It's Tradition

One of the things we do each time we visit Williamsburg (which is every other year for Thanksgiving) is go to a shop called the Yankee Candle Company.  It is quite large and there is so much to see and do there, from Christmas trees and ornaments, to mechanical mice, to...candles, of course.  Here is a hodge-podge of pictures from our evening there. 

Grandma and the kids couldn't resist these cookies...giant cookie cut-outs.  Or cut-ups?  I think they look delicious!

Next we had a little visit with Old Saint Nick. 

Oh, wait, that's my Dad...here's the guy in the red suit.

It's a good thing my Dad didn't have on his red sweater and Santa hat; Mom might not have known who to go home with.  (Just kidding...)

The kids did go and sit with Santa.  Christian asked for a motorcycle!  Where are we going to keep it, that's what I want to know.

Whenever Santa is around you can be sure there is a toy shop close by.  The kids had fun looking around at the toys and, well, playing. 

The kids (and my mom) had a lot of fun with all of the decorations and Christmas paraphenalia in this store.  There were many "photo ops"...here are a couple that turned out cute.

They had suckers in their mouths, their mouths are not really as big as they look in this picture.  You might not think that if you heard them on any given day, but I'm serious.

Something they were looking forward to all day was making candles for themselves.  At this shop you can choose a candle and then dip it into different colors and take it home with you (I mean, I had to pay for it and all, but as far as they know you just make it and take it!).

They chose the candles they wanted and got to work, dipping in the color and then the cold water.  They both thought this was cool, and Christian's expressions speak for themselves.

Michaela quietly worked on her candle...

The person who gave them instructions helped Christian to get just the color he wanted for his pumpkin.  I think he was pleased.

And Michaela was very creative with her cat...it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland a little.

These two very shy children just had to show Santa their creations...

I think they talked with him for about another five minutes.  He was extremely obliging. 

Here is a picture of the aforementioned mechanical mice.  They come out and give a little performance every hour.  Silly fun.

What a pleasant evening...yet another busy but wonderful day in Virginia, one where we were making memories as well as candles.

Grandpa's Here!

The entire time we were visiting with my Mom and Dad Eliana was totally taken with my Dad (except, of course, the last day when we were trying to get a special picture with the two of them and she wanted nothing to do with it!). The second day we were there, it was obvious that she had him wrapped around her little finger...and had her little fingers wrapped around his! We were in Williamsburg for a couple of days before he was able to join us, but when he arrived Eliana was so excited. He had hardly gotten in the door with his stuff before she commanded his lap. The two of them were so sweet to watch. She just couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He sent her some kisses... And she had some for him too... They continued their fun and games with a little peek-a-boo. Grandma was there too, enjoying their game. One more time... I really enjoyed watching them while we were all together. It brings so much joy to me that all of my children, not just Eliana, love their grandparents (Mike’s parents too) so much and so unconditionally, especially since we are so far away from all of them.

A Journey Back in Time

Tuesday, my mom, Michaela, Christian, Eliana, and I found a path that led us to another place. It was a beautiful day for such a wonderful “trippe.” This is one of the first buildings we encountered. I thought it was so quaint-a tailor’s shop. Genteel, even. This is Bruton Parish, which has been an active church in our country since early colonial times. It was also the church where Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry worshiped. It still has a large and active congregation and many Sunday services. The kids thought this was neat; actually, we all did. Michaela thought of Almanzo, in Farmer Boy. We saw many carriages riding around, and intended to look into riding in one. We went into one of the shops and Christian showed us what a gentleman he is... And I also noticed this... Maybe I could have survived colonial times after all. A little bit of pretty- We continued on our way, down this lovely lane in Colonial Williamsburg. There was a bit of variety in the buildings; some of them looked more like what you might expect from several hundred years ago, and some had a more “modern” look. There were places to eat, find lodging, make purchases, or acquire services. We saw the Capitol...but only from the outside. You had to have a special pass to get in. We have a tradition whenever we visit Colonial Williamsburg. We always stop in at the Sir Walter Raleigh Tavern for a treat and a hot chocolate. This year, Michaela chose a roll! Christian wanted a chocolate chip cake (a.k.a. a cookie). They both had hot chocolate. Thank you, Sir Walter Raleigh, for your kinde and generous hospitalitie to the foreigners in your towne. Many good folks were out and about on this fine day of our visit. I took the liberty of photographing them... And speaking of liberty, these fellows were discussing the importance of freedom, the tyranny of Britain’s taxing governors, and what may come of such things (I think...). The children sat down for a chat with a woman who was outside of the post office. I’m sure they brought this on themselves... That may have done the trick to teach Christian a lesson, especially. His arms would be mighty tired at the end of the day! I thought this was amazing. And beautiful. And cool. As we came to the close of our walking tour, we passed by some more lovely homes...Mom really liked this first one. We had so much fun together. It was a neat way to spend the morning. I do wish we had looked into one of the carriage rides. That will be something to look forward to next time!

A Journal of Our Days

After we got settled, our first night in Williamsburg was fairly quiet. Eliana spent some time checking out this new place.

Christian did a little coloring.

And these two...well, they were all about making a plan!

When it was a little closer to bedtime, Grandma read a sweet story to the kids and then they went to bed.

In the morning, the kids discovered Grandma’s “special bag,” which always shows up on a trip like this. She gathers crafts and neat books to share with the kids, and they were anxious to dig in!

Eliana and Grandma shared a game of peek-a-boo.

We also spent some time outside before lunch; it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some sunshine and fresh air.

Michaela and Eliana have such a sweet relationship. In many ways, Michaela is like a “second mommy” to Eliana. Christian was showing all of the girls his amazing climbing ability; I think he actually might have been saying,“I’m the king of the world!”

They have fun all together too...

Eliana was fascinated with the tunnel slide, and wanted to get on (at the bottom) and then slip off, and turn around and get on again. It’s always fun to watch her learn about her world.

More sliding fun with Michaela...

Grandma wasn’t about to let these kids have all the fun. No way! She wanted some of the action.

This ride was kind of crazy for Grandma (or is it Grandma is kind of crazy for this ride?), so Christian gave her some lessons.

She decided that the horse was more her speed.

Christian thought it was all funny.

We finally headed back inside and hung out for a bit. Eliana discovered the curtains and had a lot of fun playing peek-a-boo. This is her favorite game to play, and she had found the perfect spot for her tiny self.

She thought she was pretty funny. I think she knows she’s cute, too. Later in the afternoon, I took the kids over to the clubhouse for an on-site activity, “Create-A-Card.” They picked someone for whom to make a card, and then picked what they wanted to put on them. It’s always great to watch them do this kind of thing. They are creative in such different ways.

It got closer to dinnertime and our tummies were talking to us. Because of our wacky car situation we had not had a great opportunity to go to the store yet (and I had already improvised lunch with what we had on hand), so we decided to go out to dinner. We passed an Outback Steakhouse and since there is not one near us back home we thought it would be a fun place to eat. Eliana was introduced to their yummy bread.

She ate half the loaf! Just kidding. She did have several little slices though. We only had one major spill the whole time we were there! Our waitress was very kind, and took good care of us. After that, it was fun, games, and food.

Next, for a special treat, we went to visit Ben and Jerry. What a sweet way to end our first day in Williamsburg!

This first day was packed with a lot of activity. It still took these crazy kids forever to get to sleep. The excitement of a new place and being with Grandma will do that to a person. Even I didn’t want to go to bed. But we finally turned out the lights; we needed rest for our adventures the next day!

A Trip Like No Other...On Second Thought

Here are some phrases that come to mind: “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...” “What a long, strange trip it’s been...” “On a dark, desert highway, cool wind in my hair...” Okay, okay, it wasn’t dark; it wasn’t the desert, and the cool wind was still outside-but it was slowly creeping in. Let me start at the beginning... Our plan was to leave Richmond mid-afternoon and head to Williamsburg for the rest of the week. Things started out really well; everyone was excited to go, Eliana fell asleep before we even left the driveway, and we were leaving at exactly the time we had hoped to leave in order to get to our place and unpack before dark. We stopped to get gas...and it seems like the whole country is seeing the benefit of dropping plummeting gas prices. So after we filled up the car, we hit the road. Almost halfway to Williamsburg, Mom (a.k.a. leadfoot) gave it some gas in order to get in the left lane to pass someone. Much to her surprise, as soon as she got over she noticed the gas gauge slowly moving down. She said,“I’m losing power.” I said,“What? What do you mean, you’re losing power?” She quickly made it over to the right hand shoulder of the highway (which is amazing because of the steady flow of traffic we had been seeing). As soon as she pulled out of the driving lane the car cut off. We looked at each other, exchanging a silent,“Weird...” And so we sat for a minute watching the cars speeding by. And the scenery not speeding by. It began to get dark, and by that time we had called my dad and he headed our way in order to pick us up in the church van and get us on to Williamsburg. He helped my mom move their van further off the road first (another miracle). In the end, we arrived safe and sound and got unloaded and semi-settled that first night. This is just one example of many, many, many of how you can make a great plan, and even think it’s going well...but, well, sometimes that guy Murphy comes along. People-meet Murphy; Murphy-meet people...oh, you are already acquainted? That’s what I keep hearing! The truth is, even though it was a crazy trip, God did watch over us while we were on the highway. And I’m always grateful for His watchful eye. In so many ways, I take for granted His care. I hope that things like this can help me remember that we are in His hands, no matter what.