Dad and Deana came to visit!

In May my Dad and stepmom Deana came to see us! It was so nice, they were our first visitors and I was beyond excited to see some familiar faces!  I hadn't ventured out much to explore the area, so this was the perfect excuse to do just that!  We went and visited two different Civil War battlefields, and took the kids to the Aloha Safari Zoo.  On a relaxing day the kids and I went swimming at the pool at their hotel.  It was a great visit and I can't wait for them to come see us again!  Now when I see things I make note so I can remember to take them next time!

Averasboro Battlefield. The Battle took place March 15-16th, 1865 and was the very first tactical resistance to the Union troops' march through the South. 8,000 Confederates vs. 25,000 Federals.  Those Southern boys had some cahones!  650 Union casualties, 800 Confederate.

Preserved slave quarters. A reminder.

Aloha Safari Zoo

Black Swan!

Wolf pup on a leash.  hmmm....

Checkin' out the huge tortoise.  He was eating watermelon!

This little dude wants to be friends!

Zorse.  Half zebra, half horse.  Wish the pic had turned out better!

Brothers.  First swim of the Summer!

Gramps and Bam-bam!

I wish I would have remembered to take pics at the Bentonville Battlefield.  It was a lot bigger and more spread out than Averasboro.  The Confederates pulled out of Averasboro in the middle of the night and marched over to Bentonville, hoping to cut Sherman off before he could resupply in Goldsboro.  The Averasboro battle was simply a diversionary tactic to slow them down so the Confederates could get more troops together.  The Confederates attacked Sherman's troops while they were marching, and the battle took place between March 19th - 21st.  It was so spread out that it takes a driving tour to see it all.  I love how these places have been preserved so that we can go and see exactly how it was.  Even the "works" are still in place, and at Bentonville the home that was used as the Union field hospital is preserved and you can tour it!  Seriously cool stuff!  During this battle approximately 20,000 Condederates attacked 60,000 Federals.  They were defeated and Sherman marched on to Goldsboro.  1,527 Union troops and 2,606 of their Confederate brothers lost their lives during the Confederates last big opposition.  The war was over a few weeks later.