We rented a house for six weeks this past summer in Virginia. We wanted to be close to the kids and spend some more time with them. I know we are there almost every other month, but I wanted to be there for the summer without the interference of school and homework. So we did, and it was wonderful!
We got there on July 1. The house we rented was about a 20-minute drive away from the family. And if I were to do it again I would rent something closer. When we got there, we told the kids we had a list of activities we wanted to do with them. They were so excited.
The first week we took them to three different playgrounds and parks. They had so much fun bouncing from one piece of equipment to another. They love making ninja-type obstacle courses and racing each other from one end to the other.
The next week we caught up with friends from the Richmond area that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. The kids met their kids and enjoyed some pool time together. We also spent time at the pool with friends of the kids. We were very thankful we had some pools to go to because going to Virginia in July really didn’t help us escape from the Florida heat!
For the next few weeks, we took the kids to do many different activities. We found a fun center that had bumper boats, putt-putt, and go-karts. They had so much fun and so did we. I hadn’t ridden a go-kart in years, and I forgot how fun racing around the course could be. My nephew was too little to drive so we rode together and got the fast car. We had a blast lapping my mom and his sister.
Another one of our activities this past summer was taking the kids to the Zoo. I had never been and neither had they. They loved feeding the giraffes and riding the rides. There were only four rides but we had unlimited passes so we rode them all at least twice. Their favorite ride was one that was like a drop zone. They went straight up and bounced back down. Their laughs made my heart so happy. Jeff and I had a wonderful time watching them run from one animal to another. It was a long day but a great day.
Being with the kids meant the world to me. We were so relaxed and stress-free. Even driving from park to park was fun because they were always in the backseat singing. The kids spent the night at our house a few times. It was a two-story home and the steps were carpeted. It’s funny that they figured out how to slide down the steps without anyone telling them to do it.
The kids also loved working out with us in the garage and practicing gymnastics moves in the yard. My niece also was playing softball on the all-star team so I was very grateful that I could be there to watch her play.
One of the most fun we had was decorating rubber ducks and then putting them on other Jeeps in parking lots. Trending on Instagram was #duckduckjeep and the kids loved it. We even got ducked one evening, and they thought it was so much fun.
The kids are growing up so fast. I love their personalities and that they are so independent. It makes me sad that they are getting so big and soon will turn into teenagers that probably won’t care if Aunt Stacy and Uncle Jeff come around. So for now we enjoy the time we can with these sweet little people. I wish I could scoop them up and put them in my back pocket but for now I will just squeeze them as much as possible every chance I get.