It’s been almost non-stop with house guests for 2 weeks. Steve’s parents blazed through for a few nights on their way down to Florida for a conference. Two days later, my dear friend Dr. DeJeanne came into town from New Orleans to visit and to get intensive scoliosis treatment. Then, Steve’s parents came back into town on their way up to Pennsylvania. The result: Calvin’s used to much more attention from folks other than just Mommy and Daddy.
He’s going through attention withdrawal. In fact, he started crying when he saw Grandpa pack up his suitcases into the vehicle. He knew he was leaving without him, and that broke his little heart.
I was able to momentarily distract him by whisking him off to church with me so he could drive push pedal cars and play with his homies in the church nursery while I was at Bible study. However, once he awoke from his afternoon nap, it was all downhill after that. No amount of bananas or grapes could keep him happy.
Actually, I was at the office this afternoon working with a patient (we typically don’t see patients on Wednesdays). Steve was going to join me to help, but the weather was nice, and his arborist skills were still in demand. So, I was juggling new patient intake while listening to a very, very upset toddler who just wanted to be held, and he was quite mad that I was paying attention to someone else.
Daddy saved the day and called to tell me he was home from work. I asked him to get to the office ASAP to rescue Calvin who was having grandparent withdrawal.
Steve’s timely appearance quickly stifled anymore yelps and red faced howls of desperation (which is only to be expected when one is missing his grandparents and really wants Mommy all to himself. RIGHT NOW.)
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Just to recap on the most amazing weekend ever. We went hiking on Sunday. Only three miles from our home. Just THREE short miles to Ragged Mountain Trails in Charlottesville.
It was a short skip away, and I suddenly felt I was away from it all. The calm, cool lake and hilly backdrop of leafless, matchstick trees left me reminiscing for the serenity of the Northwest. But, Virginia boasts a rugged beauty that left me breathless.
We spied swimming salamanders, blue gill, turtles, and ancient hearths.
Calvin can point to the camera on cue.
Behold. The perfect setting for a 68 degree Sunday afternoon hike.
We found an ancient hearth that had some pretty solid masonry. It did give us a fun window for photos.
Just for some sizing perspective on these cool ruins, check out Steve and Calvin to the left of the hearth.
We had a decent hike for some steep terrain. Calvin even managed to clear some large logs on the trail. Next time, we’d like to try it with a backpack carrier for our toddler instead of the Daddy arm carrier method.
Filed under: charlottesville, Family, Travels, weekend update, working mama Tagged: | charlottesville, Charlottesville chiropractor, grandparents, hiking in Charlottesville, Ragged Mountain Trails, Toddler
I would recommend the Kelty Kids frame carrier. It has the most padding(like Steve’s real back packs) And has a really nice hip belt unlike most carriers which lack the appropriate amount of padding
Your blog is quite impressive. Cool layout, high pagerank and all. What is your secret sauce? There are definitely much to learn from you.