Family Drive-Through

Wednesday night, the clan came through! They stopped for a night in Charlottesville on their way north to visit Jama.

Shane and I met them at their hotel.

We walked down across the street for dinner. Nana forbid pictures until her lipstick was on. Pop enforced.

Shane held his pose (mostly).

Thursday, everyone met up again. This time, at our house. I showed up at lunch to say hi and grab pizza to go. Patrick showed up later with a guest of his own.

Meet Shelby, Patrick's girlfriend. He wanted to introduce her to the family. He's in Harrisonburg. She's in Staunton. Charlottesville's only a little further down the road.

I wasn't sure which picture to use, so I kept both.

I took the pictures after I got home from work. 

Shane and Cole had a ball together. They got into my board games. Shane asked Nana to get out one I don't let him fiddle with: The Game of Life.

They loved the cars.

"It's not even a fun game. Life is boring." I said.

"I love Life!" Shelby replied.

I clarified. "Me, too. Life is great! The Game of Life is boring."

"I love the Game of Life!" Shelby insisted.

Maybe she should have been in my Personal Financial Math class. I used to inflict Life on my students. We used the money to practice making change.

All good things come to an end, though. Patrick and Shelby made their exit and then the rest of the crew prepared theirs. I got a couple of good pictures of the process.

First, the set up. Note Kathleen's smile and Cole's face.

Then, the revelation. Cole's snack bar was smooshed.

Kathleen can laugh and maintain a smile!

I snapped a final pic (that was in focus) with Evelyn taking a peek as I said goodbye. I hoped Jama was ready! She had a full party van headed her way!