Time with family

While we were up in Northern Virginia this week, the one silver lining was getting to spend so much time with family. The kids got to start pulling Tessa into the mix, where she dutifully attended their "secret meetings" and participated in their shenanigans when it suited her. Baby Robert also learned to walk this week which was fun to witness, and therefore it's only a matter of time before he is also plotting with the rest of them. 

(You'll note lots of pictures of Ben and Tessa. He was obsessed. He apparently asked her to marry him. I asked him what she said and he said, "I don't know...nothing?" so I guess his heart wasn't too broken)

We took a quick jaunt over to Mason Neck State Park for their Eagle Fest so that everyone could eat breakfast in peace at the house one morning. It was cold, rainy, and I had to sit through an hour long power point presentation on Pollinators (thanks to Eleanor), but the kids had a bit of fun checking out the EMT team, making pinecone bird feeders, dissecting owl pellets, and seeing a puppet show.

Rosie decided to start coming out of her hard shell a bit and snuggled quite a few people!

And our Williamsburg community deserves a HUGE shout out. They brought us food, food, more food, mowed our lawn while Chris was gone, let us borrow sleeping bags, clothes for the kids, sent us up with snacks, activities to keep the kids occupied, and two of the families from our small group dropped everything and got hotel rooms in the area for the weekend to just be here if we needed them or be here if we didn't. It actually came in very clutch as the moral support for the kids was wonderful, and the practical support for me was wonderful as they picked them up early from the visitation, fed them dinner, took them for a swim in the hotel pool (they went by our house to pick up bathing suits on the way), and get them ready for bed so I could stay.

Uncle Johnny made us delicious homemade bread and cinnamon rolls and maybe the best scone I've ever had. 

We took walks in the rain just to get out of the house.

And even watched the Kentucky Derby (which I didn't know was happening), which Uncle Bill's horse won.

Thank you to everyone who has been such a help and support these last couple weeks. It's incredible.