Ollie zooming down Wilmington Avenue in a little red wagon.
This week while Ryan was "working" in Colorado (he went out for the regional sales meeting and ended up going hiking and horseback riding in the Rockies) Ollie and I went back up to Richmond to see some old friends. It was so much fun!!! We stayed with our friends Laura, Eric and Tom. Ollie loved playing with Tom (almost 2). One morning as we were waking up in the guest room Ollie heard Tom waking up upstairs; he gave the biggest shout/squeal of excitement when he heard Tom's voice as if he just couldn't believe his good luck that he could spend another fun day with his buddy.
We went to the playground on Lombardy Street with all of Ollie's old buddies (my mom's group friends) on Monday morning. It was so pretty to be in The Fan on a beautiful spring day. Virginia is really at its best in spring. The we had lunch with Tara, spent the afternoon back over in our old neighborhood hanging out with Anne, Corey and Drew, and then popped around the corner for dinner with the Humphreys.
On Tuesday we went to visit our dear friend Jeannette. She treated us to lunch in the dining room of the nursing home where she lives. She is amazing, she's had a stroke and is in a wheelchair and still has such a bright and sunny disposition. She is also totally crazy about Oliver, so I know it's fun for her to see him when we are in town. In the afternoon we payed a visit to the Children's Garden and saw all my old co-workers. Then Molly and Knox came by and we played in the Children's Garden together. We stayed until the garden closed and then we headed for a very quick visit to another friend's house (we pulled lawn chairs out in her front yard while Ollie napped in the car.) That evening Laura hosted a small birthday party for her dad who raises grass-fed beef in Charlottesville. It was cool to meet him because Ryan and I have just been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma which is about the hazards to our health, the environment, our children's future, etc. of industrial agriculture. The farmer who he profiles in the book as the example of sustainable farming is a good friend of Laura's dad and they share the same practices. Anyway, it was a nice dinner and fun way to unwind from a busy day.
On Wednesday we went to the playground with some other mom friends and then went to my cousin Betsy and Doug's for lunch. It was really nice to see them. They are experienced grandparents so were quite prepared for our visit with a highchair and a train set all ready for Ollie to explore. Betsy sent me home with some of the most delicious asparagus that she picked from her own garden the day before. Yum!
Here are some pictures from our trip.
Tom giving Ollie a ride in his Radio Flyer.
Knox running toward me saying "cheeeeeeeeeeese!!"
Ollie and Drew pushing the wagon in Drew's backyard.
Ollie playing with Knox and Dylan
Dining al fresco with Corey, Steve and Randee
PS--I just read that you should never include last names or any other identifying information on a blog. So I went back through this post and took out all the last names. Better safe than sorry I suppose.
Ryan and I both love going to minor league baseball games in the summer. It is so much more fun than the majors (probably because it feels like we are the only ones there who aren't in some way related to one of the players!) We love the corny announcing, the earnestness of the players hoping to get called up to the majors and just the small-time, home-town feel of those games. When we lived in Richmond we could walk to "The Diamond" to watch the Richmond Braves. Now we root for the Durham Bulls. We saw them play the Norfolk Tides a few weeks ago on a gorgeous Friday night. Oliver LOVED it. I don't know if he was watching the players, the jumbo-tron or just spacing out but he was completely transfixed.
Mom, don't bug me, can't you see I'm watching the game!!
