Visit with the Cousins!

Last weekend we had some very special visitors fresh off the boat from their overseas adventures! My cousin and her family are officially back in the States and were making the rounds to visit family and friends. 

We were so excited to get together with them at Mimi and Pop Pop's house. Sweet little Alex sang Happy Birthday to me and we celebrated at one of my CH favorites, Squids. 

I had so much fun playing with my girl Annie. 

Of course, when you are at Mimi and Pop Pop's you have to show off your Mario skills to prove to Finley that you do indeed know how to play video games. And once used to rock them. 

Alex was adorable and hilarious and his accent is to die for!

Claire showed off her piano skills on Mimi's baby grand.

My mama got me this beautiful dress for my birthday! Can't wait to wear it again. 

We let all the older cousins sleep in sleeping bags on top of an air mattress in the play room. 

Mike is so good with the children and read them a bedtime story of Calvin and Hobbs. 

And after staying up late to talk they finally passed out. This picture doesn't show it, but when we first walked in Claire and Finley were holding hands. 

The next morning we headed over to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. We love their new tree house area. 

And we always enjoy the butterfly house. 

The kids kept trying to get the butterflies to land on them, but this was as close as we got. 

They were able to get up close and personal with some bugs! 

We didn't know it ahead of time, but they were having some huge Pokemon Go themed day at the museum. It was so crowded! 

This is the money shot. All kids still and looking. Best photo of the weekend!

See what I mean! Ha ha ha!

Alex loved hanging out with 'Fimbley'. 

Can you spot the two monkeys on the caboose?

We couldn't pass up the chance to ride on the train. 

We are so glad we got to visit with the cousins again! 

The last morning together Mimi had a fun art project for everyone. The boys were done in about 3 minutes and the girls spent at least 20 minutes decorating their shirts. But with all the paint they used I am sure it is going to take a week for them to dry!

We are so glad to have them back in the US again! 

We look forward to heading up to visit them next time and getting to see their new house! 

Thanks for coming to NC cousins! We love you guys! 

Harry Potter Festival

Every summer we always have fun visiting our local libraries for special events, story times, and of course participating in the summer reading program. 

Last week in honor of Harry Potter's birthday we attended a special Harry Potter Festival! The event did not disappoint! We made a Nimbus 2000 book mark, some HP glasses, and even had a 'scar' added to Finley's forehead. 

The UNC-G Quidditch team was there to teach us how to play the muggle version of Quidditch. And yes there really is a Quidditch team and they have matches against other schools. Who knew!? We might have to go watch one. 

We got to mix potions in Professor Snape's class, visit Honey Dukes for some taste testing of Bernie Bott's every flavor beans and drink some Polyjuice potion. 

We pretended we were prisoners of Azkaban! Which is perfect since we are reading book three this summer :). 

After playing some games at the Owlry we were sent on a scavenger hunt to deliver some mail. 

We got to pick out and decorate a wand. 

And played pin the sock on Dobby. 

This was one epic event! And if Finley wants a HP birthday party in the future I am stealing all of these ideas! Ha ha ha! 

What made the week even more fun was getting some Harry Potter themed cupcakes from a local bakery. There was a sorting hat cup cake with a different color inside sorting you into your appropriate house. A polyjuice potion cupcake with peaches and blueberries, a deathly hallows cup cake, and our personal favorites butter beer cupcakes! I am thrilled that Finley is starting to love Harry Potter just as much as I do. I think a visit to Harry Potter World might be in our future. . .