The Most Awesome Day

My mom surprised us and came for a visit this weekend. It was great to see my mom but the best part of the surprise was that she kept JAC for us so Jess and I could have a night away. Jess and I were so excited. We made a quick plan for our weekend away. First we drove south to Lake Moomaw with our kayaks. This lake is really a great secret. The lake is huge, surrounded by trees and absolutely beautiful. I haven't gotten to kayak since JAC was born so being on the water was a really treat. We kayaked for about five hours and then headed to the hotel to clean up and have a kid free dinner. I think I had almost forgotten how to make dinner conversation without trying to wrangle a kid with one hand and eat with the other.

The next day we drove to The Natural Bridge. We thought it would be a great place to hike but it was mostly a tourist trap complete with a wax museum and "Foam Henge." The actual Natural Bridge was spectacular and we were glad we had seen it but we still wanted to hike. We drove north to Shenandoah National Park. As we drove through the park I was getting cranky because I wasn't ready to go home. Then a black bear ran across the road. I was so excited that I just kept shouting, "bear, bear!" I have always wanted to see a bear and I immediately got over being cranky. We finished off the day by hiking 6 miles and then heading home to relieve my mom. It was great spending time with my husband and great getting a whole night of sleep but I missed my kid. I was happy to see him when we got home.