Blacksburgalooza

So here's the rest of our trip to B'burg:

it rained.

And rained.

And rained some more.

This was a bit of a downer, as all of the activities I had thought of for Boo to do involved the great outdoors. I had brought some rainy-day backup stuff, but I hadn't planned for three days' worth.

The first day, we headed to the mall. I popped her on the little crappy mall rides and kept pumping quarters into them so they would keep bouncing her up and down and playing bad music. (One of the rides was called the "Speedster," except some comedians scraped off the S and the D, so it was the "pee ster." Boo took two rides on that one while I cringed.) We also did a bit of shopping and walked around until she got antsy.

The second day was a bit of a blur because SHE WOKE US UP AT 4:30 A.M. We tried for two hours to get her back to sleep, but she was UP. After going for a walk around the hotel and reading the magazines in the lobby, she went to sleep at 9 a.m. So did we. I honestly can't recall the rest of that day.

Finally, we had wedding activities, and the grandparents rolled into town, so we had some stuff to do and things picked up. Boo played with the Heflins and then did her thing at the rehearsal.

The day of the wedding dawned sunny and clear, so I'm glad if it had to rain, it got out of the way before the big day. We finally did some of the outside stuff I had planned. We went to the park that borders the VT barns, so we could feed the ducks and geese while watching sheep and cows in the fields. Alison practiced all of her animal noises. We also worked out our colors by looking at the birds-- red cardinals and blue jays. We also saw the BIG turtle that lives in the pond in that park, which Alison was both entranced by and nervous about.

Alison also buddied up with another 2-year-old girl in the park named Quinn. (Her parents were from Ft. Walton Beach!) Alison and Quinn played two games: 1) Run Around While Carrying the Box of Sidewalk Chalk (But Don't Actually Draw Anything), and 2) Kick the Ball Towards the Pond While Quinn's Dad Sprints to Stop It Before It Hits the Duck-Pee-Filled Water.

Then we headed into the little downtown part of Blacksburg, which is maybe two blocks long, and checked out the hippie shops and the farmer's market. This wore Boo down enough that she got a really good nap before the wedding, which was crucial.

We drove straight home on Sunday, and while Boo did get a bit cranky, she did really well considering her age and how long she had to ride in the car.

So we had a good trip...if not terribly relaxing!