...and babies make 4: East coast trip

2 weeks ago we took a trip to Virginia to see our dear friends Joel and Tori with a stop in Kentucky to see my brother and his family. We left at 5am hoping that Owen would sleep for a couple of hours since he doesn't usually wake up until after 7. No such luck. He didn't nap well in the van like we had hoped. I don't think he slept more than 30 minutes at a time and it was only 2-3 of those a day. It was quite maddening. He actually did quite well despite the lack of sleep. I think it helped that we took a day off of driving on the way there to spend in Louisville so he didn't have two days of terrible naps and being confined in a car seat. It was so great to spend some time with family albeit short, as well as a few days with great friends that we have managed to stay close with even though we haven't lived in the same place for more than 4 years.

We spent all of Tuesday with Andrew and Bekah and the kiddos which was great. I love seeing their family and taking in the wisdom they have to offer. Being with family is such a comfortable place to be. The weather was pretty rainy while we were there so we didn't really venture out. We left their house on Wednesday morning at 5am again with the same sleeping results for Owen and arrived in Virginia Beach around 6pm.

We didn't get to see as many sites as we had hoped because we had forgotten to take kids naps into account but we did get to go to the beach and Owen and I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! Tori and I hit up several thrift stores sans kids which was a good time. Owen came back with lots of new clothes.
We haven't felt like we've made very close connections with people since leaving Ames so it was very refreshing to spend a few days with them and we're so thankful that we've been able to keep that friendship going.

We left Joel and Tori's on Sunday after going to their church and drove about 45 minutes to Williamsburg to see some more dear friends (Hi Bob and Nancy! Thanks for letting us stay with you and for showing us around!) Pat has known them since highschool and I met them the summer that Pat and I were engaged when we went to AtlantaFest. They've played a huge role in Pat's life and it was great to see them again and have them meet Owen. They are full of godly wisdom and so welcoming. They were gracious enough to show us around Williamsburg and the William and Mary campus which was beautiful. It was so fun being in such a historical place and hearing about all of the things that happened there so many years ago. We look forward to going back again and being able to show Owen a history lesson rather than just reading about it. Bob and Nancy have a beautiful home with a great deck that we spent a couple of hours enjoying after Owen went to bed.

We decided that this leaving at 5am thing was for the birds and did not benefit any of us so Monday morning we left around 8:30am and drove back to Louisville stayed the night and started the final leg around 9:30am on Tuesday and got home around 5pm. We were so ready to get home at that point so we just pushed through as quick as we could. Owen cried the last couple of hours and was pretty inconsolable for the last 45 minutes or so. Those last two days were rough on him since they were spent in the car with not much of a break.

When we left home on Monday morning it was just starting to snow and then while we were driving through Eastern Virginia on Wednesday we met up with the same snow storm (I think) and it made for some slow driving. I couldn't believe the amount of snow there was and during one stretch there were trees down on the freeways blocking one lane at least every mile. We stopped at one exit for a bathroom break and there were maybe 3 gas stations and a McDonald's. The McDonald's was closed "due to the weather" and only 1 gas station was open and there were 30-40 cars lined up. We didn't think it was that bad so we were a little nervous that we were about to encounter something pretty terrible. Although there ended up being quite a bit of snow during one stretch I believe that people from the Midwest have a very different definition of bad weather than those that live in the Southeast. :) When we left the following Monday we saw all of those downed trees being turned into mulch on the side of the road.

Wednesday morning Owen woke up with a fever that got up to 102º and stuck around for a couple of days. Poor guy was pretty miserable. I think part of it was from lack of sleep and we're pretty sure his molars are coming through so we didn't leave the house for 3 days with the exception of a 30 minute walk on Friday afternoon because it was too nice outside. One of those days I think he slept at least 4 hours during the day and most of that night as well so I think he was playing a little catch up. He seems to be doing a lot better and hasn't had a fever since Friday morning but you can tell his mouth is still bothering him and I have yet to see any white poke through so who knows how long this will last.

Here are some photos from our adventure!