Halloween 2011

Virginia Visit

A month ago, we traveled up to Virginia to visit Granddaddy and Vivian. (I know, I know, my posts are few and far between lately. I'm a little busy with life these days.) The drive up there was grueling. It took us 14.5 hours to get there. At around 7 p.m. we came to a stand-still in road construction traffic and there we sat. For 2.5 hours we only traveled 9 miles. Misery. Then, we tried to throw in the towel and stop at a hotel for the night only to be turned away twice due to no room in the inn. We had no choice but to press on and we finally arrived at 2:30 in the morning. The drive home would also be in the running for worst drive ever, but I'll get to that...

No rest for the weary when you have two 4-year-olds who have been dreaming about the pumpkin-patch-on-steroids since last year's visit, so the next day... or actually the same day, I guess?... we loaded back into the car and headed for Cox Farms. It did not disappoint.

I did not anticipate the cold wind, and this little hooded blanket tucked away in the diaper bag came in very handy for little Ward. He was snug as a bug in a rug wrapped up in this and tucked into the Baby Bjorn. Incidentally, Brandon was the champion baby carrier of the trip.

The slides were a hit again this year, but even more of a crowd-pleaser was the rope swing. I was impressed that M&E were really pretty good at it. As Eli put it, "Three-year-olds can't swing on that rope, but four-year-olds can. That's why we didn't do it last year."

The whole gang:

I told Granddaddy before we traveled up there that we expected a full schedule of activities and he delivered. The day after the "punkin patch" we went to Charlottesville for lunch at Michie Tavern and apple picking at Carter Mountain. (I sure do miss Charlottesville.) Our apple-picking duo picked 35 pounds of apples. Yum.

Another day, another adventure. We headed out the next day for White Oak Canyon Falls. My family used to go hiking up in that area often when we lived there and I remember why - it is absolutely beautiful.

I think we only made it in about a mile or so before Madeline ran out of steam, so we stopped for an apple break.

I would be remiss if I also didn't mention that we managed to squeeze in a dinner with Allison while we were up in VA, too. She had just been down to AL to visit us and meet Ward, so that means we got to see her twice in a matter of weeks. I'm fairly certain that hasn't happened since we lived in the same house... icing on the cake.

Three hours into the drive back down south, we discoved why Madeline was dragging during our hike when we had to pull over for her to throw up on the side of the interstate. So, despite the crummy drive, we all had a blast and a great visit, and though it may be a while before we brave the drive again, we will definitely be back.