What she said

We visited the Life Rocks family in Virginia last week.  We stayed for six days and six nights which felt to me like they whizzed by and possibly felt as though they moved slightly slower for the people in whose house we were staying.  We did double their household population for nearly a week and the youngest of us did bring with him a brewing case of what was diagnosed mid-week at an Urgent Care facility as bronchitis-with-yucky-attitude-and-flaming-fever.

I had fully intended to document our trip when we returned with photos and narrative but it turns out we forgot our camera and were reliant upon Mark's phone.  And?  My sister already did it.  I should really not just link to her work, and had fought the urge for a full 24 hours, but then she went and sold me out as the crappy driver that I am today.  Also, she insinuated that she's a faster learner, so guess what I've learned? Me have learned how to link if me thinks someone else already did me's work for me.

Check out this and this for her rundown.  Go ahead. I'll wait.  When you come back you can read my trip highlights as filler. 

The highlights for me were:

• Watching a baby girl eat her body weight in "free" blueberries.  (We underfilled other containers to make up for her shoplifting tendencies.)
• Hearing my nephew tell us that he loves us. It's just something of which you don't tire.
• Watching the three boys play together in a much healthier fashion than last time they were together.
• Receiving the full-on tour of Uncle Jeff's jet and squadron and seeing an F-22 demo flight then knowing later that Andrew really did kind of "get" how special that opportunity was.
• Seeing my sister and Andrew bond over their shared love of collecting shells, rocks, etc. 
• Riding in my sister's Wave Runner Camry on the James River Bridge. I know she referenced it, but I really can't do justice to how seasick and amused we were by the time we reached the other side.
• H&M with the girls. Girl time is good.
• Andrew reading books to the little boys when they woke up too early to come out of their room.
• Learning that Andrew thought he was the luckiest guy in the house the night that we took T to the doctor because he got to stay home with Aunt Steph and she let him stay up to watch television with her after the little ones went to bed.
• The fact that the boys watched a DVRd episode of Wipeout, in its entirety, at least three times during the week. 
• Taking an afternoon nap with Thomas.  Simple pleasures. 
•  My sister's cooking. She does this thing where she plans whole meals in advance and then begins preparing said meals more than 30 minutes before she wants them on the table. I might have to try it because they were delicious.
• Riding in the car with Andrew and Natalie and watching them entertain one another in the sweetest way.  It might have been wishful thinking but I'm pretty sure she was saying his name.
• Riding on a ferry because ferries are just cool.
• Hearing Thomas and Wyatt discuss whether they believed we would indeed have to drive backwards all the way home when we missed the ferry, as we backed off the bridge lest we get stuck there for the hour wait.
• Wyatt pledging allegiance to the flag - any flag.
• Listening to Wyatt correct Uncle Mark's lyrics to "Proud To Be An American."
• Getting in the car to drive the two littlest boys and learning that when Uncle Mark chauffered  he entertained them by telling stories about his imaginary friend, Bob, who had apparently been a trouble passenger. Bob was, as far as I could tell, a laugh riot.
• That quiet time after kids went to bed and grownups watched tv, watched movies and generally conversed like grownups do. 
• A night on the town in Virginia Beach.  If you get a chance to see Damon Wayans, take it. He's funny. 
• Jeff bathing kids in their skivvies in the front yard. They'll likely never forget it. 
• Knowing that we get to soak up more Rock time in the next 18 months.

Because we've established that I'm a lazy, slow-learning linker, do go check out the photos we have in the flickr sidebar.  They feature four pretty cute kids if I do say so myself.