Our first week in VA

We made it here safe and sound on Monday morning around 7am.!! So we stopped and had breakfast at a place called Aunt Sarah's Pancake House. It was good, not the greatest but still refreshing after a long drive. We left MI on Sunday around 5:30ish. We made good time and Ken drove all the way. He was getting tired towards the end. I even stayed awake most of the trip to talk with him and keep him awake. The boys slept most of it and did really well.

We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, Richmond VA around 8:30am. So we unpacked and chilled out in the hotel for a couple of hours, slept some between the two of us while the boys unwound in the room. We are on the 7th floor looking out to the city below. Our room has 2 queen beds, a fridge and microwave, a crib for Brady and a nice flat screen tv. So we are all enjoying the tv channels and the big desk, at which I am sitting at now, while I type.

The rest of monday was refreshing as we went swimming, ate subway for lunch, visited a mall for dinner and Walmart for some things we forgot and went to bed early.

Ken started work on Tuesday. So the boys and I had fun checking out the sites. On tuesday we went to the Children's museum of Richmond, after I drove around for about 2 hours while the boys slept. This place is great for little ones as they are able to explore and do lots of kid stuff like climb on trees, or dinosaurs, pick apples and put them back in the tree, play at a water table. They also have a outdoor water area and sand box. I think we will be going back here a couple of times. This is one of the places we can visit with our science center pass, for free!!! I started talking with other people of the best places to visit while we were here. I was able to get a lay of the land while I drove around. It was nice to be able to relax and drive a brand new 2009 Toyota Camry. It is white and feels great! We rented a car and the car was packed to the top on the way here. We went out to a mall for dinner and ate at Chick-fil-a and played in the children's area for a while. Cody and Brady had their first run in with the "mall police" as they left the area, without their shoes on, and were playing on the stairs, and dad was watching them. I sat on the bench thinking to myself, "I think they need their shoes on" but did not say anything. I saw them come back with a sad look on their face as they had a mall security officier scold them.

Wednesay we went to a place called Maymont Park. It had a Nature Center and a farm and some other things we did not get too. It was 97 degrees outside and so therefore, we did not do so much as this place is very hilly. Cody even said, "I'm tired of walking" and did not want to see much more. I was thankful of that! I was dripping sweat getting in the car myself. So we ordered pizza in for the night. We also watched a storm come in from the west. It was cool watching the lightening and the clouds get darker around us. Since our window looks out to the city, that is the first thing the boys want to do in the morning. Brady points to the window and then makes his noise of cars and does the sign for bus, car etc. Too cute!

Thursday we ventured to the Science Center of Richmond. The building itself is a wonderful site. It is the old Union Station. So it has that old time feel of a train station. It has a Kugel earth and moon replicas in the front. The "Big Ball" as Cody calls it, is an enormous marble ball floating around on water and you can spin it with your hands you get wet in the fountain thing it is in. It is really quite cool! The inside of the science center was fun and we also got in free with our pass! The coolest thing was seeing the insect, repitle, and such. They had snakes, trantula, turtles, frog, toads, and other intersting insects to look at. Then went to a mall called
Short Pump Mall. It is a really large outdoor place with a food court and fancy shops. The boys enjoyed playing in the toy store for a while. Then we walked around. Then headed back to the room for the evening.

Friday it rained some more. So outdoors was not an option. I decided that we needed to keep up on the laundry and get my medication. We went to Walgreens and then the laundry mat. The boys did great while the laundry was going. We played laundry ball! I had bought them little balls at Walgreens and so we had fun playing with it, kicking it, and making baskets! Brady loves throwing the ball and he was laughing and giggling lots. Of course, my day would not be complete without them falling asleep, in the car. I drove around and decided that I would pick up dinner and take it back to the hotel. I went to TGI Fridays and got us steak for dinner! It turned out great and we had fun just hanging out until... Brady fell off the bed while we were playing. Ken and Cody were able to get to the pool while I took care of Brady. He might have injuried his arm. I gave him tylenol and he fell asleep. I am going to keep an eye on him and see what happens tomorrow. I hope he did not break it. He has such little bones and his weak muscle tone. We may end up taking him to get xrays. I will keep all posted.

Well that sums up our week here in VA. IF Brady is ok, then we will be doing some more site seeing this weekend. A strawberry festival or Busch Gardens possiblities. I am not able to post pictures, since I do not have the cord for my camera. So you will just have to come back for them when I can post it! Thanks. Keep us in your prayers for little Brady and his arm. Hope it is ok and we will not have to go to the "H" word.

Til next time, have a wonderful weekend!