The Journey: A Little More Time in
Virginia
Tuesday, May 22 – Monday, May 28, 2012
Tuesday, May 22
We quickly
got back into fulltime Grams & Gramps mode today, putting the adventures of
the weekend on the back burner and taking care of Ava. As soon as Mike and Kelly got off to work,
the fun began. We could talk for hours
about our grandkids, but we’ll let the photos do the talking for us in this
edition.
After going
through the morning routine of breakfast, playtime, and a good nap (for Ava and
us), we decided this afternoon to take Ava to a marina/park in the
development. It was a beautiful
afternoon, and Ava was definitely up for some serious playtime in the great
outdoors. Her favorite activity was the
slide. Grams and Gramps got to do some
serious weightlifting, as Ava only slides down on her own. Grams also got some great videos of the
activities...we just need to learn how to embed them on the blog postings.
Tonight was “Date Night” for Mike and Kelly, a little surprise that we worked out with Mike as a surprise for Kelly. It was a win-win situation for all of us, as we got extra Grams & Grams time with Ava, and Mike and Kelly got dinner and a movie away from the rest of us.
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Wednesday, May 23
Most of today
was just like any other day when we are with Ava...nothing changes except for
her outfits.
When we are
keeping Ava, Mike tries to come home at lunch to have a little dad and daughter
time. We get the lunch ready and all he
has to do is eat his meal and feed Ava.
This evening we went back to Cary Street for another meal at Thai Diner Too. We had decided last week that we would try some new dishes this time. As always, everything was delicious! Following the meal, we walked up and down Cary Street and then stopped at a chocolate store to see what they had to offer. Oddly enough, there were no Hershey’s bars available there. Ava walked around looking and sniffing...we think she thought she was in Heaven!
When we got home and the kids had gotten Ava bathed an in bed, we decided to have some classy “adult time” together. Mike got out one of his DVDs and we all settled in to watch “Joe Dirt,” a compelling story with great moral values...yeah, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Barbara is still wondering why she watched the whole thing instead of going to bed after the first scene.
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Thursday, May 24
Grandparenting
101 includes lessons in the latest PBS offerings for kids. Ava plays independently, but likes to have
the TV on for brief glimpses of her favorite shows, including The Cat in the
Hat, Curious George, and Elmo’s World.
Mike and
Kelly both had busy days scheduled today, so we took care of Ava’s morning
routine, starting with breakfast.
With breakfast out of the way, Ava
went through the rest of her morning activities (including her nap, and then
was up and about for afternoon fun.
As the kids were wrapping up their packing, our friends Rod and Ruth arrived to visit us for a few hours. They live on Lake Anna, about an hour and a half north of Richmond.
We spent the
afternoon reminiscing and getting caught up on each other’s lives and then
drove to a nearby Mexican restaurant to sample their fare and continue the
conversations.
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Saturday, May 26
It was
adventure time again this morning as we got dressed, took care of some
household chores, and drove across Richmond and up I-95 for a visit with Norm
and Carrie Foote. Carrie, as readers
might remember, was a member of our graduating class at Artesia. We had not seen Carrie since graduation night
50 years ago, but met her last week on the trip to D.C. and she and Norm came
to Arlington National Cemetery for the Taps 150 Commemoration last Saturday.
Carrie and
Norm had invited us to come to lunch sometime during our visit if we could work
it out, and with the kids being gone to West Virginia, today was a perfect time
to take them up on their offer.
After a few
minutes of talking and getting reacquainted, Carrie and Norm showed us through
their beautiful home and took us outside to see their yards and landscaping.
Barbara and I had somehow missed out on our seafood dining adventures that we had hoped for, but Carrie and Norm more than made up for it with a delicious crab fest with all the trimmings.
We spent at least an hour cracking crabs, peeling out the good stuff, and then stuffing ourselves with crab meat, slaw (Carrie’s family recipe), and Pink Stuff (another family favorite). Of course, there was also lots of talking going on between bites, and the ever-present photo opportunities.
In short, it
was a very pleasant and fulfilling (and just plain filling) afternoon with new
old friends. The time finally came when
we had to say our goodbyes so Barbara and I could get back to Richmond for the
evening. However, it wasn’t really
goodbye we were saying, but “See you in October at the 50th
anniversary reunion of the Artesia High School Class of 1962!”
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Sunday, May 27
We had
decided earlier in the week that we needed to be in church this morning. The only question was where it would be. After checking out some options, we made
plans to attend the Woodlake United Methodist Church, just a few blocks from
the kids’ house.
We decided on
attending the early traditional service, and it wasn’t long after we arrived
that we knew this was exactly where God wanted us to be this morning. The people were very friendly, the music was
great, and the scriptures and sermon were just what we needed.
After the
service, we drove up the road a bit to IHOP and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast,
something we almost never do...at least the IHOP part.
After
breakfast, we drove about 30 miles down the highway to Amelia, Virginia, where
several years ago we had noticed a big RV park.
We know that the time will come when we’ll visit the kids during a time
that their house will be full of company and we’ll need a place of our own. Also, it won’t be too long until Ava will be ready
to spend some time with us in Big V.
The
Amelia Family RV Park seemed to fill the bill for what we are going to need, at
least on a short-term basis. While not a
modern RV resort, it does have a very homey and welcoming atmosphere, along
with a playground for the little ones, a pool, and a beautiful little
lake. Additionally, the park hosts Blue
Grass festivals, something we’d really enjoy.
We visited
with the owner and got permission to drive around the park to check out sites
and amenities in the beautifully wooded area.
When we had
checked the RV Park out as thoroughly as possible, we drove back to Midlothian
for the rest of the afternoon.
Recent rains
had allowed Mike and Kelly’s yards to grow almost out of control, so Barbara
and I decided that before lunch and a nap, we would do some serious
mowing. Neither of us thought to get a
camera to record the momentous occasion, but recorded or not, we followed Larry
the cable guy’s advice and “Got ‘er done!And after that, there was nothing to do but have a light lunch, take a shower, and kick back for the remainder of the afternoon and evening...that is, until we got the urge to go to Walmart...guess we were feeling guilty for not having gone there for two days.
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Monday, May 28
Today was one
of the busiest days we’ve spent in a long time.
We told the kids that we’d have supper ready when they came home, so a
large part of the morning was spent preparing the big meal. I started the smoker early and put on pork
loin, while Barbara made some special dishes for our last big meal with the
kids.
When we
weren’t in the kitchen, we were busy getting caught up on journal and blog
entries, making phone calls, doing the laundry, packing, and taking care of the
thousand and one other chores that would have to be done before we started the
trip back home tomorrow morning.
Mike, Kelly, and Ava got back around
5:30, just in time for us to set out the meal and sit down to enjoy it while
getting caught up on each other’s stories from the weekend.
Ava was so
wired that she almost never went to bed, something very unusual for her. The kids got her in bed, but it wasn’t long
before she made it VERY clear that she wasn’t happy about it. They brought her back down and we played in the
playroom for awhile until she was finally ready for some serious sleep time.
Once Ava was
down for the count, Mike, Kelly, and I went to the den to finish watching Anchorman, while Barbara took her leave
and went upstairs to get an early start on sleep.
When the
movie was over, we all decided that it had been a very full day and it was
definitely time to head for bed.
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“Laughter is the
fireworks of the soul.”
– Josh Billings
Our last
night with Mike, Kelly, and Ava in Midlothian,
Jim/Dad/Gramps
and Barbara/Mom/Grams
