We woke up on Wednesday morning, ate breakfast, got dressed, packed up our stuff, and hit the road once again. With two of Matt's siblings down, we had only one more to visit on this vacation... Matt's sister, Michelle, and her family in Weber City, VA. (For those of you not familiar with the booming metropolis of Weber City, it's on the western tip of VA just over the TN border.)
This leg of the trip was pretty uneventful until the very end when we were in Johnson City, TN, right outside of Weber City. James slept a little bit and then when he woke up we were playing music from his list on the iPod (This Little Light of Mine, The B-I-B-L-E, Jesus Loves Me, etc.) trying to keep him occupied and giving him a little snack. We'd decided to try to wait to eat lunch till we got to Michelle's house. So, we were going along at a pretty good pace and making good time, when all of a sudden Matt stops the music, slows the car down, and says, "I think we're getting pulled over." I look back to see flashing lights. Matt says, "Stay calm. It will be okay." (Thankfully, he was driving, because I think I would have been a mess!)
Matt spoke respectfully to the officer and let him know he was also an officer in FL and that we were on our way to visit his sister in Weber City. We didn't realize the speed had dropped down to 55 mph along this one stretch of road going through Johnson City. He took Matt's Police ID card, license, registration, and walked back to his car for what seemed like forever. Finally, Matt saw him get out of his car and he said, "It's going to be okay. We're not getting a ticket." He was right, the officer asked us to try to slow down a little and to have a great day. Whoa! The power of the badge was amazing! We were very grateful and we did make it to Michelle's house about 20 min. later after carefully paying attention to the speed limit signs the rest of the way.
We ate lunch and James had a great time playing with his cousins in the afternoon. He loved their swing set in the backyard, and he acted as if he'd hit the jackpot with all their toys! It was so easy to keep him occupied and happy! =o)
The kids (especially Grace and James) had fun chasing Matt around the yard. They were all having fun throwing balls at each other. I was just a second too early with this picture. Matt actually hurdled James to escape Grace chasing him in the background with two balls ready to launch!
Their backyard was perfect for letting the kids run around and get some energy out! They had fun and Matt got to "stretch his legs" as well.
James especially loved the swing.
He and Grace really had a special connection; James loves his older cousin, and Grace loved being the older cousin. He loved it when she pulled him in the wagon!
After baths and before bed, we all sat on Grace's bed and she read to us! She's really learned a lot this past year and she's a smart cookie! =o)^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Day 10: Weber City - Natural Tunnel State Park
On Thursday we got up, ate breakfast, got dressed, packed a picnic lunch, and headed to Natural Tunnel State Park. We were all able to fit in The Balch's van thanks to the built-in seat for James... it was great! (I just had to snap a picture of all the kids sitting in a row!)
We've been to this park before but not with James and we figured he'd really enjoy riding the chair lift there. We were actually all excited about riding the chair lift! However, when we walked up to the window to purchase the tickets, the young guy working there said they were only running it for a couple school groups there that day, and not for anyone else. Now, if it wasn't working, I'd understand... but don't most places usually enjoy making money??? We obviously had young kids with us who couldn't climb on their own all the way down and especially not all the way back up the steep path leading to the tunnel. 
Anyway, we did climb all the way down and all the way back up and we survived. I guess the exercise was good for us anyway... James and Hope loved walking... or should I say running?... on the boardwalk. The kids all enjoyed playing in the water down at the bottom (including big kids). I also got a great picture I could use for my new header (thanks Jamie & Steve for the beautiful job!).
We ate our picnic lunch together at the park after climbing back to the top. The kids played a little bit on the playground right next to where we ate, and then we went home so James & Hope could take a nap. 
Later they all played together outside again. We cooked some burgers on the grill and had fun just talking and catching up. It was a relaxing but fun day.
James and Hope took a bath together and they all got on their PJs.
This is actually a picture of James and Grace the next morning, but they're both so cute sitting together on the couch in their pajamas!
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Day 11: On the road again... Weber City to Atlanta, GA
We only had spent one full day in Weber City. However, saying goodbye to them was not hard because we knew in just over a week Michelle and the girls would be coming down to visit us in Florida for a few weeks.
We decided to stop in Atlanta because it would split up our long stretch from Weber City to Ocala perfectly, and we figured we'd find something to do there. We'd made reservations at this DoubleTree Hotel in the NW Atlanta area. (Thanks for the help over the phone, Pops!) The hotel was really nice! It had some kind of special, super-comfy bed with TONS of pillows! It was awesome! Check out these pictures of the room... 
...and bathroom! Have you ever seen a double fan like that with the TP? And, they also made a rose with the kleenex that was pretty cool...
We ate that night at a really yummy Tex-Mex restaurant right down the street from our hotel called Pappasito's Cantina. They had the BEST fajitas... and we got to watch them make the tortillas fresh in a machine right near our table. They came out hot and fluffy... mmmm... it's making my mouth water to just think about them now! =o)
We got back to the hotel and James' head felt a little warm to us. He was still acting like himself so we gave him a cool bath, put his PJ's on, gave him some IBuprofen, and put him in his very own super-comfy bed, surrounded by pillows! Hopefully, a good night's sleep would get rid of any signs of sickness trying to start.That night, however, he woke up numerous times and none of us got great sleep in our super-comfy beds... =o(
1 comment:
You all packed so much fun into your trip! How wonderful that you were able to do so many fun things and also that you were able to spend time with family! It really doesn't get any better than that :-) Also, I love the new banner and picture on the blog!
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