spring at the arboretum

Ben had joined me and the boys one afternoon in late March for some errands and we made a quick stop at the NC State Arboretum to see how the blossoms had changed since my last visit.

Historic Oakwood Cemetery

I drove around the Oakwood historic district near downtown Raleigh one day (lots of interesting architectural styles and homes with pretty gardens). I stopped at the Oakwood Cemetery to take a closer look at some blossoming trees. Nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers are buried there, along with many prominent political figures.

neighborhood blossoms.

One of the first signs of spring (back in early March) were all of the blossoming Bradford Pear trees in the area. We had several on our street and a few in our yard. The big white blossoms looked stunning against the bright blue sky. It has been so fun to see our yard come alive for the first time.

 Signs of spring in our front yard.

I had to celebrate spring with roasted asparagus, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza. Yum.

bluebells at bull run

We made our annual visit to see the bluebells in full bloom at Bull Run Park just a few days before Simon was born. And I never got around to posting the pictures. This is one of my favorite spring activities in the area. The hike along the river is gorgeous with bluebells lining both sides of the bank as far as the eye can see. It's an incredible sea of blue. The kids had so much fun running along the trail, collecting walking sticks, climbing in hollow logs, and playing in the river. This was the first time Ben was able to join us. I couldn't have managed Oliver without him.

In my large and uncomfortable pregnant state, I thought we would just hike out to the river and not do the entire loop. But Oliver kept walking and we kept following and enjoying the scenery. Eventually we were sure that we were at least halfway so we figured we would just continue on the loop instead of going back. The whole trail was only 2 or 3 miles but to my pregnant self, it started to feel like an eternity. I was moving at a snail's pace, walking far behind everyone else and didn't think we would ever see the car again. I was starting to wonder if I would give birth among the bluebells. But we finally emerged from the woods. I had a lot of contractions that night and some crazy swollen feet, but Simon held out for another day. 

 

(Notice Amelia in the background crawling into a log. The girls were pretending to be foxes.)

(Examining bugs.)