The best present....be it for your birthday or Christmas.... is time with family. As the saying goes, "You can't take it with you".....but the memories created with family can last a lifetime and beyond. My parents were very fortunate to be able to come out here the day after Christmas and stay for 10 days!!!!!!!!!! It was wonderful....and they worried that it was going to be too long of a stay (little did they know how providential them being here that long would be....more on that later)....but we all had a wonderful time.
Jeffery, of course, was anxious to talk to them about trains....and monster trucks....and bull riding. (cue the eye rolling and sighing from my mother) Jakob was excited to see the faces he adores on the computer screen every week.
There was amazing food.....amazing drinks....opening of more presents (we held off opening the ones from them until they arrived) to Jeffery's delight.....sitting by the fire....me and dad and mom and one of my friends went to see the movie "Into the Woods" in honor of Uncle Ronny (fantastic movie!!!!!!!!!)......my mom and dad and me went to visit the house in Maymont Gardens (sooo cool!) ......and lots of watching train videos on youtube via the new TV.
Dave and Jeffery and Papa took a trip up to Ashland to watch the train traffic there. During their stay, they saw a CSX freight train, an Amtrak, and the famed Tropicana Juice Train. Jeffery's excitement could hardly be contained. The day was completed with a field trip to Bass Pro and lunch at the restaurant with daddy and Papa. Toddler heaven!!!!!!
We journeyed down to Williamsburg to take in the festive decorations....and because it is just simply a cool place to visit. Oh....I don't think I mentioned in the last post but Jakob is walking. He was more than happy to show off these skills to Oma and Papa when they arrived....and chase after Daddy and Jeffery in one of the fields in Colonial Williamsburg. The day was completed with a trip to one of the groups' favorite places to eat down there....The Blue Talon Bistro. YUM!
And that is about where the fun ended......the 2nd day of January. And this is where mom and dad staying for as long as they did became so helpful to us. We were all felled with nasty germs. Dave fell first. A trip to urgent care told him he had a nasty bronchial infection. He rallied enough for us to leave the kids almost all afternoon and evening with Oma and Papa so we could attend the wedding and reception of some friends. But Sunday saw him get worse and his temp spike and then I was felled. We left both kids with Oma and Papa on Monday and both took a trip to urgent care. I had a bronchial infection....Dave was positive for Flu. UGH! And all of this occurring in the last few days of my parents' visit. :( By Tuesday, both Jeffery and Jakob were running fevers....and my mom was visiting Urgent Care (she turned out to be okay).
THANK GOD FOR MY DAD! For two days, he practically did all of the cleaning, cooking, and looking after the boys as everyone slept and tried to recover. We would have been up a creek without him. I'm just still so sad that their last few days (when we had all these plans) were spent with him having to be Florence Nightingale. :/
They returned home....and things returned to normal here. We were all thankful to have been sick that week....and not the following as Jeffery was the ring bearer in a wedding for some dear friends and Dave was doing all the music. I was a tad apprehensive at how Jeffery would perform his duties. He is only 3 and can be unpredictable....as 3 year olds are apt to be from time to time. But he was perfect and did such a good job!
And.....he quite enjoyed himself at the reception afterwards. While Jakob laughed and charmed his way through the evening (running on some sort of reserve energy as he had to miss his nap due to the celebrations)......
.......Jeffery danced the night away. Seriously. He was quite taken with the eldest flower girl. We're in trouble if he is looking adoringly into a girl's eyes at the age of 3. :)
When he wasn't dancing with her.....or his favorite babysitters......he was cutting a rug by himself and bringing smiles and delight to almost everyone there. He was certainly a Toddler Ambassador that evening!
We've had minimal snow so far this winter. Maybe an inch or two at the most. I'm praying for more. :) But when it snowed most of last Tuesday, I was determined to get the boys out into it to play. Jeffery had a grand time and found it most entertaining to kick his soccer ball through the snow.
Jakob was fascinated but unsure. He just stood still in the same place and wouldn't budge. He was very happy and content there....until I flung some snow his way (a pseudo snow ball)....and then he just melted into uncontrollable tears. I know. I'm a mean mommy! :)
And I'm now up to date! Phew! 2015...what little there has been so far....has not been a ringer of a year yet (we've yet to be healthy for an entire week) but I'm willing to suspend judgement until later. If it doesn't start behaving though.... I might have to send 2015 this picture of Jakob with a request to shape up! How could anyone say "no" to such a pout?!!!!!!!! :) (I know it is difficult for me!)
No comments:
Post a Comment