. Aubree sat down and got straight to work typing up stories. By the time we dragged the kids out of the exhibit, Aubree was convinced she wanted her own typewriter to use at home.
Another surprisingly popular area was the one-room school house replica room. The kids took turns being the teacher and the naughty students, and they thought they were just so funny.
After the museum, we stopped ever so briefly at a little playground on our way back to the parking garage. It's a fun little playground, and if it wasn't so blasted hot we would have enjoyed staying longer. After just a couple minutes, Bryce came running over to us yelling, "Thane fell on his face and there's blood everywhere and I think he chipped his tooth again!"
Turns out, Thane had been trying to run up a slide that had rollers on it and ended up face planting. Yes, there was a lot of blood, and yes, he did indeed chip the same tooth he chipped back in December, except this time was much worse. Thankfully, the blood came from a cut lip and a small cut just below his nose.
There's nothing quite like a dental emergency on a Saturday of Memorial Day weekend while on vacation across the country. We tried everything we could to find a dentist that was open to see him that day with no luck. Finally, I texted my cousin Heather's husband, Greg, who is a dentist and sent him a few pictures to get his opinion on whether or not it could wait a few days for treatment. Greg assured us treatment could wait a little while. Phew! Thane was not happy about the idea of waiting to get his tooth fixed. He was super self-conscious. Ironically, though this was a much worse chip that his last one, it wasn't as noticeable because it broke in such a way that it just looked like his tooth was still growing in.
Once we realized we weren't going to find a dentist that day, we continued on with our regularly scheduled plans which involved a yummy lunch of North Carolina BBQ courtesy of Chris and Karen. We even got to try strawberry cobbler for dessert!
After this late lunch/early dinner, we were excited to get to our hotel and go swimming. Karen planned to bring her girls over to swim with us. When we checked in, however, we were shocked to learn that they hadn't opened the pool for the year yet. Seriously!? It was 95 degrees! We were not happy campers.
We texted Karen to relay the bad news, and she texted back, "Give me a few minutes to work on something." A few minutes later, she had another plan that involved going to her friend April's home to swim in the lake behind her house.
Sometimes, what seems to be a misfortune ends up being a blessing. This was one of those times. The kids had way more fun at the lake than they would have had at a pool. Karen took turns taking kids out on kayak rides. Later on, the boys got another kayak and took themselves out to tour the lake. It was a perfectly lovely, peaceful (and still hot) end to the day.
Sunday morning we met Karen and her girls at church. Their ward is small enough that Bryce, Thane, and Cora were all in a combined class together, but not so small that they didn't have pews.
I loved my time in Relief Society in their ward. It's such a joy to learn about and worship the Savior in different places and with different people, but with the same love and devotion.
After church, we returned to Karen and Chris's home for lunch, laundry, and games.
Chris taught us a new game, I think it's called Ultimate Werewolf, that was a lot of fun. It's a lot like Mafia, but more scripted. It was enjoyable for ages adult down to Graham.
Monday was Memorial Day, which gave us a bonus day with Chris, Karen, Ally, and Cora. First thing in the morning, we met them at a parade in a small town called Thomasville. I'm pretty sure I've never been to a Memorial Day parade before. It was definitely more solemn and somber than a typical parade.
Watching the parade stirred up a lot of thoughts and feelings. The older I get, the more I'm becoming like my mother in that my eyes kept leaking. I felt overwhelming gratitude for those who sacrificed and fought for our freedoms. When the Thomasville High School Jr ROTC paraded by, I was shocked to see how many students were part of that program. I'm told it's a small town, but their ROTC group was larger than any I've seen on the West Coast. The go-to answer for why this group was so big was, "This is their ticket out." The vast majority of the students were black. I felt really conflicted. Part of me thought, "I'm so glad we live in a country where there are 'tickets out.'" A larger part of me recognized our privilege. If my kids choose to join the military, it's simply that: a choice. They don't need a "ticket out." What does it say about our country that our military might be filled largely with people who are poor or disadvantaged? That we are relying on these people to put themselves in danger so the rest of us can have peace? I don't have any answers. Shoot, I probably don't even have most of the questions. It was just a sobering moment.
Seeing a contingent of "Sons of Confederate Soldiers" march by carrying a Confederate flag also resulted in conflicted feelings. Karen noticed that this year's contingent was significantly smaller than in past years, but it definitely made me realize things a different in the South!
After the short parade, we made our way back to Karen's for a Memorial Day BBQ, this time with hamburgers and hot dogs. We spent the afternoon enjoying each other's company before we left for our next destination around 4pm. It's really unfortunate that Karen and her family live all the way across the country from us. We don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like, so we treasure the moments we have together.
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