Grandma Time

 Following our week in Massanutten, I spent a little over a week with the kids to help out with my granddaughter while my daughter-in-law went away for the long holiday weekend. They had her in daycare for the first few days so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoyed a local park and long walks with Monty, their small dog.

Green Springs Gardens

I also visited our nation's capital. I rode the train in with my daughter-in-law, so I arrived pretty early in the morning. A good friend from college lives in Arlington, so she took the metro in and met me on the mall. We had an incredible day together, picking right up as if we had just seen each other last month instead of years ago. We saw many of the iconic structures of DC in addition to stopping at some of the Smithsonian exhibits. I logged over 22,000 steps, and had the time of my life. It never gets old to visit the seat of our democracy.

Washington, DC

On Friday we took A to the National Zoo. It was another beautiful day, and we were blessed to see the new pandas that have arrived from China. There's nothing like a trip to a zoo to bring out the kid in all of us.

National Zoo

The days passed quickly, and soon it was time for me to fly home. It was such a treat to get to spend so much time with my sweet little gal (and her parents, too, of course!) She is still very much a grandma's girl, so I'm going to eat that up while I can. I know it won't last forever.

Family Trip to Massanutten

our Massanutten lodging

Last month we rented a house in Virginia at the Massanutten Resort for a family vacation. We had not known of the resort before but were looking for some place that would be an easy drive for our son and his family to make, and not too long of a drive for us either. When I asked on our community page if anyone had visited the area, I was amazed at the number of comments I received. Apparently there are a large number of time share units in the development, and some people here still own theirs while others recalled fond memories of traveling to the resort as children. 

With the positive feedback in mind, I booked a four bedroom, single-family home for our small group. The house gave us the privacy we desired without sharing common walls as in the condos. It was perfect as it gave some separation for the adults, and had a nice playroom in the lower level. A bonus for Jim was that it also had a pool table down there.

We found plenty of things to do at the resort with the two recreation centers, multiple pools and playgrounds, pickleball courts, miniature golf, etc. The surrounding area had good restaurants when we didn't want to cook, as well as wineries to visit. Nearby Shenandoah National Park offered a beautiful drive and the opportunity to put a new stamp in our National Park's book. 

infection

The only negative thing that occurred on the trip was the fact that my recent ED&C became infected despite all my efforts to keep it protected with Aquaphor and bandages. I even used waterproof bandages while at the pool, and the doctor had okayed me going into pool water. I reached out to my dermatologist's office, and they sent a prescription to the local Walgreens. A week of using the ointment cleared it up with no additional issues.

While we enjoyed our visit to Massanutten, I think we all agreed that we would like to try someplace new next year. I'll keep looking in Virginia as that makes it easy for the kids while not being too bad of a drive for us.

Smithsonian National Zoo

We drove up to Springfield to be with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter for the long holiday weekend. Virginia always has clever signage along the interstate, and this trip was no different. Way to get across the point to not drink and drive, Virginia! 

Virginia road signs

National Zoo

Because it was so hot and our granddaughter is still pretty young we mostly stayed close to the house, going outside early in the day to let her play with her splash pool and water table. But on July 5th we headed out early to go to the National Zoo. My husband and I had not been there before, and it was the little gal's first time as well. Until we arrived I had no idea that the zoo is part of the Smithsonian, which explains the free admission. You just have to pay $30 to park.

Even though the temperature was pretty high, the humidity was low which made our time there bearable (pardon the pun). It also helped that they had many mist sprayers available, and some of the exhibits are inside as well.

We have been to a lot of zoos, and this one was pretty nice even though the pandas were sent back to China. They are supposed to get a new pair sometime later this year. Apparently the two countries have worked out their differences, at least as far as pandas go. 

National Zoo

orangutan

My favorite exhibit, though that seems like too small of a word to use, was the orangutans. They have two separate enclosures, but to get from one to the other they climb overhead on cables called the Orangutan Transportation System, aka the O-Line. The visitor walking path is directly below part of the cabling systems, so you definitely don't want to be standing there when one goes (literally) overhead!

Overall, we had a great time in Springfield with our family. And of course it is always a pleasure to spend quality time with our only grandchild.

A (not so) Total Eclipse of the Sun

83% eclipse of the sun

Yesterday a solar eclipse traveled across America. We were headed back from visiting our son and his family in Virginia, and did not think we would have an opportunity to see any of the eclipse. Charlotte was to get only a little over 83% totality at any rate. Surprisingly traffic was light on the interstates we traveled on. I guess everyone was clogging up the highways on their way to total eclipse sites, so the east coast was in the clear.

The moon eclipsed the sun around 3:11, and we were home in plenty of time to see what 83% gets you. Our next door neighbor was in her back yard with out of town guests, and they had extra glasses for us to borrow. Someone even had the protective cover for the phone lens, but I was quite unsuccessful in capturing any photos with my iPhone. It was fun to watch the moon in progress, but while the light dimmed a bit, it was still quite bright out.

In 2017 we had totality where we lived in Missouri, and that was an amazing experience and quite different from what occurred yesterday. Then it got completely dark out, the birds stopped chirping, the night insects began making noise, and the streetlights came on. I guess because we were able to take part in the one seven years ago, I was not in a rush to drive many hours to see the one this year.

Virginia is Definitely for Lovers

We took a long weekend trip up to Springfield to see the kids recently. Our son and daughter-in-law wanted to have a last visit with us before the baby comes, which is going to end up being sooner than anyone expected. Due to gestational hypertension, Megan will be induced at 37 weeks. Apparently that is considered full term, and the goal is to get Baby Dub to the magical five pound weight. At that weight very few newborns have to spend time in the NICU.

We had a nice visit, and were able to go out to a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday as well as the upcoming birth. While the kids finished up a few honey-do baby tasks, we visited a nearby park for a hike and opportunity to see some nice fall color.

Fall in Virginia

Before heading home on Tuesday, I was able to accompany the mom-to-be to her visit at the Maternal Fetal Medicine practice. It was really interesting for me to be able to see the non-stress test and the sonogram. What a thrill to be able to hear my grandbaby's heartbeat and watch her move on the screen. 

The next time we see them they will be parents. And we'll be elevated to grandparents!

Thanksgiving 2021

Virginia highway sign

Well, we certainly didn't think we would still be worrying about Covid when another Thanksgiving rolled around, but here we are again. 

We kept our celebration small, driving to Virginia to spend the holiday with our son and daughter-in-law, and the grand-pup Monty. As we traveled on Thanksgiving Day, the traffic wasn't super-bad.

We had a fun weekend of food, games and pickleball with some nice people we met at a nearby park. To get us in the Christmas spirit, we went to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for their Walk of Lights. While it was a little chilly out, there was no wind so it made being outdoors at night bearable. It was a lovely light display for such an inconspicuous little botanical garden.

Thanksgiving weekend

The drive home on Monday was more heavily trafficked, but we still were able to make good time with our travels. Now to tackle Christmas cards, shopping and decorating to get ready for Christmas!

sunset the day we got home

Road Trip

We were going to head north to see our son and daughter-in-law for a visit, so we decided to stop someplace new on the way there. We settled on going to Williamsburg, Virginia. Neither of us had been there before, so it was all new to us despite its old age. We enjoyed learning the history of the previous capital of the Virginia Colony. Founded in 1699, it was the location of the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World. Fortunately the rain held off and we were able to enjoy the self-guided walking tour. We also visited the College of William and Mary, which is the second oldest institute of higher learning in this country.

Williamsburg, Virginia

The next day we drove to Yorktown, Virginia. It is one of the eight original shires formed in Colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown is the site of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. We stopped at Colonial National Historic Park to pick up a driving map so that we could visit important locations for the siege that took place in the area.

Yorktown, Virginia

Following lunch in Yorktown we proceeded to our son's house. The next morning we went into D.C. proper. We walked the mall area, and enjoyed seeing the Eisenhower Memorial and the WWI Memorial. They are both new since our last visit to D.C. Saturday we visited a botanical garden and a winery. The weekend also included an early celebration of my birthday. It was a great trip!

Washington, DC