45 miles + 12 years

As a part 2 of our 12-year anniversary celebration, we got a babysitter for the boys for several hours one day (it was actually the girls' last day of school) and did a long bike ride. I love getting out with Ben during the day and doing something that would normally be impossible with the kids. We conquered the American Tobacco Trail on our bikes! We had run the first part of the trail on our half marathon and had biked the second half of the trail with the boys earlier. This time we started at one end and biked the entire 22 miles (plus some) and ended in downtown Durham. We took a break and had lunch at Only Burger. Their onion rings are so good. I tried their famous fried green tomato burger with a fried egg and it was delicious. After stuffing ourselves (probably not the best idea during a long ride, but we survived) we made the return trip back to Apex for a total of 45 miles. My legs didn't start really burning until the last 5 miles. Our bottoms were sore much sooner. We practically had the entire trail to ourselves so we were able to ride next to each other and chat most of the time. It was fun to celebrate 12 years doing something challenging and rewarding.

Selfies while riding. Not that easy.

cotton + tobacco

On the last day that Ben's parents were here, we spent the morning at the cotton farm (Oak View County Park) and then went to the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham in the evening. We had delicious burgers and shakes at Only Burger (their bacon mac 'n cheese bites and onion rings were pretty awesome too). They also had this nice big table in a separate area with a sliding glass door to close it off from the rest of the dining room. Perfect for our big group and keeping Simon under control. The weather was so nice that evening and perfect for wandering around the Tobacco Campus enjoying the fountains and water features.

The Burt's Bees headquarters are in downtown Durham and they have a beehive! We had fun trying to locate the queen bee.