Summer Vacation Part I

In mid-June Annaliese and Caspian hopped on a plane to Virginia with their grandmother, and Alexe and I tucked in for a week at home without kids. 

The expectations of relaxation/carousing were dashed on the rocks of a to do list a mile long.  It turns out the preparation for leaving town for three weeks is extensive.  We have a wonderful support network here, and yet we spent every second of child free time scrambling to prevent catastrophe while we were traipsing up the East Coast.

With Sarah the Jersey no longer needing to be milked twice a day, and Alexe's amazing protege house sitting, hotel sitting, and filling in for Alexe at the store, we hopped into our little Volt and headed East to see our babies, who we had been pining for since they left.   

As with all travel that includes Alexe, this leg of the journey included many stops along the way. Also part of travel with Alexe, we had a series of misadventures.

A purse was left behind in a cute pizza spot somewhere in Alabama on the first night. 

Sunglasses were left behind in a brunch place in Tennessee. (The kind waitress chased us down the street to return them.) 

We took a detour to find a farmer's market that was not open, but Alexe found this little bakery/deli instead and had an unbelievably long conversation with the owner about cake.

Eventually we made to to Nonni's house in Virginia, and our Babies!  They looked tanned and healthy and much taller.

They showed us all the places around the farm they had discovered, their forts, the cherry trees, and Caspian in particular stuck to me like glue and insisted on racing me everywhere.

It took a while for them to wind down.  Us too.  We really like our kids, for the obvious reasons, and because they are kind/charming/funny/interesting little people.  There was a fashion show to try on new clothes/swimsuits/pjs, and once the pjs were on we tucked them into our bed where they, eventually, turned into snuffling, snoring angels.

The next day was spent wandering around the farm and county, getting ice cream cones, shopping at the neighborhood stores, picking cherries and making pies, and lounging.  Caspian in particular had an issue with us lounging.

Fishing was attempted.  

Annaliese decided to jump in the pond rather than fish.