September 1, 2007

• Where do I start?

  I seem to have lost my summer somewhere and can't find it! Did it go by fast for you? The best thing I can say about the start of school (beyond wild cheering) is that I think and hope I can finally catch my breath and get back to a more normal life and schedule!

  So, let's see. The summer in a nutshell. First our friend Daryl visited for a week. While he was here, Per, another long time friend from Sweden visited and spent several days. The day after Daryl left, Mel and her four children arrived from Scotland to visit for three weeks. I had never hosted so many people at once, it gave our house 9 people and I must say, I bit off more than I can chew. We had three girls, ages; 7, 8 and 10, and three boys: ages 10, 11 and 13. One set of kids was used to bed at 8:30 - 9:00 pm, the other was used to staying up very late, often to 1 am or later. The amounts of laundry were stunning and I don't think the machines stopped running all day. I also never adjusted very well to cooking for so many people. I seemed to either make too much or too little and there was always one or more people who were VERY unhappy with whatever was served, no matter what I did.

  Anyhow, in the end, I think and hope they had a good time. We took them to Legoland, the beach, SeaWorld, Big Bear for a week, they went swimming till I thought they would grow gills, we went to the movies, a car show, a middle age fair, the zoo and the wild animal park. But boy, I am STILL tired, even two weeks later!

  Two days after Mel and her family left, we went on our own family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia. I had not been to Virginia before, beyond the one day we spent at Mt. Vernon last December and I really, really enjoyed it. There are so many trees and it is SO green compared to California. I also discovered there was at least 8 places to eat within 2 miles of our hotel with the word "Pancake" in their name. What is up with that??  Unfortunately, as is typical in August, it was very hot and humid and that part was difficult. But I found things so interesting and fun, it was almost possible to ignore that bit!

  Colonial Williamsburg was great! There was tons to see and even spending two days there, we didn't see it all. I loved the little gardens tucked all over, the lovely homes, so carefully restored, watching craftsmen work on things like bookbinding and saddle making and being able to ask them questions and have them explain their work.

  So, without further ado, here are some photos from Colonial Williamsburg:

  

  The girls, left to right: Zoe, Megan, Liz and Becca

  

  A lovely meadow next to the Governor's Palace

  

  A duet inside the Governor's Palace

  

  Meeting George Washington

  

  Leather workers 

  

  Colonial garden shop

  

  Gardens at the Governors Palace

  

  Fife and drum boys

  

  Children's militia, be afraid! 

  

  Canon firing demonstration

  

  Blacksmith

  

  Becca learning about Colonial cooking

  Next blog, pictures and commentary on our visit to the Jamestown Settlement.

  • 7:40 pm
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