The Davis Family: Durham Bucket List

Fortunately for us, the weekend of the terrible poodle injury we managed to sell our house. I had been putting so much work into getting it ready to go on the market, and I was proud that it went in two days with three offers-above asking price!

Once the house was sold and our house in St. Louis was purchased, we could all take a deep breath and enjoy the last few months that we had in Durham. One of our first stops was one of our favorites, Duke Gardens. It was a beautiful spring weekend and all of the flowers were blooming in the gardens. I dressed the boys up in decent clothes, because of course, I wanted to get some pictures at the gardens. Evan is definitely a Davis at heart because as soon as we got to the gardens he kept setting up poses for himself and his brother. Maybe there's a future in the family business for him??

Of course we had to check out some of our favorite haunts at the gardens. We headed under the gazebo to the flower covered steps. Benny had to sniff the flowers and find the ones that smelled good while Evan picked out some more spots for good pictures. Next we wandered down to the fish pond and watched the goldfish, followed by a run in the big field. We hung out in the magnolia trees for a little while before we saw the signs that told us not to climb the trees. Have those signs always been there because we've definitely done some tree climbing in the past?

The rest of our garden adventures included saying goodbye to the ducks in the duck pond and wandering back through the bamboo forest on the way to the car. There were so many more little corners and hidden passageways that we could have explored in the garden, but alas they may have to wait a while for our next pass through Durham.

While we were at the gardens I wanted to wander over to the main campus to pick up some Duke gear-it's going to be much harder to come by in St. Louis! So, we wandered over to the Duke Chapel with only minimal complaints from the boys. We posed in front of the chapel for a few quick family photos before heading over to the student union. Since Duke had just won the National Championship (Go Duke!) I had to get the boys and I a championship shirt (couldn't talk Ian into getting one). Then, Evan had his heart set on getting a big Duke shirt, I mean a REALLY big Duke shirt. So, we found the clearance bin of shirts and let the boys get the biggest ones they could find. They have loved those PJ shirts ever since.

Our last stop on the tour was a visit to Cameron Indoor. The boys hadn't been there since they could remember, so, with their recent Duke obsession, they were excited about this stop. There were no games in session, but since it was alumni weekend, Cameron was open for tours. We headed in to the basketball court and just took in the scenery. The boys' favorite part was definitely running up and down the stands and peering out the windows at the top. Maybe they'll be able to come back for a game someday.

We have a lot of fond memories at Duke-camping out for and cheering at Duke basketball games, to climbing to the top of the Duke Chapel to take pictures, picnicking in the Duke Gardens, rushing to the hospital for the birth of Benny B, and so much more. While we won't be able to stop by as often, I know we'll be back at Duke for another tour as soon as we can!