2 Good Things About Greensboro

After being sort of brutal to this city, I owe it an apology... After extensive research, we have found at least a couple fun things to do.

thing 1

eastern music festival

There are a few youth orchestras as part of the Eastern Music Festival that meet here for summer music camps and give free concerts of the classic pieces they are learning around the city every Sunday.  

We went to one last Sunday on the grounds of Guilford College. It was a cool campus, so the night doubled as our Sunday afternoon walk! 

In the middle of the college courtyard is this amazing structure by a famous N.C. artist called "The Hornet's Nest." This artist makes structures around the country out of all natural materials-- no nails or glue, etc-- and leaves them up for a specific amount of time before they would disintegrate.  This one was inspired by the campus and will be on display until Feb. 2012. 

There was  a huge crowd there.  It was so fantastic to see small children jumping around to the classic orchestra, dads playing frisbee with kids, and people sharing picnics. 

I love any place where we can find free, music, art all in the same place! Now that is one perfect Sunday afternoon! This sort of cultural, community activity is exactly what we love and look for.  

thing 2

Free bike rental at Bur-Mil Park

There are a few large parks around Greensboro (not the 27 we're used to in Hickory....), and one is Bur-Mil park. It is huge, and dedicated to different sports.  There are a few protected finishing lakes, hiking and mountain biking trails, a family pool complex, picnic shelters, a wildlife education center, wedding pavilion, etc. 

Dasani sponsors this park, so they have provided free

 bikes and helmets any person can check out for the day.  

I just hit the 18 week mark; I'm officially not supposed to bike or do other activities where I may lose my balance because my center of gravity is off.  I still trust myself, but we did stick to the 5-mi paved loop around  the back of the park. 

The trail was BEAUTIFUL! The trail was a good combination of up and downhill to be hard but manageable with some breaks and coasting.  We passed a few lakes, a bridge, flower fields, etc.  

We chilled with a picnic we'd brought, and Ben found a great space for us to slack line 

and throw a frisbee. 

It was a really great day.  Renting free bikes for a beautiful ride... 

How perfect is that?!?
Thanks, Dasani!

I guess we can stay. 

We are having a GIRL!

Yesterday I had my first midwife appointment at my new clinic in Greensboro, and had a great experience there. They immediately knew who I was, and gave me so much attention.  They even scheduled my anatomical ultrasound for TODAY! Just one day later! I love them!

So today Ben and I went to the Women's Hospital for our anatomical ultrasound, to check that the baby is growing and developing ok and find out the gender.  So.... Drum roll....

We are having a baby girl!

We're having a baby girl... we're having a baby girl... We are having a daughter... Our baby is a Girl... 

Our baby's cute profile.  She's an actual baby! This is so cool! 

You can't really tell in the picture, but we were told this shot is of the baby 

crossing her ankles together while kicking, which is sort of cute :) 

1st thought:

But we disagree on the girl names we've talked about so far... at least we were on the same page with the boy names... 

2nd thought:

Jackson was right.  Our almost 4-yr-old nephew has correctly predicted the last 3 babies in our family!

3rd thought:

Girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes.  I see a onesie with hot pink aviators in our daughter's future. 

Any name suggestions (be honest... you have them)  can be left in a comment here.  (but we still probably won't consider Hildegard or Michael, Mom.)