After the Williamsburg day, I arrived home and was able to heat up the turkey filling, slap it in some tortillas, and make up two trays of enchiladas and a double batch of Spanish rice right quick. I was glad I had pre-made the turkey part, as it was much quicker that way, and we were eating by 6pm. We had leftover creamed corn as well, and it was a pretty perfect way to use up the leftover turkey. This was our last day in Williamsburg, and again after getting the kiddos down, we all piled into the childless suite for some football and chatting. We also did some pre-packing, as we had to be out by 10 am the next day, and that time was going to come quick.
Sadly, that night while most of us were sleeping, the tummy bug that we had decided was just food poisoning turned out to actually be a contagious bug. My baby niece got it, as did my dad. (It would take down the niece’s parents, Jack, and me as well as the days went by.) The rest of us slept through their misery, and we were able to get things packed up and out the door more or less on time. Everyone went home on time despite the illness, though it was a crummy way to end the trip. After stopping briefly by Jamestown, we had a picture perfect drive back to the in-laws’ place (conveniently about halfway between our NOLA home and Colonial Williamsburg) – the children were a dream, napping and watching “and the Beast and the Beast”, which is what Craiggy calls Beauty and the Beast. Some pics of Jamestown below:
After Jamestown, we continued our uneventful drive, about six hours. We were going to stop my SIL’s on the way to see them and have dinner, then go on to my MIL’s to sleep. As soon as we pulled into the SIL’s driveway, however, Jack hopped out of the car and barfed all over their lawn. Uh-oh, another one down. As my nieces were slated to have adenoid surgery the next day, we did not go in, but kept our distance and just headed on to bed, waving sorrowful good-byes from a safe distance. Jack was quickly recovered, though it was a long night with him sleeping next to me and flailing around the bed, unhappy with the cramps this virus gave him.We stayed the next full day, and the boys played on their bikes that are kept there, we enjoyed football by the fire, and had a lovely meal, which the Prof’s grandmother joined. We also opened a few gifts that had been left behind due to space limitations – including a summertime sprinkler toy which Craig absolutely loved and carried everywhere that day.
We prepared to head home the next day, but in the middle of that night I was felled by the bug, and so we stuck around another day while I slept about 36 hours. Which was actually kind of needed, anyhow. I’m not too sure what the boys did as I only came downstairs at about 3pm, but that evening we had another lovely fire and football night. It was a very relaxing pit stop, if made less enjoyable by the bug. Although we were scared who was going to get it next, we did go ahead and pack up to head home the next day – Saturday. We could linger forever, or we could bite the bullet and hope that illness would evade us for our 10 hour drive.
Luckily, it did. We spent NYE watching the tigers play an awesome game of football against Ohio State, unpacking, and generally getting settled back into a house that the boys hadn’t seen for two weeks (and myself for a little over a week). We did stay up til midnight and watched the Fleur de Lis drop, then went to bed pretty quickly thereafter. Today we did more of the same (unpacking, tidying, etc.). Tonight we will eat some collards, black eyed peas, and some hot wings and chocolate cake (what the heck – gotta dress up that nasty traditional food somehow). Tomorrow’s another day off, thank heavens, as it will allow me to get some food cooked for the week and finalize the cleaning of the house prior to diving back into work – we’ve already received a “please bill more time” email from the firm, happy new year.
That’s the recap! If you read anywhere near all of this, color me impressed! Later (tomorrow?) I’ll do a lookback/resolutions post, but for now, I’m all typed out!
Gill, loved the recaps of your adventures! Happy New Year! It shall be… no moves for you this year, nor for Melinda, David, Rachel & Danny either. Love to your family!
Your children are just lovely, and it’s fun to see how much they look like you and the Prof both.
(I should add that I base that purely on the photos you post, and I’m not some creepy stalker or person you know in real life hiding behind the alias “joy”.)