my parent's visit

Last week my parent's came to visit us in North Carolina. We had an amazing time :).

First, I had to show them around the lab. Here's me posing for the camera with some equipment. A scientist can't be shown without her pippette! By the way, for those of you who haven't heard, I officially joined a lab. I'll stay in this lab for the next....five years or however long it takes me to finish my thesis.

Next we showed my parents our new apartment. Only the outside though because people are still living there. We move in the beginning of August into a two bedroom apartment. We figured that our 7 pound cat needed the extra space (heehee). I'm most excited about getting a dining room!

Then we introduced my parents to our resident black rat snake in our backyard. It's probably about 5 ft long.

We also took a trip through the Duke gardens. They are a lot of fun in the spring with a lot of blooming flowers including the huge magnolia flowers.

These are pitcher plants, a carnivorous plant that attracts bugs inside it. Then they get stuck in goo and the plant "eats" them.

Next we had a photo op in the terrace gardens.

We also went to the outerbanks of NC for a few days. Despite the water being 60 degrees, we had a lot of fun. We visited the Wright brothers museum that commemorates the first flight.

This is the monument on the top of the hill where they tested their designs on gliders.

This is a great picture of my dad. He's walking on the area where they flew the plane.

This is mom in front of the official spot where they "took off". Also, that picture was originally taken during the first flight. Pretty cool that they were able to record such an incredible event!

Here's a recreation of the plane, the real one is in the smithsonian.

Here's us walking at the beach, avoiding the frigid water.

This is a lighthouse that we visited. David and I couldn't find my parents, so we climbed to the top before them. When we reached the top we saw my parents below and took pictures of each other :).

When we came back to Durham, we went to a fun restaurant called Magnolia grill. But first we had to take mother-daughter pictures. Especially since we had just purchased our dresses for the wedding!

The next day we visited the museums in Raleigh and met up with Claire. This is right after I asked her to be my maid of honor.

And of course, how can you visit Durham without going to a Durham Bulls game.

Peace and love,

Allie