Weekending
What a lovely, busy weekend I had, starting on Friday morning. I had the bug to cruise...I blame my Dad for this trait, the desire to just get out and drive. See what's out there in the world.
Also, I will use any excuse to get away from this empty house full of boxes. I have fully entered what I call "moving ennui"--the depressed period of time between moves when half of our life is in boxes and my heart is only half in the current location. I have no desire to be here anymore. I just want to get this over and move on. Even though I haven't ever liked this house, it's still a place where we spent almost two years of our lives. We've established a rhythm and routine and some history in this place and I'll be sad to see that go, as I always am, no matter what our moving situation.
Anyway, enough about ennui and back to the lovely weekend. The cruise: I decided to go to Smithfield, VA. I can't say exactly what led me there...rumors of a pretty downtown, I guess. As soon as Annika got on the bus, Will and I took off. Smithfield turned out to be less than 40 miles away, though it took awhile to get over there, having to go through a tunnel across the bay and then another bridge to get over to another penninsula. Virginia is a little like an octopus around here--lots of arms sticking out.
Smithfield didn't disappoint. The weather was beautiful. We drove right into downtown and parked on the main street. I forgot the stroller, but William was awesome, walking along beside me. I let him lead and decide where to go. Our first stop was Smithfield's original courthouse, circa 1750-1800. After a quick stop on the stocks for a juicebox, we kept walking until we found a restaurant for lunch--an old ice-cream store with a counter and stools. I had a BLT and Will had a peanut butter sandwich. I don't know if they sell Smithfield products in Minnesota, but they're everywhere in Virginia--they are like Hormel. In fact, I texted Hans during lunch and said "This town smells like Austin!" The bacon on the BLT was full of baconly goodness, that's for sure.
After lunch, we wandered around on the main street, looking in shop windows and at the beautiful Victorian houses (ahhh...it's been so long since I've indulged my inner Building Hugger). We took a couple of pictures of Smithfield's corporate headquarters and then stopped to get a cookie for the ride home. Just a nice morning drive, lunch and a little wander. I'd like to go back some time just to poke in the antique shops--obviously, not the place to take my little Bull in the China Shop!
After Hans came home from work, we had our regular run to Target and lo and behold, everyone behaved themselves and we were in and out in 20 minutes! Basking in the success of our Target run, we spontaneously decided to go out for supper. Get this--we took the kids to a Mexican restaurant and no one died! Our kids like Irish when we go out...they're not very open to other cultural eating experiences yet, but Mexican was fairly successful, so maybe we'll try Indian next? Ha! I had an enormous fish bowl of a margarita and then we ran for home as William was starting to take swings at random waitresses who kept stopping by the high chair to admire him. Yeah kid, that's the way to make friends...(eye roll).
Saturday afternoon Josiah, Annika and I went to the carnival at St. Matthew's, which is Marguerite's kids' school (got all that?). They had wristbands that let them have unlimited rides for two hours...I think we got our money's worth!
Saturday evening was spent in the company of my friend Patty and her sister-in-law. We had supper in Ghent, near where we'll be living in Larchmont. Mexican again, but a little more upscale. Afterwards, we repaired to Patty's backyard for one more glass of wine and a little more good girl talk.
Yesterday I was as lazy as I could be, staying in bed until almost 11:00 a.m. If you know me, you know that this is a rarity and would be a rarity even if I didn't have kids. Josiah and Annika brought me waffles and a banana for breakfast and I indulged in watching "CBS Sunday Morning" sans children, husband and dog. I was regaled with homemade goodies from the kids--SO many sweet little treasures. After lunch, I had a lovely long nap and finally killed off "Winds of War". I'm now on to "War and Remembrance", which is even loooonger, yikes! Great books, though.
I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day!
Also, I will use any excuse to get away from this empty house full of boxes. I have fully entered what I call "moving ennui"--the depressed period of time between moves when half of our life is in boxes and my heart is only half in the current location. I have no desire to be here anymore. I just want to get this over and move on. Even though I haven't ever liked this house, it's still a place where we spent almost two years of our lives. We've established a rhythm and routine and some history in this place and I'll be sad to see that go, as I always am, no matter what our moving situation.
Anyway, enough about ennui and back to the lovely weekend. The cruise: I decided to go to Smithfield, VA. I can't say exactly what led me there...rumors of a pretty downtown, I guess. As soon as Annika got on the bus, Will and I took off. Smithfield turned out to be less than 40 miles away, though it took awhile to get over there, having to go through a tunnel across the bay and then another bridge to get over to another penninsula. Virginia is a little like an octopus around here--lots of arms sticking out.
Smithfield didn't disappoint. The weather was beautiful. We drove right into downtown and parked on the main street. I forgot the stroller, but William was awesome, walking along beside me. I let him lead and decide where to go. Our first stop was Smithfield's original courthouse, circa 1750-1800. After a quick stop on the stocks for a juicebox, we kept walking until we found a restaurant for lunch--an old ice-cream store with a counter and stools. I had a BLT and Will had a peanut butter sandwich. I don't know if they sell Smithfield products in Minnesota, but they're everywhere in Virginia--they are like Hormel. In fact, I texted Hans during lunch and said "This town smells like Austin!" The bacon on the BLT was full of baconly goodness, that's for sure.
After lunch, we wandered around on the main street, looking in shop windows and at the beautiful Victorian houses (ahhh...it's been so long since I've indulged my inner Building Hugger). We took a couple of pictures of Smithfield's corporate headquarters and then stopped to get a cookie for the ride home. Just a nice morning drive, lunch and a little wander. I'd like to go back some time just to poke in the antique shops--obviously, not the place to take my little Bull in the China Shop!
After Hans came home from work, we had our regular run to Target and lo and behold, everyone behaved themselves and we were in and out in 20 minutes! Basking in the success of our Target run, we spontaneously decided to go out for supper. Get this--we took the kids to a Mexican restaurant and no one died! Our kids like Irish when we go out...they're not very open to other cultural eating experiences yet, but Mexican was fairly successful, so maybe we'll try Indian next? Ha! I had an enormous fish bowl of a margarita and then we ran for home as William was starting to take swings at random waitresses who kept stopping by the high chair to admire him. Yeah kid, that's the way to make friends...(eye roll).
Saturday afternoon Josiah, Annika and I went to the carnival at St. Matthew's, which is Marguerite's kids' school (got all that?). They had wristbands that let them have unlimited rides for two hours...I think we got our money's worth!
Saturday evening was spent in the company of my friend Patty and her sister-in-law. We had supper in Ghent, near where we'll be living in Larchmont. Mexican again, but a little more upscale. Afterwards, we repaired to Patty's backyard for one more glass of wine and a little more good girl talk.
Yesterday I was as lazy as I could be, staying in bed until almost 11:00 a.m. If you know me, you know that this is a rarity and would be a rarity even if I didn't have kids. Josiah and Annika brought me waffles and a banana for breakfast and I indulged in watching "CBS Sunday Morning" sans children, husband and dog. I was regaled with homemade goodies from the kids--SO many sweet little treasures. After lunch, I had a lovely long nap and finally killed off "Winds of War". I'm now on to "War and Remembrance", which is even loooonger, yikes! Great books, though.
 |
| Will at the Smithfield Courthouse (circa 1750-1800) |
 |
| Breaking for a juicebox on the stocks... |
 |
| Downtown Smithfield |
 |
| Peanut butter sandwich for lunch |
 |
| One beautiful lady in Smithfield! |
 |
| Smithfield Corporate Headquarters |
 |
| Annika, Ivan Michael and Josiah at the carnival |
Comments
Smithfield looks like a charming town. The antique stores would be interesting for me, too!
I loved all the pictures. Will, Annika and Josiah looked to be having a good time in all of them.
I'm happy you had a nice Mother's Day, Rachel!
Happy Mothers day!