Labor Day

 Katy and I have now been back for over four weeks, and Katy just finished up her third week of work. Last week I was also able to find some work as I had a four day substitute assignment for a technology teacher at a local middle school. School just started August 24th here in Albemarle County, so I did not expect to get many days over the first two weeks, so getting this assignment was a pleasant surprise. In the evenings Katy and I continue to love being around little Kylie and making room for lots of family time. On Tuesday night we met Dave and Sherry for dinner in Waynesboro and on Thursday we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner with the whole crew. Dad made a Mac n Cheese dish that uses butternut squash that you run through the food processor instead of using butter and cream...it was delicious!

On Friday Katy and I left straight from work and headed to Camp Hill, Pennsylvania to spend the night with my Grandma and Grandpa Lovell. We got to PA around 10 and sat around until midnight chatting. On Saturday we met up with my Aunt Leah, Uncle Fred, and cousins, Brianna and Hope for breakfast. After visiting with our PA family we left around noon and headed to Trenton, New Jersey to meet up with my other side of the family, the Felix clan. We stayed with my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Charity and were able to spend time with my cousin Justin and his girlfriend, Heather, and my cousin Jessica and her husband John and their one year old son, Steven.

 

After a wonderful long weekend visiting with family, we headed back south on Monday, and amazingly enough made it back to Charlottesville in close to five hours, despite holiday weekend traffic and passing through Baltimore and Washington D.C.! After arriving home Katy zonked out for a little while as she was exhausted from the weekend, and then we met up with Mom and Dad at a wonderful little restaurant in the Belmont area of Charlottesville called The Local. I highly recommend it...its menu is seasonal and based around produce and meat that has been grown and raised in the Charlottesville area. 

So far in the month that we have been back home we have been having a blast, but doing very little in the way of touristy things like we did every weekend in Oregon and California. It just goes to show how important and fulfilling being around family is and that you can have just as much fun hanging out with the people you love as you can snowmobiling in the Cascades or kayaking off the coast of Santa Barbara. Don't get me wrong, those things are terrific and are priceless memories, but nothing can replace the joy of just being around family. We're glad to be back home for these next three months before heading back out west to continue our adventure!