Anniversary trip to Raleigh

Last weekend Benny and I were very blessed to be able to spend the weekend away in Raleigh, NC for our anniversary. This was all made possible by my mom and Dave offering to watch the kids while we were away - SO so thankful for this! 

We got to Raleigh Friday afternoon and did a quick little hike near the hotel to get some fresh air and stretch our legs after the 3 hour trip. 

We got checked into our hotel, changed and headed out to dinner at a great sushi spot. 

Dinner was amazing. Afterward we headed back to the hotel, got settled in, and played Mario Kart on the giant 76 inch TV in our room.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel before heading out to Pullen Park. Pullen Park was suggested as a beautiful place to walk around, but we had no idea until we pulled up that apparently they were also hosting something called LuminoCity 'an immersive magical wonderland of lights.' Since it was during the day, nothing was lit up but it was still so cool to see the incredible displays that are not typically there.

After Pullen Park, we went to the Museum of Natural Sciences. There were a lot of highly rated museums in the area but I'm so glad we chose this one. We got to see all the exhibits on one side, and then you cross into another building and see the research labs and how things work on the other side.

Once we left the museum we went straight to Morgan Street Food Hall, which was basically a giant trendy beefed-up food court. 10/10 would recommend, my only complaint is that I wanted to try every type of food but obviously couldn't afford it.

I ended up getting lobster tacos and Benny got a lobster roll - both delicious.

We went back to the hotel to regroup for an hour before venturing back out and going to a comedy club for one of their matinee shows. It consisted of 8 different amateur comedians in 2 teams who competed in variety of different 'games' to determine who was the funniest. I am so glad we decided to do this, it was hilarious! I would go again and again.

From the comedy club we got some brick-oven pizza for dinner before heading to a musical put on by NC State, Urinetown. We had never heard of it before, but it was also hysterical. And they did such an amazing job! I've never been to a college musical before but we were so so impressed with the production. 

By the time we got back to the hotel it was around 10:30 and we were exhausted from such a busy day. The next morning we took it slow with breakfast at the hotel and then finally got a chance to use the hot tub. By then we were ready to start heading back to see the little faces we missed so much. 

We are just so thankful to have willing and enthusiastic family offering to help watch our kids so we can get away. I know so many friends who don't, and we just feel so blessed by it. We don't often do date nights throughout the year, and have come to realize how important it is for us to make a point to get away once a year and shift the focus back to each other. A huge thank you to my mom and Dave, and to Katie for helping make this happen for us!! We love you!