Part Three: Epic Road Trip

After a week in southwest Virginia, I ventured to Charlottesville and Richmond with the kids!  I had to stop in Charlottesville (our alma mater) and introduce K to THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA!  She may be a native Texan, but she has Virginia roots!!  We stopped and ate lunch on the corner at Bodo's Bagels (M ate FOUR bagels), bought new Virginia shirts and ventured to the Rotunda for some pictures.  K had on a dress that was called "The Virginia dress" so I thought that was fitting.  Sadly, there was some construction at the Rotunda, but it didn't stop me from trying to get as close as possible to get some photos!

Then, we drove to Monticello to see Thomas Jefferson's beloved home.  We studied about him this summer and I wanted the kids to see as many historical things as possible while we were on this trip.  Unfortunately, I wasn't sure about my arrival time so I did not buy tickets in advance and they were sold out when we arrived for the next two hours.  They did have an interactive room for kids there and it was PERFECT!!!  They got to touch everything in this room and play with lots of different things that Thomas Jefferson used in his home.  They got to build with blocks, lay in a bed like Jefferson had, write a message...it was wonderful!

 Miss K loved this leather chair!

When we were done, we left for RVA!  I had to stop and eat dinner with a friend and visit Romp 'n Roll (the little gym for toddlers)...

A great way to begin the RVA adventure...

Part Two: EPIC Road Trip

Our next stop was Southwest Virginia to visit my husband's family...we arrived on Sunday and stayed through Friday.  J's awesome sister helped to plan our week of exciting adventures AND we were surprised to have Uncle Michael come with cousin Gray as well!  Thanks to Granna for hosting us:)

On Monday, we headed to the Mountain Lake Lodge in Giles County, VA.  This is where scenes from Dirty Dancing were shot!  They had a little museum for the movie and cute areas to explore.  The big excitement was a zip line course for kids!  B and M couldn't wait to try it!

The zip line course was so much fun for the boys!  They got to learn how to attach the ropes safely in order to complete the course and at the end, there was an AWESOME zip line that they got to go on three times! FUN!

I also arranged (with the help of Bekkah) to have the boys throw out the first pitch at the minor league ball game on Monday night!  They were so excited to yell "Play Ball!" after being introduced. It was amazing for these young boys to get to do something so exciting...and Grandpa is a season ticket holder so he loved to see the boys participate in the game and then enjoy watching it from his seating area.

We also got to visit the Boy Scout camp and see all of the things that Daddy used to do at camp and things he created while working there.  The boys loved it, especially since they knew that they would get to participate in Cub Scouts this year.  Tuesday night, Granna had a big family dinner at her house and K officially met Grandmother, Grandfather, Connie and Dee.  Such a yummy meal and great group picture!

Wednesday was having fun playing at Nana's house with the cousins, but the big treat was dinner with Grandpa and a GIANT pizza!  The boys were over the moon- they LOVE pizza and they couldn't believe the size of it!  I have to admit- it was good and so much fun!  We even got to visit with a police officer (Uncle Michael's good friend).  

Thursday was another awesome day!  Bekkah planned the day with Nana, Cam, and Gray.  We went to a state park and got to ride horses, throw rocks in the river and have a picnic lunch...it was beautiful there and a great adventure to end the week.

We also got lots of time to visit with Uncle Michael and Aunt Caroline!  

Finally, my husband had the cutest picture of him at two on the fence at the court house so we had to recreate it with W...can we say adorable???

Thanks to family for hosting us and planning such a special visit!  We can't wait to come back!!

Our EPIC Summer Trip...Part One

Since we moved to Texas, we have not been back to visit family and friends.  We all wanted to go back to visit, but the birth of K stopped us for a little while.  After much planning and thinking through ALL of the logistics, we decided to DRIVE with FOUR kids to visit as many people as possible!

Our first stop was Nashville, Tennessee...we woke up on a Friday morning and we were in the car at 5:45 a.m.  We drove straight through Texas, Arkansas and ended in Tennessee after only two gas breaks and lunch.

Uncle Michael and Liz had just moved to Nashville so we were excited to see their house and hang out with them.  Aunt Sarah graciously asked her mother if we could stay with her and she willingly opened her home to us, which was amazing.  And then, Sarah, Tom, Gray and Oliver planned a visit so we got to see them as well!  Such amazing luck!

On our trip, we ate at the Pancake Pantry (so delicious...can we say French Toast??  and pancakes with peaches??), did a driving tour of downtown Nashville and played at the Adventure Science Center.

The Adventure Science Center was AMAZING!  First, we started off in the middle of the museum where there is a huge jungle gym that goes to the top of the building and you can see around Nashville.  And it had the most adorable huge piano (think about the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks) that the kids loved playing on.

Another section was all about the human body and they had an ambulance, a place to "perform" surgery, a huge baseball with a hand to manipulate and learn how you grab a ball, and a slide area to show you how the intestines work.  And it may have had a little noise at the end of that slide...haha!

Another section was all about space.  B got to get into the harness and pretend to be moving around in zero gravity.  Each person had to be 50 pounds so M didn't get to do it, but after getting over the disappointment, he found an area to shoot rockets so he was so excited to do that!

Finally, we ended the day with a science experiment demonstration about fireflies.  B and M were so excited about this.  The first question asked was "How do fireflies light up?"  Of course, B's hand shot straight up and he responded, "I think it is a chemical reaction because they can't have a lightbulb in their butts."  And there was several laughs...B amazes me with his outgoing nature!  He is never afraid to speak in front of everyone!  They both got to be part of the science experiment demonstration- M turned on the light and B got to mix the chemicals to show the chemical reaction.

We enjoyed a family BBQ that night and before we hit the road on Sunday, we had brunch with B's best friend from preschool in Virginia who had just moved there from Richmond six days prior to our trip.  They were SO excited to see each other and kept hugging each other and saying, "It's really you!"  It completely melted our hearts.  We love and miss the Jackson family so much!!

Nashville was SO MUCH fun...we also ate out at The Flip Side for lunch (amazing chicken) and brunch at First Watch.  We can't wait to visit again!