Vacation, Part 3

The kids have loved kicking me out of Grandad and Nana's house.  Caroline asked me if I would go back to Texas with Todd so that Grandad and Nana could take care of them.  The boys didn't really care where I went as long as it was out of the house.  Josiah kept asking me if I wanted to take a walk; not a lovely stroll together, just me...leaving.  The love for their grandparents was palpable.  Not so much the love for their parents.

They got to do many of the same things that they look forward to, baseball and bubbles in the backyard,

Caroline giving Grandaddy the stare down. 

lawnmower rides with Grandaddy,


playing with the big red wagon, and relaxing in the backyard.

Caroline picked flowers with Nana.

Henry played catch with Grandaddy.

Josiah still loves and asks for Nana's pork chops, and we all love her mashed potatoes.  They had dessert every day to their delight.

We went out to Golden Corral one afternoon.  Caroline had never been and really enjoyed her buffet experience.  She did compare most of the foods she ate to either Nana's or my food.  Nana's mashed potatoes are better, my cornbread (from a box) is better.  I'll take whatever I can get.  The best part of the buffet, for all the kids, was the dessert bar, especially this one with a chocolate fountain.  Caroline had sprinkles, a giant cupcake, and a chocolate covered marshmallow.

Josiah chocolate-fondued his dessert, and Henry had an entire plate of chocolate - brownie, cake, and chocolate fondue.  He left happy, and with chocolate all over him.

We got to see the "claw" trash truck that is one of the perks of living in Hampton.  You can put anything out on the curb and that claw will come around and pick it up.  This driver let the kids help guide the claw to pick up the trash.  They were ecstatic to help.

This year, Josiah was going through Todd's old piano books and saw the Star Wars theme song.  So, he spent time every day practicing the tune on the piano.  By the time Todd came back to Virginia, he had gotten it down pretty well.

They loved all their gifts and treasures from Nana and Grandad.  Dresses and remote control cars and princesses and light up jewelry and lightsabers.

We spent time with friends, too. We were able to meet up with some friends at a playground.  It was a huge playground with a ship theme.  For the first half of the time there, all the kids were playing Titanic.  They asked us parents if we wanted to play, too, but knowing the outcome, we declined.  It was great to see old friends again.  We all had a lot of fun.  Henry asked to text them the minute we got in the car.

We were able to go back and see Great Grandma.  I figured we wouldn't get much of a chance to talk during her birthday bash, so we wanted to make sure we saw her again.  The kids presented her with her birthday gift: half of a hollowed log filled with painted rocks.  They were proud of their rocks and wanted to explain them all.  The kids have a bit of that rock-hound blood of Great Grandma.

They loved Great Grandma's dessert portions - ice cream, cake, and berries on top.  Yes, please.

While in the D.C. area, we went to the Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.  The  morning of the museum, the kids happily filled up on waffles, doughnuts, and Lucky Charms at the hotel's continental breakfast.  Nothing like massive amounts of sugar and then setting them free in the museum.  We stopped at the front desk and they gave each of the kids a scavenger hunt.  It was pictures of planes with clues.  Each plane name was the name of an animal.  I don't know if it was the sugar in their bodies or solely due to the scavenger hunt, but they were on a mission.  They were so focused on their clues, that they didn't really experience the museum.  They read none of the information boards at the planes.  It was slightly frustrating until I just went all-in on the scavenger hunt with them.  It wasn't the easiest hunt and we walked the museum a few times trying to find specific planes.

Josiah with "Skipper" from the Disney Planes movie. 

Caroline was tuckered out by the end and provisions at the museum's in-house McDonald's was where we went.  McDonald's is half the reason they like being on vacation, because I don't like to buy it otherwise.  After a nutritious Happy Meal we stepped into the gift shop where it took a billion minutes for a certain child to decide what to buy.  The two younger kids decided on an astronaut bear somewhat early on, but the remaining child had to try every pull-back plane before deciding on just the right one, then changing his mind and trying them all over again.

We saw Great Grandma again before heading out of town and she gave Caroline a very real looking baby doll.  Caroline dropped the name "Mikey" and christened it "Kevin."  She loves Kevin and is fascinated by his real diaper and clothes.

My Aunt Kathy gifted us her violin.  The kids are very excited to get to play it.  So now we are searching out violin lessons.  I'm excited to see what comes of it.  I've always wanted them to at least try music lessons.

Before leaving Virginia, and when Todd got back in town, we headed over to the Virginia Living Museum.  It is full of living animals that are native to Virginia.  However, they also had a dinosaur exhibit that the kids loved.  They had large areas of fossils covered in sand/pebbles with paint brushes for the kids to uncover the bones.  I think Josiah needs a paint brush, sand, and a few hidden bones for his next birthday - he could have done it all day.

They loved the veterinarian area there, too.  One section had a microscope that you could pick up and look at slides.  The image would appear on the computer screen in front of you.  Henry didn't have time to look at slides and immediately put the microscope up to his eye.  A giant eye appeared on the screen.  Then all the kids did it.  Of course, that led to them looking up their noses and down their throats.

The Living Museum was a good experience until the end when we were horrible parents who wouldn't buy them overpriced food in the food court or a souvenir in the gift shop.  We were literally 15 minutes from Grandad and Nana's house.  They weren't going to starve, whether they believed that or not.

Towards the end of the week, we headed back home to Texas.
25 days.
4293 miles.

And last, but not least, Caroline doing her thing.