williamsburg & irene

we like to keep things interesting.

on saturday michael drove with us to meet my parents in williamsburg, about 2 and a half hours away. driving straight into the east coast hurricane. it got kind of harried but we got in alright. all that night the lights flickered & rain pounded while we ran around town trying to find food. afterward we hunkered down for a couple days while everything closed, power was out, internet down, & very spotty cell reception. plus cossette had a full 36 hours of ear cringing whines for no reason whatsoever & i was about ready to throw that sweet face out into the hurricane.

but it was all fine because i've never slept so much in my life & i demolished my competition at monopoly despite michael's best efforts to get everyone to gang up on me. my dad swore he'd never seen a domination that brutal. jana would have loooved it. haha-

oh & can i tell you how i married macgyver?? okay cause i did.
the chief has this radio/flashlight thing for when the world ends but of course no batteries to speak of. after hitting store after store looking for C batteries, we finally found them! YAY! oooo too bad we needed D's. it amazes me what this boy notices & what he doesn't. well he jerry-rigged the thing using a wedding ring & the monopoly thimble to get power conducting so we could finally get some updates on everything. amazing.

it really was pretty crazy & you can see here some of the damage we witnessed.
the kidlets were thrilled to see gpa & gramvi & play with them for a week! they were as always great with the beans & shocked at how much they've changed since nyc. we had a blast playing catch phrase, eating out, & hanging with them.

after those first 2 days off we stayed pretty busy outlet mall shopping, swimming in the hotels super impressive pool area, playing tennis, & visiting yorktown, jamestown, & williamsburg. williamsburg had a ton of unique shops (wig makers, millineries, brick layers, silversmiths, etc) & the original capitol building to tour while jamestown had an unbelievably impressive museum, large indian town, 3 intricate re-creation ships on the water, & an extensive colonist settlement to explore. 

ellery cuddling up with the thomas jefferson statue, the CF lightbulb in the old street lamp, chief in the 3 point hat, & cossette falling in between the cushions laughing her head off all made me smile. my dad takes spectacular pictures & has hundreds, i only took a few. i'll have to link to their blog once they get around to it.

we also went to opus steakhouse for michael's birthday dinner & i had a beyond fabulous dinner of lobster tails, garlic potatoes, & more butter than a person should ever see in one sitting. drool.

then no questions asked the best dessert of my life. no exclamations or dramatization needed. i would simply kill for it. it was bananas foster cheesecake & i would be a very very happy half ton woman if i could eat it for every meal.

half way through the week michael went back home. he leaves for his mission the beginning of october & since we won't be able to go to his farewell, we said our goodbyes. :(

we are so proud of both of our brothers for being worthy & willing to serve. i think we tend to get used to the idea & not give it the attention it deserves. it is an amazing sacrifice & opportunity for these boys. michael is a great kid & will make a marvelous missionary.

 thanks for a lively, enjoyable trip mom & daddy!