Trip to Roanoke

Friday morning, I packed up the twins for a 250 mile car ride down I-81 to Roanoke, Virginia. Why you may ask? To celebrate Abby Barry's 1st birthday. Abby is the oldest child of my dear friend (and college roommate) Dee Dee Barry. It was a crisp & beautiful autumn morning & the ride was smooth. Considering I was an undergraduate Virginia Tech and I've driven the same route over one hundred times, the drive doesn't get any better. The scenery is breathtaking, but the drive is long! The Barry family live on a mountain overlooking Roanoke - it's a beautiful part of the Blue Ridge.

Tangent - As an undergraduate, I had two fabulous roommates - Dee Dee & Markeeta. Since Markeeta was the only one allowed to have a car, we would carpool back & forth to Tech. We had this travel game of who could name the next exit along I-81. You pass a lot of exits en route from Northern Virginia to Blacksburg - entering the interstate at exit 300 & Tech's exit was 117. Dee Dee usually won. Those were fun times & another post.

Getting back to our weekend trip.... After one pit stop & trip to the local Kroger, we arrived at Dee Dee's house Friday afternoon. The afternoon was packed with catching up on how she was feeling (she's preggers with Baby Barry #2), family gossip, and current milestones with our children. John & Kathryn immediately began hording toys since Abby has many that we do not. I also had to assemble Abby's gift - a Radio Flyer Retro Rocket. Since the weekend was sans-Daddy (he had to work), I didn't have my helper. I had to tackle the task by myself. Shockingly it wasn't that hard - just attach the wheels & turn it on. When Abby came to visit us a few weeks, she really enjoyed playing with the twins Cozy Coupes (i.e. - Fred Flintstone cars). Abby's birthday was right around the corner & the coupe would have been a perfect gift. Unfortunately, there must have been a mad end-of-the-summer demand for these Cozy Coupes, because every online & retail store in the area was sold out! I had to think of another ride-on. My choices were limited, but the Retro Rocket was a fantastic alternative.

Saturday was the party! We started the day with a walk around the neighborhood with Mom Bender. Dee Dee's mom was down helping the family. Not only is Dee Dee pregnant, she pulled her back taking care of Abby (I've experienced that pain - I was out of commission for 2 weeks back in Feb 2006 when I tried to lift John out of his crib & I couldn't bend back up. It's an awful circumstance). It was also Virginia Tech's homecoming game against UNC (Tech won 17 -10). We celebrated with pizza - thanks Grandma Bender! Abby's birthday guests also included Heidi (and Mommy Jill) from the neighborhood. Abby is one lucky girl. She had two birthday parties - one w/ her MOMs group the week prior & the other with us. The afternoon was relaxing. I didn't have to play referee too often - John & Kathryn played well with the smaller kids. The celebration concluded with yummy mini cupcakes!!! Please enjoy some pictures from the weekend!

After homemade waffles, we said our goodbyes early Sunday morning and headed north. We'll back down the first weekend in November. The entire Glasscock family will be down for the Tech-Florida State game.