Virginia Visits Virginia, Part 2

Our Saturday in Virginia was full of fun activities, but we didn't stop there!  We awoke Sunday morning bright and early and drove a half hour from Lynchburg to tiny Arrington, Virginia, where Trinity Episcopal Church is located.  Trinity was our church when we lived in Lovingston, Virginia during my third year of law school (2004-2005), and we could not wait to show off Miss V to all of our friends there.  Virginia behaved beautifully during the service, and then joined everyone for coffee hour and a little playing on the swing set behind the church.

Thomas and Bernie McGinnis at Trinity:

Virginia took our photo (again) outside of Trinity:

After church, we drove a few minutes up the road to our old stomping grounds in Lovingston, where we reunited with our former neighbors, the Boor Family and Larry Wells.  Larry was the director of the funeral home next door to the house we rented from him on Main Street and was a great neighbor and friend.  Travis Boor worked with Larry and lived across the street from us with his wife Candy.  When we lived there, Travis and Candy had two young sons, Myles and Wesley, but we were amazed to find that they had all but grown up!  In addition, a fifth Boor family member had been added, so we were thrilled to meet little Bryn (1).  Virginia adored having a little girl to take care of during our visit.  We visited with everyone and ate lunch at our favorite Lovingston pizza joint, Vito's.

Our old house (right) next to the Wells-Sheffield Funeral Chapel:

Virginia meets the newest Boor family addition, Bryn:

The boys at the Boor house (Myles, Larry, Thomas & Travis):

Thomas with Travis & Candy:

The Boor and Harvey kids: Bryn, Myles, Wesley, & Virginia:

In the afternoon, we loaded up the car yet again and headed for Charlottesville, where we met up with Steve, Yancey, and Finley Haas.  Steve and Thomas were best buddies at UVA, and the Haas family now lives in Richmond, so they kindly made the trip to see us.  Finley is a year and a half older than Virginia, and she and Virginia became fast friends as well.  We had a nice dinner and playtime on the Downtown Mall in Cville with them, and then retired to the Omni for a swim and a good night's sleep.

Virginia and Finley, clearly up to no good chasing their dads:

 Dads & daughters: Steve, Finley, Virginia, & Thomas:

On Monday morning, we had a few hours to kill before our flight home, so we took Virginia to see UVA.  We had lunch at a famous greasy spoon, The White Spot, on The Corner, and then bought lots of UVA gear for Virginia and us.  Then it was back to California for us!

Silly girl at the White Spot:

Virginia taking yet another photo of us - not bad at all!

Virginia Visits Virginia, Part 1

Ever since Virginia was born, we've been waiting patiently to take her to her namesake state.  So when the judge that Thomas clerked for in Lynchburg announced he was having a reunion of his clerks, we jumped at the chance to take little V to Virginia.  We planned a whirlwind weekend, leaving on a Friday and returning on Monday.  I managed to snag us seats on United for $283 roundtrip, so it was a travel success story as well.

We arrived late Friday night into Charlottesville airport and drove the one hour trek down Route 29 to Lynchburg that night.  We made an obligatory Chick-Fil-A stop along the way, of course.  After a glamorous night at the Holiday Inn in Lynchburg, we had a great Southern breakfast the next morning and then went to meet the Homiller family for a playdate.  

Lucy and Will Homiller attended UVA law school with Thomas and me years ago, and have two little ones who were just the right age to be Virginia's playmates.  Virginia and Frances (almost 5) hit it off right away, and little George (3) tagged along for all the fun.  The Homillers were so sweet to come all the way to Lynchburg (Lucy's hometown) from Richmond (where they now live) to meet us.  We visited a great park in Lynchburg with the kids, ate lunch at a restaurant by the Lynchburg River, and then the girls went to the Children's Museum, Amazement Square.

At the park:

Silly kids playing at the park:

Fast friends:

"Snowboarding" to a motion-based video game at Amazement Square:

UVA buddies and their little girls!

After our great playdate, it was off to the reunion dinner for Judge Norman Moon.  Virginia was one of the few kids in attendance, but she hung in there pretty well, with the help of some iPhone games from one of the clerks who was a mom herself and whose iPhone was well-stocked!  Everyone got a kick out of her insisting on taking the group photo of all of Judge Moon's clerks, and she continued to snap photos well into the evening. 

Judge Moon and all of his former clerks:

 Virginia took this photo of us -- not bad!

Thomas with Judge Moon:

Cabo Wabo

Earlier this month, Thomas and I took a weekend away from little V to head down to Cabo San Lucas for the wedding of her godmother, Amy.  Virginia stayed behind for a weekend of fun with GayGay in Piedmont, and she had a great time attending a Kentucky Derby party and a swim lesson at Claremont Country Club.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed a few cervezas and attended all the parties in Cabo.  We stayed at the Fiesta Americana, which was a very nice resort about 15 minutes from town.  The wedding was at the Esperanza, which was just breathtaking.  It was great reuniting with old friends and enjoying the warm weather.  We took lots of photos that weekend, but here are a few highlights:

Thursday night on the town with Meredith at The Office:

Happy couple at The Office:

Amy and I at her bridesmaids' luncheon:

Rehearsal dinner at Mi Casa with the UVa crew:

Virginia girls (Leslie, Meredith and Deb):

UVa Roomies and Bridesmaids:

The blushing bride gets ready for the big day:

Amy and I:

Yet another UVa crew photo at the wedding:

Dancing the night away:

We forgot how easy Cabo is... just a three hour nonstop flight from SFO.  The tourist industry works really hard to make things safe for all the American tourists, and we found it just as easy to navigate as many American destinations.  So we will have to come back with Virginia soon!  Time to get her passport...

A Bachelorette Weekend Away From Wormy

In early March, I got my first weekend away from Little V in many months... I was off to New Orleans to enjoy the bachelorette party of my friend Amy (Virginia's godmother).  Although I was sad to be away, it was a short and easy trip and it was great to catch up with my old friends and make new ones.  Here are a few highlights from the weekend.  We can't wait for the wedding in Cabo in May!

Historic bar in the French Quarter:

Beignets at Cafe DuMonde:

Bourbon Street still had a few Mardi Gras decorations remaining:

Law school roomies, Meredith and Amy:

Herr Haas Hits our House

It's good catching up with old friends. We got that chance a week ago when our buddies from law school, Steve and Yancey Haas, came to the Bay Area for visit. Herr and Frau Haas live in Richmond, Virginia and have been threatening a visit out here for many years. It happened the ABA convention was in town this year, so Steve and Yancey took the chance to make it a proper trip.

Since opportunities like this don't come very often, Leslie and I broke out the big guns. We called in our chips for a full day of babysitting assistance from Grammy and Poppy, then skipped town for a Saturday day trip with the Hasses up to the Wine Country. We drove all over Sonoma and the Russian River valley, doing just about everything that makes these trips fun. We stopped at a fruit stand, drank great wine, looked out on halcyon rolling hills, soaked in sunshine, picnicked in the shade, caught up about old friends, bought treats, and generally did whatever we wanted. It was like we had never skipped a beat with Steve and Yancey.

It was great day. Hope to have them back soon.