Our Virginia Trip Part 2

Sunday morning we woke up and dressed in our finest to attend church with Doris, Tommy, Phyllis, Tim and Ann. This is the same church that Geoff grew up in. It's a beautiful, old, traditional Presbyterian church, and it was wonderful to sit through service surrounded by family. Geoff took a little walk down memory lane as people welcomed him back for the visit. We ate lunch afterwards at Lisa and Bob's (Ann's sister) and said goodbye to cousins. In the afternoon, we swam in Tommy & Phyllis' pool. The kids had fun jumping off the board and cooling off. That evening we went to Robin, Mike and Taylor's for dinner (Ann's other sister) and enjoyed good food with the aunts, uncles and Shir Shir and Papa Bunker. Claire had fun harassing Taylor and his girlfriend while Landon was enthralled by all the "big kid" toys Taylor had in the basement, not to mention all the Tonka trucks outside in the rocks! We were so busy this day, we didn't take any pictures!


Monday morning we slept in alittle and then headed off to the Peaks of Otter. This is a mountain in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountain Range. There is a trail that goes to the very top that we thought the kids would enjoy. When we arrived, we changed our minds...it was a mile-and-a-half up one way! We decided to ride the bus up, so while we waited for departure we visited the nature center. There was a wonderful and well-educated Ranger in the center ready to teach, and our children were eager learners! She let them feed some turtles, taught them about wildlife that lived on the mountain and then let them help her dig for more worms. While digging, Claire found a salamander, which the Ranger kept to live in the center and let Claire name. The kiddos enjoyed the bus ride up, but Claire got sick on the short hike up to the viewing area on the mountain. Landon found it very interesting that he could see all around him, and for so far. We ended up riding the bus down also, which was not the original plan. But if you had seen Claire's face...well, it wasn't worth pushing it! That evening we visited Shir Shir and Papa Bunker and took them out to dinner. On the way back to their house, we stopped at the rescue station where Papa Tim used to work. We were lucky enough that someone was there and let the kids get in the rescue truck and run the lights and siren. Landon (and Geoff) were in heaven, and the kids learned a lot about what the trucks did. We played a little longer before heading back to the hotel...Landon loved showing off his Lego skills and Claire enjoyed having the full attention of the great-grandparents.





Point #2: Landon noticed it first, but Claire was not far behind. While in the car and entering the mountain areas there were things said like: "I can't believe how far I can see", or "Look at all those mountains!". It was amusing to listen!


Tuesday morning we stopped in to see Doris and a long-time friend of the family, Virginia. After catching up there, we headed to downtown Lynchburg to meet Tommy at the Amazement Square. This place ranks on my top ten of the coolest things I've ever seen...and I've been around! There were 4 levels of learning, exploring, playing and just plain fun for kids of all ages. There was a whole area dedicated to gravity, inertia and several other things I don't understand, not to mention a human heart the size of my living room, a Dr's office, a silversmith's shop, lighted stairs, a painting chamber and the James River made child-size, complete with boats and levy's! There was also a complete chute and ladder assembly down the whole middle of the building so you would never have to use the stairs to get from the top to bottom if you didn't want to! Phyllis, Doris and Helen met us for lunch and then we all went back to play together, well into the afternoon. Landon's favorite thing was the boats, and Claire's was the paint chamber. That evening, we made the rounds and said good bye to all the family one last time before heading out the next morning.