Wet and Wild!

We arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia, last Tuesday afternoon and have been spending time with Jocelyn, Tom, grandson Ronan and granddog Jericho. Grandchildren are certainly special and Ronan is no exception. I don't know what is so different about them. But they certainly are sweet. Ronan is about 16 months old, says several words and the bigger words are the most clear, I think. He takes a few steps, will stand all by himself, but prefers to drop and crawl if he has a large distance to cover. He always has a smile on his face, which will just melt your heart. He liked the piggy bank we brought him. It has large "coins" that count when you put them in the bank. It also has songs that play.

We have spent an evening walking on the UVA campus, pushing his stroller, walking the mall, and running errands for Jocelyn with Ronan in tow. Poor Tom has to work, but hopefully by getting out, we provide him with some peace and quiet. The days have been beautiful and warm with lots of sunshine. . . until today.

Today. . . well actually last night. . . the remnants of Hurricane Hannah barrelled up the eastern seaboard and we started getting a steady downpour around midnight. It continued all night and through the morning hours, stopping just after lunch. It was still overcast when we headed into town to see the kids, but there is a majesty of the Shenandoah Valley even with the rain, mist and fog. It changes the scenery and things look different but beautiful just the same. When we left them this afternoon and headed back to camp, the sun was shining and everything was even a richer green. It is easy to see why people fall in love with the mountains around this historic town and area.

We have had flash flood warnings show on our weather radio, but we are safe where we are and we have actually dried out a bit from the water we had standing around this morning.

Tomorrow will be our last day with the kids and I hate to see it end because we will miss them all. But we will see them again next spring when Ronan will be 2 years old. It hardly seems possible that he is just a few months from that milestone. I hope he does not forget Grandma Dale between now and then!

Till next time. . .

Dale