NC State Parents Weekend with a bonus!

 I had the best weekend!  I was only expecting to see one of my babies but I got to see them both!

This weekend was Parents Weekend at NC State.  Dan and I had plans to head to Raleigh on Saturday and meet up with Peter. But early last week, Sarah was texting with us telling us that her roommate and bestie, Gabi was going to be away from campus all weekend.  Well, technically, longer than all weekend. Gabi has an odd schedule in that she has no classes on Fridays and her first class on Monday isn't until 3:00.  This makes for an awesome long weekend for Gabi but a potentially not so awesome weekend for Sarah.

Gabi was leaving on Thursday evening and not not returning until Monday afternoon. Sarah didn't like the thought of that so she said she would probably come home Friday and stay until Sunday.  I told her that was all well and good except that we would be leaving on Saturday morning to see Peter.  She had forgotten this minor detail.

But alas!  I realized that she could just come with us so she started texting and scheming and a plan was hatched.

She came home late Friday afternoon. She ate dinner with us and then Dan made a fire in the fire pit.  It was perfect weather for it as it is finally starting to cool down here. We even made s'mores! 

We all got up on Saturday morning and headed to Raleigh. It was a perfect fall day. We went straight to the fraternity house where the brothers were hosting  a cookout for the parents. One of the parents cooked BBQ chicken and someone else smoked a brisket.  All the parents chipped in the with sides and we had a really nice time.  It was nice to see Peter in his element with his friends and it was  nice to get to meet and talk to some of the guys.

They had a big screen TV set up outside and we watched the Clemson/Wake Forest football game.  The cookout was from 2 to 4 and after that, the three of us headed to our hotel.  Thanks to me forgetting to make a hotel reservation when I ordered the football tickets, we were staying in Cary instead of Raleigh.  Not too big of a deal because it's still pretty close. I would have just preferred to be in Raleigh.  

When I made the reservation, I made it for one queen bed since it was going to be just the two of us and that was cheaper.  Once we realized Sarah would be joining us we called to see if we could upgrade the room.  They were booked solid so we had to stick with the room we originally booked. I didn't even bother trying to find another hotel because I knew they were all sold out thanks to Parents Weekend. So we took a sleeping bag with us. Dan was a good sport (and a good daddy) and slept on the floor even though Sarah said she would.  

We checked in to our hotel and then got ready for the football game.  We left Sarah at the hotel and headed to Carter Finley Stadium. NC State is pretty good this year so tickets sold out fast but luckily I ordered them as soon as they became available and wasn't scrambling for tickets like a lot of the parents on the parent Facebook page.  Unfortunately, I forgot to purchase the parking pass and we ended up parking at the Vet school which was a brisk 15 minute walk to the stadium. But it was actually a fun walk. We got to walk through the student tailgating section and it made me wish I was back in college again! 

Gabi (Sarah's roommate) was actually in Raleigh for the weekend visiting her sisters and babysitting her cousin so while we were at the game, she picked up Sarah and their friend Noah, (another member of the basement) who goes to NC State but didn't manage to get a ticket in the student ticket lottery,  and they went out to dinner.    

Peter, who also didn't get a ticket in the student lottery, had to buy a ticket from someone who had an extra one, texted us at the beginning of the game to get our section and seat numbers. He came over to try to sit with us but it was packed so he went back to his seat. 

NC State was winning handily at halftime and some of the upper sections were emptying out a little so we were able to sit with him for the last half of the game.  

NC State has installed a new LED lighting system and the light show  before the game was so cool. And they turned everything red every time they scored as well.

Dan and I had seats in the end zone and they were very close to the field. Not the best for actually watching the game but it was really neat to be so close to the action. After the players came out of the tunnel and on to the field, the all came to the end zone in front of us and kneeled down to pray.                                                  

(Look at that kid creeping into our picture!)

PAT!!!

Here we are with the boy after we changed seats:

After the game, we made the long walk back to the car, dropped Peter off at his house and headed back to the hotel. We had a great time with Peter at the game and Sarah had a great time with her friends.  It was a good day!

On Sunday morning, we went to Mass at St. Michael the Archangel in Cary.  Last year we attended Mass at the Cathedral in Raleigh but this church was close to the hotel so we went there.  The church building is only 25 years old but they did a great job making it look like an older church on the inside.  The stained glass was stunning. There were a lot more windows but this is the only picture I got.  I love the blues!

After Mass we headed to Raleigh and picked up Peter and went to lunch at MoJo's Burger Joint.  It was delicious!  After lunch we dropped Peter back off at his place, hugged his neck real tight, said our "I Love Yous", and headed back home.

Sarah stayed with us until after dinner and then she headed back to Charlotte.  (I didn't get any pictures of her sadly, but it was so good to see my girl!)

But  never fear, I will get some pictures of her soon, because next weekend we are headed to Charlotte for UNCC's Parent Weekend.  The weather is supposed to be rainy thanks to the hurricane so I'm not sure how much of the football game we will actually watch. I'm already trying to think of an activity or two we can do if it rains. 

I'm happy my kids are enjoying themselves and their college experiences but I'm even happier when I get to see them in person!