Raleigh!

Raleigh! Now that's just a fun word to say... Well, last week's farewell to summer was prophetic as the weather's turned cold and wet here this weekend, and we're experiencing that season called fall, which we completely missed out on last year in Las Vegas. Plan A was to go to Myrtle Beach this weekend, but with the wind and rain and 60 degree temps, we nixed it for Plan B, which was checking out nearby Raleigh.

First we started off with lunch at "The Pit," which was where Bobby Flay did his BBQ short ribs throw-down. It didn't disappoint!

Jon got the Double Combo with beef brisket, fried chicken, coleslaw, and potato salad, complete with a biscuit and hush puppies. It was a tremendous amount of food, but proud to say he cleaned his plate.

I got the meatloaf with carmelized onions and blue cheese (I thought it sounded unique), mac and cheese, and sweet potato fries. It was a very tasty lunch, and a great way to introduce us to Raleigh with some southern barbeque.

Then we made our way over to "Marbles" which is a children's museum ala "The Please Touch Museum" in Philly, so Lucy and Zach were THRILLED! It was an interesting experience for Jon and I to observe how completely opposite our children's interests are (boy vs. girl). Lucy wanted to play at the pretend hospital taking care of the babies.

As well as at the pet hospital being a veterinarian to the sick puppies and kittens.

Zachary started at the "Garage" fueling up cars and changing tires, but soon found his way to the train table...the smallest and most "unexciting" place to play compared to all of the pretend play centers the museum featured, but he was in heaven. I appreciated the sign on the wall that said, "At the train tables again? Repetition promotes confidence and mastery of skills." So there, Mom!

Then Lucy went on board a submarine to make undersea discoveries as a scientist!

And decided to set sail with pirates!

Zachary decided he'd finally leave the choo-choo table in order to be a pirate. That was probably just about the only thing that could get entice him away from Thomas.

Then Lucy was a fashion designer where she got access to all kinds of fabrics and sewing notions to create an outfit for her paper doll.

Zachary was sooooo tired by the time we decided to leave. He is going through another no-sleeping phase where he skips naps and wakes up at the crack of dawn, and he'd been up that morning since 5:45 a.m., and we were pushing 4 p.m. when we left. As soon as he hit the car he was out cold! We swung by Trader Joe's and some other stores we don't have in Pinehurst before heading home, so all in all it was a GREAT day!