Back to Bama!

In early June, I decided it was time to brave a solo flight with Virginia back to Alabama to see her Mimi and Papa again.  My high school girlfriends planned a mini-reunion in Birmingham that same weekend, so it was the perfect chance to enjoy a girls weekend and let Mimi and Papa take Virginia for an overnight visit.  Aunt Lizzie flew in from Charlotte as well to lend a hand.

The weekend was a ton of fun... Virginia swam and swam in the baby pool in Mimi's back yard, ate Southern cuisine at Martha's Place, and fed Ginger (my parents' new dog) all day long.  The trip took a bit of a strange and unfortunate turn, however, while I was away in Birmingham for my girls' overnight.  While I was away, Virginia slipped and cut her chin on a wooden decorative garbage can at my parents' house.  Luckily, she was in good hands with Papa's medical connections and they took her to the Baptist ER where they determined that she needed a few stitches.  

But she was too upset to handle getting stitches without me there, so I raced back to Montgomery to nurse her boo boos.  A former schoolmate of mine from Montgomery Academy was the ER doctor who stitched her up.  Virginia was not thrilled when we had to put her in the ER equivalent of a straightjacket to do the actual stitching.  She gave the nurses lots of lip!  Although it was upsetting to see her in pain, we were glad to see that her feisty spirit had definitely not been broken.

Even though the trip involved her first ER visit, we still had a blast with family.  I'm happy to report that Virginia is healing nicely and is well on her way to recovery too...

Silly with Aunt Lizzie:

Virginia went down the slide about 200 times!

Pretending to be shy meeting her first celebrity (Martha Hawkins):

Princess Virginia wearing her tiara from Mimi's grab bag of treats:

Ginger ate more that weekend than she had all year!

A ginger with Ginger!  You can see her little scar and fat lip in this photo:

Virginia stymied our attempts to get a shot with her and Mimi all weekend... this was the best we could do!

Labor Day in CT

We had quite the Labor Day adventure this year... we arrived in CT just days after the entire Northeast was devastated by Hurricane Irene.  The power was still out in half of the state and as luck would have it, 1918 was still in the dark.  But we were determined to have a great time and to enjoy our visit with all of the Mack family!  We luckily had the good fortune to have a free night at a Marriott hotel, and we booked a room down the road at the local Residence Inn for the first night.

The following day, we imposed upon the generous hospitality of Uncle Peter and Aunt Nancy (and Cousin Sarah!) and moved down to Southport for two nights.  Aunt Nancy was smart enough to have saved all of her little girl toys in the attic, and Virginia put all of them to use: baby carriages, play kitchens, tea sets, and more!  It was a little girl's dream come true.  When the power finally was restored to 1918 and it was time to move on, we had a hard time getting Virginia to agree to move out.

It was nice to have a few nights in 1918 as well (for the uninitiated reader, 1918 is Thomas's grandmother's house, and it is about to become the home of Thomas's Uncle John and Aunt Joyce).  Virginia spent plenty of time splashing in the pool and remarking about the fallen trees that the hurricane left behind.  Thomas and I spent lots of time going through old photos and boxes in an effort both to help John and Joyce clean out decades of Mack family junk and also to find information for our ongoing genealogy efforts.

The weekend was filled with lots of Mack socializing... a trip up to Yale for a Thai Taste lunch, dinner at the von Eulers' home, a visit to Rawley's (of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives fame) for milkshakes, and a cookout at the Steven Macks.  Virginia loved seeing all her cousins and we were amazed at how quickly she learned everyone's names.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Even though it has been an unusually cold summer this year in the Bay Area, we've taken full advantage of the few hot days we have had to have some summer fun! Here's Virginia enjoying coastal living, swimming lessons, and kiddie pools.

Crab Cove in Alameda (less than a mile from our house!):

Swimming Lessons with Mommy at Patti's Swim School:

Kiddie Pool and Bath Toys in our backyard:

Practicing strokes at the Claremont Country Club Pool: