A Weekend Away

As our trip to Charlottesville, VA approached I became overwhelmed with anxiety over leaving Bradford for the first time. I had never been away from him for more than a few hours and never over night. This trip required three days and three nights at a distance of six hours away: not a good type of trip to be the first one away from our baby.

I never doubted that Bradford would be in good hands. I knew Grandma and Grandpa would take really good care of him and even spoil him. I just didn’t want to leave him. He is my wake-up call every morning and my little bundle of joy.

I only teared up three times, yet I think I must have looked at every picture of him on my laptop including some videos and called to check up on him and hear his voice three times a day. A little overboard?  Probably. But, I survived, and we had a good trip.

I had forgotten what it was like to stay out late, to wake up when I want to, and to eat a full meal in peace and quiet.  I also enjoyed all my grown-up conversations with Eliot and our friends.

We stayed at a little house surrounded by a beautiful mountain view and even a lake (they called it a lake, but it looked more like a pond).  The décor of the house looked like something out of Restoration Hardware and it even came complete with a ping pong table. So, of course ping pong games were part of the daily agenda. I thought I was pretty good. Anna, however, humbled me. I still blame my ping pong losses on her 120 pound Great Dane that kept bumping into me as I played.  Sophia just wanted to be a part of the game I suppose.

 

The entire purpose of the trip was for Eliot and his friend to attend the Federalist Society conference. While the guys attended panels and symposiums, Anna and I shopped. While I say “shopped,” I really mean window-shopped. Shopping with a budget of $2.50 was a little hard. We did tour the “famous” Pedestrian Mall in down town Charlottesville and then attempted to find a real mall. Instead, we just found another outdoor shopping center, but at least this one had normal stores that we had heard of before.

Now, this was a short trip, so we took advantage of our drive home and turned it into a sight-seeing, educational time. Eliot took me to the Rotunda (designed by Thomas Jefferson), Monticello  (Thomas Jefferson’s home), and even the Appomattox Courthouse (where the surrender of the Civil War took place).  Therefore, Bradford’s souvenir from our trip was a children’s book about Thomas Jefferson.  I wonder if he will love history as much as his father.  

 

The Rotunda

Appomattox Courthouse

Statue of Thomas Jefferson

As we got closer and closer to Columbia we began counting down the miles and minutes until we got to see Bradford. When we pulled up into the parking lot of the restaurant where we were meeting my family and Bradford; I jumped out of the car and ran inside to see him. He, however, did not seem as excited to see me. Sadly, he looked at me as if he didn’t know me. When I held him, he reached for my parents. It was heart breaking. I guess that is my punishment for leaving him. Therefore, I will never leave Bradford again…well, not in the near future at least.