Griffis and Beckstrands

By Monday morning we had 13 people at our house (Katrina, Jake, Jane and Tom came late Sunday night). The house was busy, and there was lots of fun to be had. So, of course, we had 5 cubic yards of mulch delivered that we had to move and dump out of wheelbarrows into various places in our yard. Everyone was very willing to help and it made the job go by quickly (like a billion times faster than Ben and I could have done it alone).


It really turned out great!


After a hot morning of mulching we decided to get out the pool and the slip-n-slide. I think the kids had a blast. (It was actually really hot while these guys were here, I think we did the backyard pool stuff two different days.)


One morning the kids and I went with the Beckstrands to the Virginia State Capitol. It is actually one of my favorite sites to visit, but I think this time I really enjoyed watching the cousins interact the most. Michael and Tom were just taken with one another. They held hands most of the way there.



One really fun evening was spent fishing at the pond down the street from our house. It is the perfect place to take kids fishing. I think we caught about 20 fish within 1 1/2 hours (I think Colby actually caught 10 of those . . . or if you ask Barbie I think it was 9 1/2).


Another evening Barbie and I took Emma and Sarah on a walk to The Grove Mine Shaft. The walk was beautiful with all of the spring flowers out, and the temperature was perfect.

The boys stayed home to play basketball. We actually played quite a bit of basketball each day (which is Michael's dream come true -- thanks Ben and Colby). We played Around-the-World and some really fun games of Poison. But, I didn't get any pictures of the basketball . . . I will have to get Barbie to send me some of hers that she took with her fancy new camera.

One day Jake and Katrina went down to the Petersburg battlefield. So, Barbie, Colby and I took the kids to the Stony Point Fountains. I was actually surprised how much fun they had. Before we left the house Michael told me that he wasn't going to bring his swimsuit (I think that he thought he was too old for it), Barbie finally talked him into taking it. But, I think he loved it more than anyone.


And of course, what would a trip to the Stony Point Fountains be without ice cream.


Katrina, Jake and their kids left Friday morning to drive down to Jake's sisters house in North Carolina. Barbie, Colby, the kids and I woke up super early and drove up to D.C. We wanted to get tickets to go up to the top of the Washington Monument as well as the BEP again. When we got there both places were out of tickets. Luckily there is always something else to do in D.C. We had breakfast at IHOP and then drove down the road to Mount Vernon. We had never been there before, but we loved it.


The grounds were beautiful, and I loved the views of the Potomac River.


Poor Michael was feeling sick. He was a trooper the whole day, but fell asleep toward the end. (I wonder if he was just exhausted from having visitors and staying up late for three straight weeks.) Thank heavens for our double stroller. I think Colby, Barbie or I would have all been happy to take our turn in the stroller if we could have fit.


It was a long but very fun day, topped off with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Saturday and Sunday were spent just hanging around, playing basketball, playing St. Petersburg, visiting and packing. Ben and I were off early (3:30am) Monday morning to Washington Dulles International Airport for our trip to Mexico. Colby left Monday evening from Richmond's Airport. And so, Barbie and the kids were on their own. What a whirlwind of activity!