Williamsburg VA and Happy Birthday to Diana

Today we drove over to Williamsburg. It was my spa buddy friend's birthday today too. I *did* offer to do a spa day for her also, but she wants to wait until she turns 40. And since she has another decade or so, it'll be a bit before we get another spa day I guess. ;->

How many people does it take to figure out a map? (and a sneaky way to show off my nephew Josh and the birthday girl Diana)

We somehow got the girls to dress in costume, which made my day. I think they looked adorable, although I'm sure adorable is the last thing they want to look at this age. The dog is our new puppy, Ace.Somebody else would not wear a costume. Or at least a colonial costume. LOL But enough about us. This is what we really came here for:
As much as I loved the buildings in Williamsburg, this is what made it great to me-the people.



George Washington, who gave a very inspiring speech to the troops:
And because nothing can upstage nature:
We will most likely return at least one more day to see more of the shops and the craftsmen in them.

Quinby VA to Gloucester VA (Chesapeake Bay)

Today, we drove to the other "side" of the bay to meet up with our traveling buddies and get our children back. It was a short, uneventful drive. The only complaint I had at all, was the above saga. Pretty minor really. It was great to see the kids again and great to have our other friends/family back with us!

The staff at this Thousand Trails is beyond top notch again. I have spoken to the manager more than once on the phone and it was evident then that it would be the case before we even arrived. I'm happy to say now that we are here, it has held true. It is very, very crowded here which is odd to us after the last two places. It is a lovely resort though, so it's not surprising that it is busy.

Projects Day

Almost every time that Liv and Gabe would visit our house, we'd ask what they wanted to do and 99% of the time one of the requests would be "projects". It didn't really matter what kind, although glitter was the ultimate favorite so any craft with glitter reigned supreme. I will have those memories locked away forever because it wasn't just that we did crafts together, but that it became our talk time. There is something about a little one busy with creative work that unlocks their jaws and they fill you in on their most important thoughts and secrets. We have had tons of fun and I think I've gotten to know each of them better with this shared time.

I was feeling a bit sad that I'd miss Gabe and Liv's first day of school, so with our projects time in mind, I decided to make them a back to school bucket. All of the pieces are printed from digital scrapbooking kits.


Then I filled the inside with back to school goodies. This is the kind of project that I normally do with them and it wasn't nearly as much fun doing it by myself. I hope they love it!


Then I made matching composition notebooks. Again, made from digital scrapbooking kits.

Now normally when I do these kinds of projects Nathan humors me and says oh , that's nice. Which is code word for I know I'm supposed to say something here and usually a compliment works well with you so I'll try that. This time he said, "I want one of those". I made him repeat it three or four times just to be sure. Yes, he really did want one. No, not the bucket-the notebook. So I went to work and made him this:
And since I was on a roll and had all of my supplies out, I made one for my best friend and my sweet nephew.Since this, as all projects, took far more time than I had planned-this is pretty much all I did today. It was fun! We did a RAK today, but this one is private so I'll just post it without details.

Accomac, Virginia

First, a word to the wise-if you decide to spend your life living this.close.together-while in the adjustment period, do not also pick a very, very, very remote area if you are not used to it. You may be rethinking not only the whole let's live in a RV so we can travel the world, but rethinking the very idea of remaining a family or letting other people continue living. Luckily, even if you do make this mistake, this too will most likely pass.

Today we headed up to Accomac. Last week we literally stumbled into a chiropractor's office there. We walked in and the Dr asked if we had an appointment. We thought we did. We didn't. Long story short, we were at the wrong office. We liked the Dr so much we stayed and were so glad we did. This week I had a follow up visit and this guy is so great, he even bartered with us so we both got to see him for free. I couldn't believe how much time he spent for our visit. Very top notch! So if you are in the area, I can't recommend Dr. Sharkey enough, not only as a chiropractor, but as a really nice guy.

Beyond that, we took the day to wrap up more business so we can be completely freed up once we get the kids back. I'm missing them something awful and at this point am counting down the days until we see them again.

Barrier Islands Center

Today we visited the Barrier Islands Center, located in this historic almshouse farm. The gentlemen working there gave a wonderful lecture with some informative facts on the barrier islands, along with interesting stories. This house was the almshouse for the poor.

One of the most fascinating things in the house was up in the attic-a twisted chimney.


Nathan thought this gun was incredible. Unfortunately my camera's card decided not to work for me so this was about all of the pictures we got.

It was a nice day doing something we love, learning about our country.

Chincoteaque Island

Today we drove over to Chincoteauge Island. It is known for its migratory birds and its wild horses. The town was so charming, from lovely beach houses to gorgeous Victorian style bed and breakfast establishments. It was nice just driving around taking in the sights.

Water, water everywhere! We stopped at the National Park there and the landscape was once again, breathtaking.

The beautiful wild horses.My niece, Lauren, and Auburn would have loved this!

We stopped at a wonderful restaurant right on the water and ate a buffet full of every kind of seafood imaginable. The shrimp was incredible. We have an anniversary on Monday, so this was our anniversary dinner.

The kittens came home yesterday and while they seem lethargic, they seem well. Today they were beginning to play together some so hopefully they are healing nicely.

Sitting in the morning sun.....

Old to New

I spent all day today moving things from my old computer to my new computer. It's not one of my favorite things to do, but it was nice to have it finished. One thing we have really enjoyed while here is taking walks.

More pictures of the resort. The play area, complete with pirate ship.


The adult lounge.
The mini golf course, that overlooks the bay.
The family lounge.Nature

Onancock, VA

This morning we had to arrive at the vet's clinic bright and early. Shine was just fine with riding in the truck, while Mimi cried and hid. She finally jumped into a laundry hamper and rode the rest of the way there. When we got to the clinic, he looked around and she squeezed behind Nathan and hid. Then when they encountered a dog, he was scared to death and she looked mildly amused. They are so interesting to me, with their very different personalities. They are truly like children in so many ways.

After leaving them (and I almost cried at that point) we headed out to do laundry and then see a chiropractor. We decided we would do lunch, which we did at a good Mexican place, and head up towards Onley which is where the chiro is located. As a funny side note, it is always interesting to me when Nathan stops and asks for directions because he had a harder time discerning different "accents" than I do. He goes into a gas station and asks where the nearest laundromat is. He comes back and says Nancock. I try to punch that into the GPS. Nope. Not gonna happen. He says well maybe it was Anancock. Huh? Ok, I try that. Nope. Ok, let's just drive up that way and see what we find. Well, he was close-it was Onancock. I still giggled.

Some more pictures of the Thousand Trails resort we are staying at.



If I thought it was really quiet before, it is really quiet now. I'm not sure if this is one of those things you do adjust to in time, but I'm not really liking it today.

So Quiet

Birds, birds and more birds abound at this resort.

I kept thinking today, it's just so quiet. And not just that where we are staying is so quiet, although that it true. It's the lack of child chatter that is strangely missing. Even with the two kittens, who are settling in and getting more at home-it's just soooooooo quiet. It's not really better or worse, just so different. I think I've wrapped up all of the organizing, for this week at least. I like it so much better already. Nathan is settling in with working from the RV. He has already decided a booster is necessary and has one on the way. Some pictures from our walk tonight.
The pool, overlooking the water. How awesome is that?
And one of the docks. Again, just so peaceful and so beautiful.
We found a vet to do the operations for the kittens, so we are taking them tomorrow. I have mixed emotions on that. I'm sure they'll be fine and I still feel a bit apprehensive about it.

A Room With a View

This is our view from the campsite. We are located on the Upshur Bay and the view is spectacular. We are calling around for vets today, to make an appointment to have the cats declawed. Beyond that, I have been taking things out of cupboards and dressers and rearranging. I'm guessing this will be an ongoing process as we live and try to figure out how to best utilize the space. I'm already wondering what on earth we had before that filled a whole house. I'm wondering how much of that stuff did we even use. It's odd how quickly we have adapted to that part.

From Gladys VA to Quinby VA (Virginia Landing)

Today we headed over to the east coast of Virginia. It's just the two of us (and the two kittens) and our anniversary will be during our time here which will make it very special. The drive over here was a bit longer than I like to travel in one day. But it was so scenic and went very smoothly so it wasn't too bad overall.

This is what I picture when I think of Virginia. Or at least the area we lived in (the Valley). Rolling farmland, lush and green, with mountains in the background.


As we got closer to the coast the scenery changed a bit. We had to take three tunnels and miles of bridges to get where we were going. It was a bit nerve wracking to me, with pulling the RV.

I was trying to read out loud from a book we are reading together, Travels With Charley by Steinbeck, and it was almost comical how often I'd stop due to the landscape catching my eye. When we got to this spot, I had to stop and catch my breath because I literally gasped out loud.
For the first time ever that I can recall, I was seriously jealous of my best friend (my spa buddy) because for years she has been able to travel and I was suddenly aware of all of the things she has been able to see that I have not yet. I'm glad we are doing this now or I'd stay jealous of her. I loved this spot. It was so calm and serene that I wished we could stop right then and stroll along the beach for a bit.
We are at the Thousand Trails in Quinby, VA. So far we haven't been able to do much beyond unhook, set up and eat some dinner. We went to a fabulous seafood restaurant! I haven't had seafood that delish in years. I'm thrilled to have a dial up speed connection here! Woohoo! We are exhausted so more blogging will have to happen tomorrow.

IDK My BFF Diana

My best friend heard I became a new Mom, so she set up a day that all new moms *should* have-a SPA DAY! JK. Really, she did it for my 40th birthday present. I have never been to a spa. I'm not sure why beyond that I am a Mom. Enough said. I truly have the best friends that a girl can possibly have and she is the best of the best. I was so touched that she would do this for a gift to me.

I won't talk about being startled that I'd have to be naked for this, because some of you that know me will giggle just at hearing me say that word. Setting aside that little thing, it was heavenly. So much better than I could have ever imagined. I really don't have words to describe the depths of how nourishing it was to my body and my spirit. We were lying there, wrapped like wet burritos, and already planning our next spa day. I've vowed to get cheap(er) haircuts if necessary in order to keep doing this. We did a massage and skin softening wrap. Every minute, every single minute, was awesome.

After the spa treatments, we went to downtown Staunton, VA to have lunch. We ate at a great Italian restaurant and gabbed like school girls. The day went by WAY too fast. It was one of the best days of my life.

While we were being pampered, Nathan was driving all over God's country to find Auburn a dog. I called him at some point to check in and he starts gushing about the puppy they found. It's a purebred. It's a lab. It's the sweetest thing you ever saw. He's sitting on my lap right now. I love him. I'm not sure I ever heard him gush over our own children quite that much, but I guess being a grandparent does that to you.

It really is the best little puppy. A big old mush ball of love. He is going to get spoiled rotten for sure.

We ended the day by having dinner at Nathan's mom's house. She built a new house and this is the first we've seen it. Just gorgeous! I love it and I'm so happy for her. She made dinner which I always love. Then we headed back to our campground and left the kids with her for two glorious kid free weeks.

Life is good!

Double Trouble

With children, you always seem to have pets of some kind in the house. I've rarely become attached to their pets. Pets come and pets go and I had children to care for which left little time to bond with animals. Over the past year though, Auburn had a cat that I fell in love with. She named him something or other, but to me he was a big baby, so I called him Baby. Unfortunately, Baby must have decided living in a RV was not up to snuff for him, so he took off on his own to pursue his own journey. I think I have been more heartbroken than anyone over his decision.

One of the things we discussed doing before we ever went full time, was that each child may be able to get a pet of their own. Auburn wants a dog and we don't know about having more than one dog to start off with, so Austin decided he would get a cat. Ever since he got the ok from us, he has been relentlessly searching for the perfect cat. He found one in Lynchburg, so today we went to go and hopefully get him. Sure enough, his cat was still at Petsmart as was his sibling. Austin grabbed his cat, which was named Shine, and while we were filling out the paperwork a family came in and grabbed his sibling named Sun. Welcome to our family Shine!
So while we are sitting there, I see this sweet little cat that looks just like Baby. I point it out to Nathan saying how much it looks like him and then bend over to talk to it. On the card I see something that made my heart skip a beat. The kitten's name was Mimi. I knew this was my cat, even though I'd had no desire to even own a cat of my own at all. So we adopted not one, but TWO sweet kittens. Notice the pink bow on Mimi. After all, I did want just *one* more little girl. I didn't know she'd be quite so hairy, but I knew she'd be sweet and dainty and delicate and beautiful and in those ways she does not disappoint one bit. Welcome Mimi!

Now, I'd always hoped I did not become one of those annoying to other people kinds of people that talk about their animals. Talk about their animals as if they are children. Too late. I will spare all of you here for the most part, but poor Nathan has already endured hours of this talk and has even joined in some himself.To show my gratitude, I also must mention that as a birthday gift (the big 40) Nathan also bought me a new laptop with lots of bells and whistles. I'm the type that never wants to trade up with laptops because I become quite attached to one and hate the process of moving everything over, but my old Sony Vaio was literally making a wheezing and/or moaning sound so it was time. Normally, this would be a top highlight of the year. And it *is* awesome. It is a HP Pavillion Entertainment PC with cool graphics on the case. I don't know what else beyond I like it.

I don't know what else, because apparently I *am* one of those annoying people and this is so much more fun to look at and talk about.Yes, I actually took a picture of the kittens' beds. Because I thought it was SO cool that Mimi has a pink, furry bed. And Mimi's bed is SO cute and girlie next to Shine's bed. Oh, they both hate their beds for the record. But still, her bed is just TOO cute. For all of you who do not have pets that you feel this way about, I can see that you are rolling your eyes. It's ok, I am rolling my eyes at myself too.