Tuesday Virginia was all better, so the girls went back to daycare. Then Tuesday afternoon I picked them up and we went to meet Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Dude for dinner. We had a nice dinner at Mimi's Cafe and then Paige and Virginia went home with Grandma, Dude went to the airport to pick up Uncle Todd, Aunt Sandra and Keats, and I went home.
Wednesday the girls spent the day at Grandma and Dude's house with Todd, Sandra and Keats- and even got to spend some time with Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Denick. They definitely had a week of family. Wednesday evening they went to the County Fair with Grandma, Dude, Todd, Sandra and Keats. It sounds like they had a good time, even though a thunderstorm hit shortly after they arrived. Meanwhile, Ben and I were enjoying a nice dinner out at The Melting Pot to celebrate our anniversary. Can you believe we've been married for 7 years?
On Thursday Ben and I packed up our stuff and headed out. We got to my parents' house around 11, stayed for lunch and hung out for awhile. Then we headed for West Virginia. Mimi, Pops and Uncle Lloyd were all already in WV waitinf for us. And all of the Tennessee relatives that were coming for the reunion were on their way. They all came over to Mimi and Pops' house for dinner that night once they got into town and got settled.
Paige and Virginia were ready for a snack shortly after we got to Mimi and Pops' house. Paige was happy to sit on the couch next to Pops and eat her Goldfish, or "ish" as she has started calling them.
After a snack we took the girls outside to wander around and check out Mimi and Pops' yard. Virginia found this great rock to sit on, and then Paige sat on the ground. The rock was plenty big enough for both of them to sit on, I'm not sure why Paige chose to sit on the ground.
And then all of the Tennessee relatives showed up! There were 11 of them that came up: Ben's aunt and uncle, his cousins, their spouses and children. While we were waiting for Pops and John to get back with the pizza for dinner some of the children decided to have a little fashion show with Pops' hats and Paige and Virginia's toys and blankets. They were quite entertaining. Here's Caleigh modelling Pops' hat. Caleigh is Ben's cousin Rob's 8 year old daughter.
And here is Elizabeth in Pops' hat. Elizabeth is Ben's cousin Ali's 8 year old daughter.
And here is Carson wearing Paige and Virginia's blanket like a shawl. Carson is Caleigh's 3 year old sister.
Justin (Elizabeth's almost 3 year old brother) found the loft. He climbed the stairs and played up there for a bit, looking through the railing at me.
Paige and Virginia weren't quite sure about all of these new people at first. It didn't take them long, though, to warm up to everyone- especially Caleigh and Elizabeth. Here are Virginia and Paige sitting in one of the adirondack chairs with Caleigh paying close attention to every word she says.
And here are Paige and her dog, aka "oof oof," sitting with Caleigh and Elizabeth.
Friday Ben and I got up early and went golfing with Uncle Lloyd, Rob and Mason. Rob is Ben's cousin and Mason is his 10 (or maybe 9) year old son. John (Ali's husband) and Pops came along, too, but they didn't play. We had a really good time. We weren't good, but we were actually better than we expected. Uncle Lloyd gave us a great rule to play with- we recorded no score over a triple bogey. I think that really helped us enjoy it more because we weren't that worried about our scores. While we were golfing Mimi took Paige and Virginia to Cacapon State Park and met everyone else in the family who wasn't golfing. They played at the playground, ran around and just had a lot of fun.Here's Ben about to take a shot.
All of us hanging out waiting for our turn on the 10th tee: Mason, John, Pops, Lloyd, Rob and Ben.
Ben and I after we finished our round. Based on our scoring method Ben scored a 117 and I got a 120. The highest possible score was 126, so at least we had some holes where we did better than triple bogey!
Rob and Lloyd approaching the 18th green.
Everyone came over to Mimi and Pops' house again that night for dinner. The kids had so much fun playing together- and all of us adults had a good time hanging out, too. Here's Paige staring off at something.
I snapped this picture of Virginia as she ran by me at one point. It's not in perfect focus, but I still love it.
Virginia loves her Uncle Lloyd- and I think he's pretty fond of her, too.
Paige and Virginia playing with bubbles with Mason. The girls didn't quite understand how to blow bubbles- I think they ate more of the bubble solution than they blew bubbles. Paige understood how it worked, but she would hold the wand right against her lips and end up sucking the solution in instead of blowing bubbles.
An improptu picture of all of the children together. Back row: Caleigh, Mason and Elizabeth. Front row: Carson, Paige, Virginia and Justin.
Paige and Virginia blowing bubbles with Pops.
On Saturday we spent the whole day at Mimi and Pops' house. The group from Tennessee came over for lunch and dinner. Well, the women and children (other than Mason) came over for lunch while the men were off skeet shooting. Everyone came for dinner, including Ali, Leigh and Aunt Beth who came after a wine tasting and spa treatments. Ben, Uncle Lloyd and I talked about going hiking while the girls napped, but Lloyd and I ended up taking naps instead.
Saturday morning we wandered around Mimi and Pops' yard with the girls again. Virginia enjoyed standing on rocks.
While Paige chose to sit on rocks and play with sticks.
Caleigh loved having Virginia sit on her lap.
Paige was a mess after having fun with all of the older kids. She was covered in marker, bubble solution and water. But she was happy!
Saturday evening took family pictures. We got pictures of all of us together, but those are on Mimi's camera. I'll post one of those when I get them from her. Here are all of the children: Mason in back, front row: Justin, Paige, Elizabeth, Virginia, Caleigh and Carson.
And here are the parents. Back row: Lloyd, Ben, Rob and John. Front row: Me, Leigh and Ali.
And the grandparents: Uncle Bob (Mimi's brother), Aunt Beth, Mimi and Pops.
Elizabeth had a great idea of taking pictures of groups by birthday month- or at least that's what we did with her idea. These are my two favorites from those pictures.
August: Justin and John.
December: Elizabeth and Lloyd
Carson playing horseshoes by herself.
Time for some girl talk. Elizabeth, Paige, Caleigh and Virginia sitting around the table talking.
S'mores! Saturday after dinner we had a fire in the firepit and had s'mores. The younger children weren't allowed to cook their own marshmellows, but I think they all enjoyed at least parts of s'mores. Mimi, Virginia, Caleigh, Paige, Elizabeth, Justin and Carson
Saturday the kids also played with chalk all over the deck, so what did they get to do afterwards? They got to "paint" the deck and house (and people) with water. They loved it. And it cleaned up the mess. Great idea, Mimi! Here are Virginia, Justin and Paige with their buckets and brushes.
On Sunday we went home, but not until we played at Mimi and Pops' house until after lunch. Paige had fun playing with the velcro paddles and balls. She didn't get time to play with them with all of the older kids there because they were always playing with them. Sunday, though, she got to play with it.
Pops and I took the girls for a walk around the yard. Pops showed Paige and Virginia this flat rock that is just perfect for sitting. And the three of them sat while I kept an eye out for snakes. There was a snake spotting Saturday night and it freaked me out to be in the yard from that point on. Thankfully it was just a garter snake, but to me it doesn't matter what kind of snake it is, I'm still terrified.
Virginia and Paige playing at the water pump statue in the yard.
When it was about nap time on Sunday we got in the car and headed for home. We stopped on the way and met my mom to pick up Jefferson since he'd stayed at my parents' house while we were in West Virginia. We all had a great long weekend, but I think we were all also happy to get home. I know I was happy to sleep in my own bed, and considering the fact that Paige and Virginia slept until 8:45 Monday morning, I'm guessing they were happy to be in their cribs, too.
Paige and Virginia slept in their new Peapods for the whole 5 days they were away from home. They did great in them! Tuesday night was their first time sleeping in them overnight and my mom said they slept really well. They would cry a little when they went to bed, but they would sleep all night no problem. It's such a relief to know we have somewhere that they can and will sleep when they're away from home.
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