I wrote this portion WAYYYYY back in August when we got back from our North Carloina/Orlando trip:
We have had a fulfilling summer. We said goodbye to dear friends and family in July as a group of our favorite people all graduated. It's kind of fun to see how everyone's lives pan out. Our friends are leaving and making their mark on the world everywhere from Washington to Oklahoma. Hopefully we can keep in touch!
We had a very special chance to visit Chris's family this summer. My sweet friend, Kierra, who was my roommate when Chris and I were engaged, was able to come and stay with Zella for 10 days so we could take a much needed vacation. We left July 23 for Utah as soon as Chris finished his finals. Boy, were we all excited to have his done with the semester!
We hurried down to our favorite spot in Salt Lake, "The Gateway" shopping and entertainment plaza. We love it there! It reminds us of the Branson Landing touristy shopping center where we had so much fun two summers ago. Anyway, The Gateway, though built for the Salt Lake Oylmpics and has a modern aura, is connected to a beautiful old Union Pacific train station house. It is a fun place to eat, listen to live music, people watch, and to just window shop (which we are getting pretty good at - that window shopping!). Westley's favorite part is the dancing fountains that kids can run through. Being the water lover he is, you can imagine he doesn't stay dry long.
We stayed the night in the Airport Inn Hotel, which was clean, though run-down, and the service was stinky. Oh well, it was good to get some sleep before we had to be at the airport at 4am. Westley was great on all of the flights but one, which is saying something because I think we were on 8 different flights at least throughout the trip.
We flew into Norfolk about 6pm where we were picked up by Chris's little sister, Sarah. It was great to have time to spend with her and her husband, Brian. We had a lot of fun together. Sarah drove us to Grandma and Grandpa Grigg's house in Elizabeth City, NC. It was very pretty down there, with lots of trees and fields. Kinda made me homesick for the Midwest again. Idaho has some pretty places and a certain level of majesty from the mountains, but I sure miss my rolling hills and green luscious fields. Westley had lots of fun getting into his Great-Grandma's toys and just about everything else. :D What a boy! We loved spending time together. Westley also feel in love with Sarah's puppy, Dory. She quickly became "his" dog and would follow him around the house licking his fingers and toes and making his giggle. Whenever they were together, you could tell they were just as happy as could be!
After four days at Grandma's we were sad to leave, but glad the vacation was scarcely started. I didn't realize how much work it is to get me to relax! HAHA. Sounds familiar... my dad always took several days to unwind before he could leave the workload and responsibilities behind. Hmmm, father-like-daughter, I guess. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesapeake with Brian and Sarah our last night in VA and went down to Virginia Beach in the evening. Westley LOVED the sand. He thought it was the coolest thing ever! We played mini-golf there too. It was a blast!
We also took him to a fantastically huge playground in Chesapeake called The Fun Forest. We highly recommend taking your kids there! Except for the humidity, we could have stayed there playing for hours.
We flew from Norfolk to Orlando, where we were picked up by Dad and Lisa. I have to say hands down, it was the best trip to Orlando we've ever had. Everyone enjoyed each other so much. Westley loved swimming with Grandpa every single day and we had a blast with everyone at Disneyworld too! We enjoyed spending lots of time with Aunt Jackie too. We love our family so much and look forward to future trips to spend more time together!
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