We have had a wonderful vacation this week. No one wanted it to end. We had a great time visiting family and Will and Darice live in one of the most picturesque areas of the country to boot. Here's how our trip went. (By the way, the "Mr. John" stories will resume in the next edition.)
DESTINATION CONFUSION. We pointed our van toward Waynesboro, Virginia, about 7:30 Monday morning. We stopped frequently, so it took us about 12 hours to get to our destination.
The kids were really excited about seeing their cousins and we got plenty of "Are we there yet?" Nate was very excited about seeing Alex and Chris (our cousins in Florida) and mentioned seeing them frequently. Each time he did the conversation would go something like this:
"Nate, we aren't going to see Alex and Chris."
"We're not?"
"No."
"Where are we going?"
"To see Cameron, Zachary and Emily."
And every time he would say, "Oh," like this was all news to him. It would start all over again in 30 minutes. These conversations continued on our journey back to Tennessee. This morning Ben gave Nate “cousin identification” lessons using pictures on the fridge saying, “Emily belongs with this family, not with Alex and Chris.” These lessons will probably continue for some time.
PLAY TIME. We spent Tuesday staying around the house letting the kids play together and they had a blast. All the kids have really played well together the whole time.
The Jones kids have all changed since we saw them in February. Of course, Emily has changed the most. She is talking some now. She and I traded winks at the supper table until she got too shy to look at me. One trick of hers is when someone taps or hums the “shave and a haircut” rhythm she will tap or hum the “two bits” response.
One thing the kids did Tuesday was make a movie. Cameron has a digital camera. He flipped on the movie function and they made up a bank robbery story and shot it. It was really cute.
Cameron and Zachary had soccer practice that evening and we all went along. While at the soccer field Jenna decided to try and stand on a soccer ball. The ball rolled out from under her and she fell hard on her elbow. After a trip to the ER she is now sporting a sling on her right arm. The x-ray didn't show a fracture but she'll keep the splint they put on until her doctor makes a decision about it Monday. The splint starts on the upper arm and includes her hand.
Jenna has taken the restriction very well. One day after eating she announced that she was going to the bathroom to “wash her hand.” Another day she pulled on a shirt that has "Soccer Champ" on the front. Seeing this she commented, "I guess I'm not much of one anymore."
BOOK FAIR. Wednesday we went to the Green Valley Book Fair. It is a large warehouse in the middle of the country that has thousands of books for sale. We found some good deals and also got some Christmas shopping done. Ben was, of course, bored within 30 seconds of our arrival. After loading up with books we went to eat at Cici's Pizza and then headed home.
AT THE ORCHARD. Will took a vacation day Thursday (they recently enjoyed a 16 day trip to England and Ireland so he doesn't have much vacation left this year) and we all went to the Carter Mountain Orchard. The orchard overlooks Charlottesville and offers a spectacular view of the surrounding country. We took in a hay ride and picked a few apples for ourselves. Then we went to Charlottesville for a late lunch and came home so the kids could play together.
We stopped for Emily to have her first haircut on the way home. I’m afraid she won’t know how to act the next time she needs a trim without a 10 person audience.
GIRLS SHOPPING DAY. On Friday all the girls went shopping and left all the boys at home (minus Will who was at work). We played a Lego construction game, video games, etc. When the womenfolk returned Zachary had piano lessons. We all went to the city park to feed the ducks and play on the playground while Zachary tickled the ivories.
We got around to grilling steaks Friday night. Each day we would eat such a big and late lunch that no one felt like eating steak. We didn’t make that mistake this time and it was delicious! For dessert we had apple pie made from the apples we had picked the day before.
SCRABBLE. The Jones Scrabble tournaments began Wednesday night. (I skip out on these games as they start around my bedtime and Scrabble isn’t my forté.) Will, Darice, Pauline and Vicki really go at it and bragging rights are always the prize. Upon our departure Vicki claimed two games and Will three games. Pauline and Darice are not push-overs by any means, but the brother-sister competition is very fierce.
HEADING HOME. We pointed our van toward home Saturday. It was a sad parting. They were great hosts which made leaving even more difficult. We didn’t make as many stops and got home in 10 hours. It was nice to settle in our own beds last night.
Joe
