"I miss you already..."

A slideshow from our last day in Richmond

"Santa Grandpa"

Every year we have taken pictures with the kids and Grandpa in his Santa hat.  We try to do one together and then individuals.  The two big kids, no problem...

They are pros.  They think this is lots of fun.

And because of how fond Eliana had been of my dad we thought she would sit in his lap and give us a sweet smile...but it didn't quite work out that way...

It may have been the hat.

We didn't try for too long, because it just wasn't going anywhere, so we went and got lunch, took it back to our units, and started the packing process.

And now she was all about Grandpa!

We need to have a chat about timing.

And just to end on a really random note, we got to my parents' house that evening and Uncle Matt came by.  One more photo opportunity!

It's  not that bad, is it Funcle Matt?

Finishing Friday

The day after Thanksgiving was quite busy.  After we left Jamestown, we headed to the ferry that crosses the river to Surry County. We met up with some good friends of my parents, Jack and Gloria (we've known them for a very long time), and drove onto the ferry.  The kids thought this was very exciting, but they had no idea how great things were going to get.  And I had no idea either!  

As we waited for the ferry to start, my mom and I noticed the gazillion seagulls out to our right.

Anyone who knows me, or has read some of the posts on this blog, will understand how I felt...YIKES!  They made me anxious, and I was inside of our car, with the doors shut, and the windows up. 

Jack came over once the boat was well on its way and held up some bread.  He said,"They chase the ferry all the way across, let's feed 'em!"  I really didn't like that idea, but who am I to stand in the way of a great time?  The kids got out with my parents and headed to the back of the ferry and literally fed those birds, sometimes right from their hands.  Um, did I mention YIKES? 

THEY HAD A BLAST!!!  Here is Jack doling out the bread...

They were winging it up in the air (ha, no pun intended!)...

holding it for the birds to grab out of their hands...

and  having SO much fun...

Look at that face-totally delighted. 

And no one got sullied, either.  That's because I stayed in the car.  

I'm glad they had the experience.  It is fun to watch them have such a good time, even with seagulls.  And I love watching them with Jack and Gloria, who are very sweet to our kids and often have little goodies for them.  We usually get to visit with them at least once when we go see my mom and dad.

From the ferry we went to lunch at a popular, regionally speaking, little place...

That's always a great thing to do with people who are so special!

Later that evening, after turkey leftovers, Grandma had a treat for the kids...

no matter what size they were...

And we were silly enough to give these to them right before bed! 

Another day came to a close, and brought us closer to our trip back home.  Mom and I were feeling that "end-of-the-trip" rush, when everything seems to speed up for no reason.  I think we played two games of Scrabble that night in an attempt to prolong our time together! 

And then, we went to bed.  Friday was finished.

Natives and Colonists

Michaela "laid out" our plans for the day early on.  This was before breakfast! 

We got ourselves together and headed to the Jamestown living museum Friday morning-what a fascinating and sometimes disgusting experience.

Outside of the museum there is a fountain along with flags flying; they represent each state of the Union, in the order that they joined.  It's lovely to see.  So are these visitors posing for a shot here in front of this scene.

We went straight to the Powhatan Indian Village...this recreation is based on an excavated Paspahegh Indian site.

Here, the kids danced among pillars which the native Americans would have used for ceremonies and rituals.

They were fascinated by the corn grinders...

Looking at things like that makes me very grateful for my Hodgson Mill corn meal.  Corn bread has never been so easy.

They got a kick out of touring the homes...

Christian wanted to hang on and climb everything.

Although it was quite amazing to thing about living this way, I have to say I was a little heebie-jeebied by all the skins!

It didn't seem to bother the kids though!

I will say that Christian didn't believe me when I told him these were animal skins.

And he thought this looked illegal...(Keep in mind, this is the day after Thanksgiving...when we cooked a turkey in our oven...and he ate it...)

I suspect fowl play...

Maybe this is how they took that turkey down...

Christian thought the bows and arrows were pretty cool.

Here they are, scraping a skin.  I'm sorry to say that I could only let them do that for a short while before I said,"Move along, give someone else a turn!"

A native American playground...

and a game with feathers and hoops...

I love this picture of Christian.

Michaela gives it a shot...

Well, we left the Indian Village and headed down to the Waterfront.  There they have replicas of the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed.  These three ships brought the first permanent settlers to Virginia in 1607.  I bet those folks were glad to see this when they arrived after such a long and arduous journey.

These sailing vessels were so interesting to see and go aboard.  It is truly impossible for me to imagine living on something like this for 144 days!  Some pictures of the ships...

Looking for land?

Here's a friendly, welcoming face!  Land, ho!  There be peaceable folks ashore!

And this was no surprise...

These guys look pretty good for their age, no?

We saw cool stuff on the ships. 

Is that an astrolabe, or something else?  I really want to know.  Anyone...anyone?

I just like this picture...

We left the Waterfront and headed to the Fort.  We were greeted by...

They were in the middle of butchering a pig.  Again, Christian thought this was "not nice."  He's a sensitive little guy. 

I'm just glad it's not me in there.  The young man in the yellow cap came over to tell Christian all about preserving with salt. 

He was quite thorough, and Christian appreciated the lesson.  He stood there listening very politely, nodding his head with such a puzzled and sweet expression on his face. 

We also went in the schoolhouse.  Christian went exploring and Michaela was showing signs of being like her mother...

Firing shots...

I think this was like the Governor's house would have been.  It was a little bigger than other houses, and had a bedroom and one other room for eating. 

This woman explained that the Governor would have had beeswax candles which wouldn't smoke, and burned longer.  Lucky him!

I take comfort in the fact that some things remain constant over a very long period of time... 

And maybe I should end with that...Amen.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving something happened that has never happened before.  Mom and I roasted our first turkey.  I know!  Neither one of us had ever done it before, so it was an adventure. 

We had a relaxed morning, and then got our show on the road.  I have to be honest (and the pictures make it hard to tell a fibber), it was a turkey breast, not a whole bird.  Mom thought it looked more like a fish mouth.  I can see what she meant...

"ARGHHH!  DON'T EAT ME!  YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!  I'M NO GOOD!"

Well, not yet anyway...we had some work to do.  I stuffed butter up under the skin (ewww!  I really hate touching raw meat.) and gave it a sprinkle with some seasonings.  I also rubbed butter inside the cavity.  There was a lot of butter involved. 

I do wish, and so did Mom, that we had been more prepared with some fresh herbs and an onion to stuff in there.  I didn't realize there was so much room inside a turkey breast.   We could have put a wide-screen TV in there, added a sofa, the guys could've watched the game...

[You know, my husband just returned from a Christmas party with a plate of food for me and I was sitting here eating it-delicious food, but not so appetizing material in front of me...just to keep you informed.]

This is me washing up after introducing all that yummy butter to our nice little (1/2)bird...I had smashed some inside-the-turkey-frozen-juice/ice with my fingers accidentally earlier and it splattered all over me, so I had to run and shower.  That's why there's a towel on my head.  I just can't handle raw meat juice in my hair.  No, sir. 

Bye, bye birdie...we'll see you again real soon!

Well, it was done sooner than we thought it would be, the turkey!  Mom got to carve it while the rest of us pulled a few other things together quickly.

We sat down to eat around 3:15.  Here are the three Stooges Pilgrims.

Everyone had a full plate.  Mine is the one without gravy.  I know!  Crazy, isn't it?  Am I even American?  Hey, is gravy American?

This is my brother Matt.  He was able to join us for our special meal (and overnight too).

But this is really my brother Matt...

A little Where's Waldo on Thanksgiving, or any day, is fun...

Actually, this is a funny story.  My mom bought this Waldo book at a consignment store.  She thought Christian would enjoy finding that crazy character just like my brother did when he was little.  Well, when they pulled the book out and started looking through it, they realized that every single Waldo is already circled with a brown marker.  Oops.  

They still had fun looking for other things in the pictures.  There were long lists of wacky things to search for, so they got a kick out of finding things like boots with beards and bottoms on fire.

Eliana had her own brand of fun.  Who needs toys when you have metal cornbread pans?

She got a lot of mileage out of that pan.  I'll have to get one of those (this one was my mom's).

We are a picture-crazy family, and my mom had brought these little Pilgrim hats for the kids.  Christian early on broke one of them, so my mom tried to hold it on Eliana for a photo.  She was thrilled, can't you tell?

We finally gave up that fight...and Grandma decided she would wear the hat.  That would show Eliana!

I think it's kind of cute.

The rest of the day was very low-key.  While grown-up boys were watching football across the hall, the kids watched a sweet movie, Eliana took a nap, and Mom and I played a little Scrabble (it's an addiction when we're together). 

Looking around at everyone just made me feel so grateful for family.  Mike was not able to be with us in person, but we spoke on the phone.  We also got to talk to his mom and sister, and the kids talked with their cousins.  I am so thankful that the Lord has given us a close family, even though we are separated by many miles most of the time.  These moments together are so  special, and I cherish them!