The Drive to Virginia

At the beginning of the week, we spent a lot of time doing laundry, packing, and trying to clean the house, because by the end of the week we were in Virginia (and it's always nice to come back to a clean house).  As we drove through Houston one evening, Caroline quizzically asked, "Does God's hands get tired...[looking around at the city] ...because there are so many things?"  It was a cute question.  I asked her if she was thinking about the song, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."  She was, and so we talked about literal and figurative language.

The kids were so excited about the drive to Virginia.  The night before we left, Caroline literally could not sleep she was so excited.  She came to visit Todd at 1:15 a.m., me at 3:00 a.m. and Todd again at 3:30 a.m.  It was a bit rough when our alarms were set for 4:00 a.m.  A full seven miles into our drive, as we were passing the Imperial Sugar Factory in Sugar Land, before we even made it onto a highway, Caroline spotted a hotel.  "Is that our hotel?"  No, sweetie, our hotel is in another 693 miles.

The drive went better for the kids in part because they had Grandad & Nana's old phones to keep them occupied.  They played all sorts of Angry Bird games, completely running down their batteries.  They were a tremendous help in keeping them less bored.  The first day they ran their batteries down earlier than expected, so the second day Henry was adamant that he was going to wait until South Carolina before he turned on his phone.  Both boys waited.  Caroline made it to Georgia.


We remembered to bring Henry's bed sheet for the car ride this year.  He had such a good time with it last year, creating a little tent for himself.  But this year, Caroline and Josiah took it over and made a double tent for themselves.  It involved lots of yelling, "Don't pull it so hard."  and "You're taking it all."  but for a while, they had a double tent area.  It was always nice for everyone, because they were quieter when in their tents.  Next year, 3 sheets.

By the second day of driving, we did our usual talk of flying next year.  We made it to Grandad and Nana's by the evening time, and the kids literally ran out of the car to say hello.  They were so, so excited to see them again.  Todd and I got out of the car like crotchety old people, needing to stretch our aching muscles and seeking a silent room with a soft bed.

Grandad and Nana surprised all the kids with remote control cars, which they have loved zooming around their circle.

We have played lots of baseball in the backyard.

They saw Grandad and Nana's neighbor again, and the boys have enjoyed playing with Bryce.  Caroline has fallen in love with his little sister who is only four months old.  She would love a baby sister.  Whenever she spots the mom outside, she runs towards her in hopes of seeing the baby.

We tried to have a fun trip to Colonial Williamsburg to learn some history and see what life was like in the 1700's.  We didn't buy tickets, we just wanted to walk down the main street and potentially walk on William & Mary's campus.  Josiah started out having a good time and was enjoying looking at things, until he kept wanting to go in every building and I would have to say, "That's a private residence."  "You need a ticket to go in that one."  Unfortunately, what ended up happening was we could only go in the merchant shops, so then Josiah wanted to buy something from all the shops and wasn't happy when we kept saying no (because Josiah is a persistent little fellow and will ask for absolutely everything in the store and not just once or twice).  So, his happy mood changed to an insolent teenager.

Caroline was doing fine until her shoes gave her a blister and she was unable to walk any longer.  She acted a bit like an amputee.

Henry acted like a sulky teenager the moment he got in the car to drive to Williamsburg.  He didn't want to go, he didn't want to do anything, he didn't want to be in any pictures, he didn't want to read any of the plaques, he didn't want to participate.  There was a bit of a dichotomy between what we idealized the trip would look like in our head versus the reality of the trip.  With all the attitudes and unkind/disrespectful words, we skipped our lunch plans, skipped the walk through W&M, and just went back home to Grandad and Nana's.  There they had the audacity to ask to do their phones/iPad.  Uh, no.

Caroline acting dead.

The next day, Saturday, they were happy that we weren't going anywhere.  They just wanted to play with Grandad and Nana, which was just fine with us.  There are very nice neighbors on Grandad and Nana's street and one walked Caroline around her whole back yard, showing her all the plants and flowers she's growing, as well as a vegetable garden.  Caroline ate it all up and came home with a big bouquet of flowers.

Nana surprised the kids with blankets she knitted for each of them in their favorite colors.

They are having a very fun time.  I had plans to do more museums/farms this coming week, but if they only want to play with Grandad and Nana, we may just skip the plans.  That and Josiah keeps trying to kick me out of the house.  "Mommy, do you want to take a walk by yourself?"  "You can go get us milk." "When are you going to leave?"  Are you trying to get me out of the house, child?  He always vigorously nods his head.  One of the nicest parts of our Virginia vacation is sleeping in.  I hear Grandad and Nana getting the kids breakfast, and though I know I should get up, I don't exactly get up quickly.  It is nice to sleep.     

So that is week one.