Trip to Williamsburg

At the end of March we visited Williamsburg with Grandma and Grandpa (pictured above). We had a sort of mini family reunion. My uncle Larry arranged for a rental house nearby Williamsburg so we could all stay together–10 adults and 5 kids, it was cozy. We had a great time. The first day we walked through Colonial Williamsburg as seen in the above picture (taking a rest on a bench). The following two days we spent at Busch Gardens. The weather was absolutely beautiful. The kids had a blast going on a bunch of rides and I managed to sneak off for a couple of hours each day to go on some “big stomach” rides (as Taylor calls it) thanks to my Mom and my Aunts who watched the kids. On Friday my Aunt and Uncle watched the kids all day so that myself, my Mom and Dad, could go off and explore. We had another gorgeous day! We met up with Aunt Kathy and her friend and had lunch at the Williamsburg Winery and enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine on the patio! Fabulous food and wine and company. We left on Saturday to head back home. We spent the day in DC on Sunday looking around. We went from 70 degree weather to 30 degree weather, quite the adjustment. We had a great visit with all the family that I hadn’t seen in quite some time.

Visit to Manassas National Battlefield Park

Yesterday with visited the Manassas National Battlefield Park which is only a couple of miles from where we live. It was a beautiful day with a high of about 65 but it was a little windy out. The park has a lot of trails to walk and is beautiful. We decided to walk the Henry Hill Loop Trail which is 1.2 miles. We saw a statue of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson which you see the kids pictured walking towards. We also walked by Henry House and read about the history of the battles that took place there. We then came up on the cannons. The kids really liked looking at these and playing with them. The kids walked the entire 1.2 mile loop, Christian and Taylor ran parts of it. Luke even walked about half of the loop with his little legs. Needless to say, the kids were tired by the time we were done. There is so much more to see at this park and we plan on visiting it many more times while we are here.

Visit to “Ankle” Larry and Aunt Joan’s House

 

We visited my Uncle Larry and Aunt Joan this last weekend.  It was nice to visit with them and for the kids to meet them finally.  When I told Taylor about how Uncle Larry is Grandpa Steve’s brother Taylor started calling him “ankle” Larry even though she calls her Uncle Steve, “uncle”.  The kids had a lot of fun meeting and playing with their two dogs, Buffy and Sissy.  Another highlight was the kids got to take a ride in ankle Larry’s “red car” as the kids called it.  When Uncle Larry told Christian he could ride in the red car on the way to church, Christian had a huge grin from ear to ear that I believe was pasted on his face throughout the entire ride.  Taylor got to ride home from church in the red car with the top down.  We briefly got to meet cousin Mark and hopefully we will be able to visit with him more another time.  Needless to say, we had a great time visiting with Uncle Larry, Aunt Joan, Buffy, and Sissy.  We look forward to many more visits while we are here. 

Taylor and Christian playing ladder golf with Aunt Joan

Taylor gives a tour of our Virginia apartment

 

I gave Taylor the video camera and told her to give everyone a tour of our Virginia apartment.  She really enjoyed doing this and was particularly interested in showing everyone the smoke detectors (which she was fascinated with in Idaho) and her new fascination with the sprinklers in our apartment.  All video is shot from her perspective and she is holding the camera (I did help her zoom in on certain things; (ie. the sprinklers).  At the end of the video Christian takes a turn with the video camera and shows off a little of the apartment as well (I hope no one gets motion sickness from Christian’s shots).  Anyway, I thought it would be nice for everyone to see our new surroundings and the kids enjoyed making this video because they were the photographers for a change. 

Hello from Virginia!

Hello Everyone!  We are here in Virginia!  We are in a furnished 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment.  The complex is nice and we have an outdoor pool, outdoor playground for the kids, a business center with computers (how I am posting this now), and a fitness room.  The weather here is pretty nice compared to Idaho right now, in the 50’s.  When we arrived on Tuesday it was 65, absolutely beautiful Wednesday as well.  I was so warm I was wearing jeans and a tank top.  The scenery here reminds me of Minnesota in some ways (compared to Idaho) a lot of trees.  The kids were excited about their new rooms and the new surroundings.  We are getting accustomed to our new apartement and are adjusting nicely.  The kids are sleeping well, etc.  We joined a fitness center today!  They have a big pool with water slide, fitness classes, weight room, and cardio room along with a lot of other cool stuff.  The kids stay in the Child Care for an hour so Scott and I can workout.  The kids did great this morning in the child care.  They were excited to play with all the toys and other kids.  We are still waiting for our packages to arrive which has a lot of their toys, so having something new to play with was exciting for them.  The fitness center is only 5 minutes from us and Scott’s work is across the street from the fitness center.  So, basically we will be able to stay in shape or possibly get in better shape than we were before.  I ran 2 miles on the treadmill and did a 20 minute workout on the inclined stair stepper while Scott lifted weights.  Scott starts work on Monday, he is excited about getting started and seeing what his schedule will be like.  We are excited about exploring more of the area and doing some of the many things there are to do here.  We miss all of our friends in Idaho and of course our family as well.  We look forward to all of your visits soon!

I will have pictures posted soon when our computer arrives and will have Grandma Georgia’s birthday video posted then as well (sorry Grandma this is so late, we recorded it on your birthday but I wasn’t able to get it posted before we moved).

Love,

Angie