You know how I mentioned last week that I had shipped Mary Grace off to Richmond with my dad?
You know, the completely unplanned trip that left right after this lunch?
Well, it occurred to me that I would eventually need to go retrieve said pirate-child from Virginia.
So early Saturday morning, I successfully transferred a sleeping Elizabeth to my car and hit the road. Carson and Matt were left behind for a boy’s weekend…. but mainly because I was too much of a wimp to endure a road trip, albeit a seemingly manageable three hour one, alone with all three kids.
The day before, my sister and I had excitedly made some last-minute plans to visit our alma mater in Williamsburg with the two older girls. Please note the nearly-matching outfits. So typical. And we were both too stubborn to change. Again, so typical. So off to the ‘Burg we went.
And just like that, nostalgia set in like whoa. Take the Governor’s Inn for instance. Not every W&M student has the chance to say they spent an entire semester living in a sub-par Colonial Williamsburg motel. I have so much I could say about that place. About that experience. But I will stop there.
Of course we hit up the cheese shop for a turkeyonfrenchwithhouse sandwich. We also did the sno-to-go thing. And just for the record, if the Marketplace was open, I woulda done that too.
After lunch, Mary Grace made some moves on Thomas Jefferson. Because that’s completely normal for a three year old.
And then I almost cried when I saw The Wren Building. I know I now live in the land of the Tarheels and the Blue Devils, but I still maintain that no college campus rivals that of William and Mary.
There was some Sunken Garden dancing…
…and some Sunken Garden tantruming.
And some completely necessary posing at the Kappa house where I lived for two years.
Ohmygosh, I was so giddy excited during all of this. I was all, “See! This is the bench where I used to sit! And the crosswalk I used! And the air I used to breathe! Isn’t it magical? Don’t you just love it all, Mary Grace?” Sadly, she was a bit underwhelmed.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was having her own fun at my parents’ house as my mom and her friend not-so-gradually forced her to get over her fear of dogs once and for all. I’m told that she loved it! just loved it!… but I’m not yet convinced.
Despite my semi-compulsive-picture-taking, I somehow failed to adequately document one of the definite highlights of my trip. I pretty much won the jackpot and happened to come to Richmond on the same weekend my high school BFF and college roommate, Rachel, was celebrating her 30th birthday. It was awesome. Really, the whole weekend was just so good for my soul. (Minus the horrific trip home on Monday morning with two highly disgruntled little girls. From now on, we’ll refer to that special experience as The Nightmare on 85.) To the 804 and 757, a huge thanks for a pretty fabulous weekend!