Camping - VA & DC - Day 2 - 8/27 - Visiting Kristine

When we were trying to decide where to go this year for our vacation I had Bess and Gabe make a list of the things they wanted to do. There were two things in the top 5 on both of their lists...visit my on-line friend Kristine and her family and go to the National Zoo. I was thrilled because Kristine and I had been trying to figure out when we could come visit. Brian is always up for meeting new people, so he had no objections.

They live about 3 hours from Charlottesville and that is where we headed out for on Thursday. The ride was easy and uneventful. Kristine and Robert have a beautiful home in the woods...our kind of place. They most graciously opened it up to us and we had a terrific visit.

They served us lunch as soon as we arrived and that is always a good start for my crew. I'm sure it isn't easy having seven extra people in your home for a meal.

They have a great deck and the day was great for visiting outside. Trevor took some of the kids down to the creek. The younger children enjoyed the dog and the cats, running around the yard, lizards with blue tails and yummy Popsicles. Bess and Holly went off and did their girly thing...I think nail polish was involved at one point.

Gabe and Trevor hit is off right away and we rarely saw them during the visit. They have so many things in common and really enjoyed each other's company. Trevor taught Gabe some new DS tricks and that worked out great later in the week as Bess and Gabe were able to compete against each other on their DSs. Sometimes Gabe doesn't always click with other boys his age as they can be so physical and in his words "hyper". Gabe loves being active, but also enjoys some quieter activities and he and Trevor were a perfect match.

Bessie and Holly have been emailing and IMing and Facebooking for a while, so they had a ready made friendship. I think it took them a bit of time to work through the awkwardness of first meeting, but then they had a great time together.

It was such a privilege to finally meet Kristine after being on-line pals for so many years. Kristine has been a tremendous encouragement to me especially over the last few years. I felt instantly at home...of course maybe some of it was Robert's teasing. :-) It was so nice to spend the afternoon with them. Robert and Brian hit it off well and I'm sure it isn't always easy for the husbands. Kristine and I have shared so much in emails and blogs that we feel like we really know each other but the hubbies don't have that advantage. I think they had a good time too.

I was so reluctant to leave and we did actually have to come back after we were down the road a bit as Gabe remembered his cap.

Look at all those happy faces.

Kristine, Robert, Holly and Trevor, thank you so much for opening your home to us. We had such a pleasant time and are already hoping to come back again.