Most of this past week has been a blur, but a much needed distraction. First, Nikki's side of the family came to visit for the weekend. Everybody arrived in time for dinner on Friday night. As usual, I loved subjecting people to my cooking, so the menu du jour consisted of slaw, BBQ bruschetta, Jerk wings, scalloped potatoes, a corn/zucchini medley, and gumbo. Nikki made a frozen banana dessert that stole the show.

Saturday was the feature day of their trip. Our plan for the day was to go to Carowinds, our amusement park here in the Queen city. I can say we all had a blast. The lines were short, the weather pleasant, and the crowds were fairly sparse. I had never been there, but I am sure we will all go back as soon as we can. Its fun to be a kid at heart.

From the park, we continued the fun into the night by heading into Uptown for a BBQ/Blues Fest. We were able to meet up with a couple of my friends which added to the fun. The crowds were a little more annoying here, but it was a great way to wind down the day.

Sunday we had a quite filling breakfast and then we gave them a quick tour of the Whitewater Park. So I have been there twice, but yet to actually do anything besides hike. I know the third time is the charm.

We loved having Nikki's side of the family down and like I said it was a much needed break for the both us.

The second half of the family week revolved around me using up some of my accumulated air miles to join up with Amanda and Glenn in St Louis for a day. Nikki couldn't make it because of commitments with school. I liked the nature of the quick trip over there and it was good to see a couple games and to spend some time with my side of the family.

You can see why the week was a blur, but a needed distraction. The worst part about losing my job has been us cutting back our traveling. (After living across the pond for over a year anything was going to be a cut back). These couple of days sure hit the spot and will tie me over until our big trip next March. I am so glad that we have 2 good sides to our families. I know we are truly blessed to have so many fun characters on both sides.