Abundant Sunshine In Virginia

8:00

Jill And Halle And Their Pups. Coco And Daisy

It's 7:50 and my son in law, Drew, and I are the only one's up although it sounds like Evie's up and taking a shower.  As usual, we are talking politics and sports, are mostly in agreement and it's fun to hear his point of view having been on both the inside and outside of the government as well as the military.

Leaving Chautauqua And Snow

We had an easy drive yesterday, thanks goodness, no mishaps, no delays.  We left Chautauqua in a light snow, wet road but by the time we got past Warren, it started to clear up and the area around Altoona, PA, was in brilliant sunshine, the hills lit by the sun.  It was nice to see.  Our only brief stops were to Mc Donald's for a breakfast sandwich and later, for a chicken sandwich, other than a brief stop for gas in Virginia, our favorite stop, which has a great gift shop as well as a bakery and deli.

Blue Skies And Sun

We got to Bristow at 3:00, basically seven hours after we left and let ourselves into the house because Jill was working and Drew and the girls were out shopping.  We were greeted enthusiastically by the dogs as they now know us well enough to not bark, at least Coco doesn't.  As we were unpacking, Drew and the girls arrived, happy to see us and we got great hugs.  They all look great, so grown up, Halle a sixth grader, the other, Hayden, a sophomore.  We heard all about Halle's new love, her traveling volleyball team and Hayden's cross country season, including an overnight for an Invitational meet in North Carolina, with teams from all over the US.  She loved it, competing with hundreds of other girls.

Halle And Coco

Our Sophomore, Ready For A Night Out

Jill was home around 5:00 and quickly got out the wine and cheese, sausage and crackers, and we sat around catching up, eventually beginning a menu for the next three nights because today was going to be the big shopping day, at both Wegman's, Harris Teeters, and Total Wines for libations. Fortunately, we did not have to do any prepping for dinner because Evie brought along a baked ziti. Hayden, our social butterfly, was going out with friends at 6:30 so we had to have dinner early, at 6:00.  The ziti was great but the banana cream pie Evie made as well was the big hit. Yumster.

We did not last long after dinner, however, as we were tired from the drive.  Uncharacteristically, Evie went downstairs to bed at 8:30.  I stayed up and watched the first half of the football game until 9:30. Drew went over to a buddies to watch the game on a big screen TV, Jill watched a show upstairs as did Halle.  So it was Coco, the dog, and me,  watching the game.