Reuniting With Old Friends in Virginia

Nate made some really great friends his freshman year at BYU. When he got back from his mission, and after he and I started dating, I got to meet and hang out with them. On our second date, Nate borrowed Steve's (he's the one on the left) car to take me out. We went on double dates with Steve and Ellie (girlfriend then/wife now) and made some other fun memories with Travis (the one in the middle). They are quality guys. We haven't seem them in YEARS, and since they both live in Virginia with their families, we had to get together before Nate and I move back to the West. We met up in Gordonsville, VA to do some "cabin camping" at a resort.

This place was absolutely perfect for the kids. There was always something to do. Digging in sand is ALWAYS a hit with my kids.

Usually all my kids really need to be totally content for hours is a playground. This one had a basketball court, sand volleyball court, play equipment, etc. 

I made this discovery when I was walking back to the car to get some water on the first day. The night before Nate and I had noticed something kind of drop down in front of our car, but it was dark and we didn't think too much of it. Turns out it was this bat.

Kind of sad, kind of cool, kind of gross.

Right across from the playground was a mini golf course.

Jansen and Peter (Steve and Ellie's oldest) are the same age and have a lot in common. They had fun getting to know each other and playing together.

We did a little bit of hiking. 

And a little bit of fishing. There were always a TON of carpenter bees (the really big ones that very rarely sting) around our cabin, and Natalie and Emmy did not care for them. I think Emmy is scared of one in this picture.

We don't fish much, but it was probably one of the highlights of this trip.

Natalie was beyond thrilled to catch her first fish.

These are the cabins we stayed in. They were great. The older kids slept in a couple single beds in one room, and Emmy snuggled up on the floor of our room and slept through the night both nights. We had kitchens, so we took turns hosting the other families for meals.

Our second day we checked out the petting zoo and did some pony rides.

We have 11 (almost 12 kids) between the 3 families.

I'm sure Jansen will never forget this giant chess board they had. 

The weather was beautiful while we were there, and it was even warm enough to swim.

I had been a little worried about this getaway since I would be 34 weeks when we went and I wasn't sure how I would be feeling, but it was wonderful. Our kids are old enough that I wasn't chasing anyone around all day, no diapers, no bottles, so it was pretty low stress. That's all about to change soon, but it was fun to get a glimpse of vacationing with "older" kids.