I was so thankful to be able to go back to Virginia this year.  It was a great trip as was last year.  The actual getting there is always stressful with a toddler and my fear of flying but we managed to make it out fairly easily.  We flew into D.C. and made the two hour drive south to Charlottesville.  We stayed at our usual hotel and after waking up at 5am and traveling all day, it was such a relief to get to the room, unpack and relax.  I had a whole list of things I wanted to do and was ready to start our first full day.

The next day I had a hike on our list.  I really shouldn’t call it a “hike” as it was more of a leisurely stroll but it was one thing I had never done in C’ville even after all those years of living there.  We walked along the trail at the base of Carters Mountain near Monticello.

Nathan was in desperate need of a run and to expend some energy so Grandma met us with her dog Abby and we took off.  David and I took turns carrying William since I idiotically forgot his stroller and my Ergo baby carrier.  He really is quite heavy and I was so mad at myself.  But on the plus side my arms rose to the challenge and I am stronger than ever!

Then we stopped to take pictures by an old fallen tree.

The walk was gorgeous as all of Virginia is and it was the perfect way to start our trip.  I can’t remember what we did after our walk anymore but I do know we went to Grandma’s house for dinner.  William had a great time meeting Abby!

The next day we went to the Wild Animal Park in Lexington.  This was another thing I had never done before but I saw it online and thought Nathan would love it.  After a somewhat difficult drive down (Nathan wanted nothing to do with sitting in the car for 1.5 hours) we arrived.  What you basically do is buy buckets of animal feed and drive your car through the park and feed all the animals.  It sounded easy enough so we bought four buckets of feed and were on our way.  The Llamas came up to us first and I had no idea how aggressive they would be!  They stuck their heads right in the window of the car and stuffed their heads in the buckets to grab as much food as they could.  There was no stopping them.  Our only hope for escape was to step on the gas but since there were other cars in front of us we were trapped and they just kept eating!

Eventually we got used to it and enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of animals.  Not to mention the property the park was located on was breathtaking and we were never without a pretty view.  After the somewhat harrowing drive through the park we parked the car and went over to see the peacocks (Nathan’s favorite) and goats, pigs, kangaroos and birds.

We made our way over to the giraffe tower, which was really nice because I had never been so close to one before.  Grandma took lots of pictures of the giraffes!

Later that night we met my friend Morgan for dinner.  Beforehand I was freaking out over how Nathan would do in a restaurant since he has been so challenging lately.  Thankfully he did fairly well and we were able to have a nice dinner and catch up.  It was so nice to see her again.  I miss my Virginia friends so much!

After dinner we met Grandma and Abby at the park to run around.  Nathan had fun chasing Abby who was having fun chasing the frisbee Grandma was throwing.  It seemed to do the trick in knocking him out for the night!

The next day we went to Barracks Farm to visit where I used to ride horses.  It hasn’t changed in 20 years.  Still beautiful horses and beautiful views.  Last year Nathan loved the horses but this year he couldn’t have cared less.  He was far more interested in playing with a piece of string tied around a tree.

Then we went back to Grandma’s house where Nathan could run around again.

The next day we met my friend, Kate, at the park.  We’ve been friends since we were seven years old!  She was finally able to meet William and see Nathan!

Then we headed over to Chris Greene Lake so the kids could go swimming.  Our goal was to completely tire the boys out and I think we succeeded!

The next day we went to go feed the ducks and fish at the pond at Boar’s Head.  I have such fond memories of this place growing up.  It was SO beautiful.  Unfortunately there weren’t many ducks so the fish enjoyed most of our bread!

After an evening at Boar’s Head it was time to go back to the room and get ready for bed.  William loves to attack Nathan these days 🙂

Monday was our last full day and we visited Meredith and her two girls.  It was yet another wonderful visit!  Nathan won’t sit still for a picture or look at the camera much anymore so we put the little kids in a wagon and attempted to take pictures of them but as anyone with a toddler could guess, getting little wiggle worms to sit still is a major challenge.  I still think the pictures came out cute though!

Tuesday was our day to fly back that evening but we went to visit Caroline and her family in D.C. before our flight and I am SO mad I didn’t take pictures.  I was so excited to see her and meet her new baby daughter that I just completely forgot to bring the camera in.  Needless to say we had such a wonderful visit.  Our boys are the same age and Nathan talked about his new “special friends” for days afterwards.  It was a fantastic visit and I was so sad when we had to leave.

Our flight back was actually going really well until Nathan got motion sickness for the last hour of the flight and threw up all over himself repeatedly.  I felt SO bad for him.  He was just miserable 😦  Thankfully as soon as the plane landed he perked back up to his usual self 🙂

I didn’t take nearly as many pictures this year as I did last year.  We did a lot that I just never photographed so I am determined to not make the same mistake next year!  As usual, coming back to LA is very depressing and I miss Virginia terribly.  It has been hard on Nathan too.  In Virginia he is able to run around so much more and not live such a contained life.  There are fields for him to play in, places aren’t crowded so you don’t have to keep such a tight hold on him and it’s just generally a much nicer place for kids than LA.  Coming back here is a big letdown but we have so much on our plate that there’s really no other choice than to suck it up and get back into the swing of things.

I am in the process of finding ABA therapy for Nathan and that has taken a lot of time and energy.  It’s a back and forth process between the doctor, insurance company, and therapy provider.  I have 4 irons in the fire right now and I just want to get things started as soon as possible.  Nathan also starts school this week and I start the week after that.  I am taking Chemistry and Art History, which are the last two classes I need before I transfer.  Then in September, David starts his classes too.

Phew!  I am getting ready to hop on the roller coaster again and practice taking things one day at a time – that’s really the only way to get through it.  But in the end, I know we will be so happy we charged through this time in our lives the way we have.  I will have a degree, David will have a graduate degree, Nathan will be getting the help he needs and improving every day, and little William will hopefully continue to learn and grow every day.  That’s a lot to accomplish and a lot to be proud of.  We can do it!