Charlottesville, VA

Wow! If it weren't for family -- well, and the neighbors across the street -- we'd be looking for a condo. Charlottesville is amazing. We arrived late Monday afternoon, dumped our bags, and then headed to the University of Virginia. After a nice stroll around the grounds, we found a nice little Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. Calamari, egg rolls, wontons, and some great Pho (Vietnamese soup). The Pho was so good it made Diana cry . . . literally! We broke up a Jalapeno slice to add to the flavor and her eyes began to water almost instantly. It was fantastic. Things took a brief turn for the worse, however, when she wiped away those tears. The corners of her eyes began to sting and that grew to a full-fledged burn. Yup, the moron wiped her eyes with the same hands she'd just used to rip up the Jalapeno! She and Emma took off for the bathroom and some handwashing and serious flushing of the eyes.

Next stop? Gelatto. We'd pretty much made that decision before the Pho incident, but the ice cream became a necessity at that point. The girl behind the counter asked Emma if she'd like to try a flavor or two before choosing, which she happily did. She settled on Pistachio Nut and Dark Chocolate with Peanut Butter. As a bonus, the girl brought Emma a Strawberry-Banana Smoothie. She'd made extra when another customer ordered one and told us she wanted to give it to Emma because she was so polite. Of course, we beamed all the way back to the hotel. Far too full at this point for a swim, we broke Emma's streak that night. Don't worry though, she's still managed to get in seven swims in seven days.

Tuesday morning began with a trip to the Virginia Discovery Museum (no admission fees because of our Omniplex membership!) where Emma attended a "Traveling Tuesdays" class. The chosen destination was Turkey. She made a shishkabob of dried fruit and a mosaic. An exhibit on various types of camouflage was a big hit as was the active bee hive. The plan was to leave the museum, have lunch at Michie's Tavern and head to Monticello, but we didn't realize how cool the Downtown Mall area was going to be. We opted instead to have sandwiches outside on the Mall and stroll around a bit.

Next stop? Fork Union Military Academy to show Emma where Daddy went to school his freshman year. While he enjoyed being on campus, Wade was a bit disappointed to find that his barracks had been torn down and the campus store was closed. This, however turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We expressed our disappointment to the admissions officer who unbeknownst to us contacted the director of development, who came and found us in the Quartermaster's office with two hats and two shirts. SCORE!!

Back at the hotel we hit our first outdoor pool of the season. BRRRRR!!!! Up to the room for popcorn and fruit and a viewing of Curious George before lights out. Tomorrow Monticello.