Wednesday, October 28
After the long and wet ride from Kill Devil Hills, it was nice to have some time to get settled in at Mike and Kelly's house and get a little nap.
When everyone was finally home from work and daycare, we began getting caught up on the latest news, had some supper, and then Ava and Jack donned their Halloween costumes and we went to a celebration at the church some neighbor friends attend so the kids could get their first taste of trick-or-treating. It goes without saying (although we're going to say it anyway) that Ava and Jack were the cutest kids there!
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Thursday, October 29
While Mike and Kelly went to work and Ava and Jack were at daycare, we spent most of the day lounging around and trying to get caught up on organizing all the pictures that we had taken over the past couple of weeks.
Around 3:30, we drove over to Miss Jodie's house to pick up Ava and Jack and bring them home for a couple of hours of excitement. Neither of the kids had ever seen Taz until this trip, and both were very interested in it. We had brought along a child-sized helmet just for this occasion and, after explaining some ground rules for riding, the fun began...
Both kids enjoyed their short rides around the neighborhood, but when Jack realized that I took Ava on a different route on her second ride, he made it known that she was going somewhere he didn't get to go, and he wanted to go there too.
Since Kelly would be flying out tomorrow to visit her mother and sister for a few days, she and Mike had a "date night" this evening, which meant that we got some extra special time with Ava and Jack. The kids' favorite Mexican restaurant is Chuy's, so that's where we went. We even got to dine outside in the fresh air, and the kids had a blast playing outside and enjoying their meal.
When we returned to the house, we broke out the trumpet so that Ava and Jack could "play" it. The first time Ava heard me play the trumpet when she was a year old, it scared her, but now she is all about trying to play it (and, for a 5-year old, she has a pretty good embouchure). Jack doesn't care so much about trying to make the sounds, but he loves to play with the valves!
When Mike and Kelly returned from their date night, we all just sat around and enjoyed family time while watching the kids play.
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Friday, October 30
Ava wasn't feeling well today and had a fever, so Grams and Gramps had a full day of babysitting at the house. Both kids are a delight to keep, even when they aren't feeling well, but they did keep us running. Grams planned some menus for the next few days and then Jack and Gramps went to Walmart to buy all the ingredients. And that was pretty much the extent of our day...certainly no photography time, although Barbara was able to find time to create a postcard using photos taken around the neighborhood.
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Saturday, October 31
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!!
We all lounged around enjoying a lazy Saturday morning. Ava was feeling much better, and both she and Jack were working on their Halloween Mojo.
This afternoon, we all went to the the kids' church to join in the Trunk-or Treat festivities, and then later this evening we hit the neighborhood to see the decorations and have a little Trick-or-Treat fun.
An added bonus for the day was when Mike's friend and roommate from their days in China came over to spend some time and watch the World Series game.
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Sunday, November 1
Church Day!!! This was our first visit for a service at the Village Church, which had moved to a new building since the last time we were here with the kids. It's a beautiful facility and all parts of the service were great. We decided that if we lived in the Richmond/Midlothian area, this is a place we could call home.
After church, Mike took us to a nearby restaurant, Noodles, where we met up with former Liberal student Kim Roth, who drove over from Newport News to spend some time with us. The Asian food was great and a good time was had by all.
After lunch, we drove back to the house for an afternoon nap, followed by an evening of fun with Ava and Jack and the World Series game.
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Monday, November 2
Mike took the kids to Miss Jodie's house for day care this morning while we prepared for rainy day activities...like washing clothes and cooking.
We picked Ava and Jack up from day care around 3:30 and drove to Chick-Fil-A for a snack and some fun times...and photos to send to Mike and Kelly.
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Tuesday, November 3
A busy day for everyone today. We took Ava and Jack to Miss Jodie's and, after returning to the house, decided to ride Taz to Walmart to buy a new tail light for the trailer and try to make the repairs in the parking lot, where there was plenty of sunshine. As it turned out, the tail light assembly I bought was just exactly the wrong size, so we returned it and then went to the UPS store to mail some packages and postcards. When we were finished there, we went next door to a subway shop for lunch and then returned to the house.
After picking Ava and Jack up from Miss Jodie's house, we stopped at an area park to let the kids work off some steam.
Back at the house, Jack "helped" me do some repairs to the trailer wiring, an then when Mike got home, we enjoyed supper and some evening family time.
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Wednesday, November 4
After taking the kids to Miss Jodie's house for day care, we went on a county-wide search for a tail light assembly that would fit our trailer. It took driving to four different stores and about two and a half hours of driving around, but we finally found exactly what we needed. When we finally got back to the house, I installed the assembly and began the rewiring process, but was stopped in my tracks after about an hour when the entire lighting system blew out, including the tail lights on Taz...this was not good.
Sensing my frustration (I didn't hide it very well), Barbara got her phone and started looking for places that might be able to help us. She finally hit pay dirt when she located Southside Trailers, about an hour away from the house. We quickly looked up the address, set the GPS, and took Taz and the trailer across miles of back roads to get to the shop in time to drop the trailer and then get back to Miss Jodie's house to pick up the kids so we could have some play time together at Chick-Fil-A before going home for an evening with Mike.
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Thursday, November 5
Once we got the kids to day care, we returned to the house to begin packing for the next part of the adventure that would start tomorrow.
Our friends Rod and Ruth Kunkel, whom we had met in Lady Lake, Florida, on our first church-building mission in 2007, drove down from Lake Anna and met us at Red Lobster for lunch and a time of catching up on all that had happened since our last trip to Virginia.
While we were finishing lunch, we got the call from Southside trailers that our trailer was finished, so we said goodbye to Rod and Ruth and rode Taz back across the county. Our hearts dropped when we hooked the trailer up and the lights still didn't work, but after a couple of phone calls to the Can Am dealer in Tyler, we located the fuse box, replaced a burned fuse in Taz, and then were ready to roll once more.
Since we had all the repairs done (at a very reasonable cost) the ride back was a little more relaxing. Barbara even had time to forget about the GPS instructions and take some photos of the beautiful Virginia fall scenery.
We got back to the house in time to pick up the kids for some play time at the park near Mike's office and then drove to Bonefish Grill for a very special meal. Afterward, we all went to Ava and Jack's favorite dessert place, Sweet Frog, for a delicious and fun dessert.
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Friday, November 6
Our time with Mike and the kids came to an end early this morning as we loaded Taz and the trailer, said our goodbyes, and got a pre-dawn start on the traffic. Our visit was so much fun, but it was time to move on to the next leg of our Fall Adventure on Taz, and carrying our memories with us..
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Leaving Midlothian and hitting the road again,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
