Saturday, December 7, 2013

My Thanksgiving Trip To Virginia

I was off to Virginia Beach, VA this year
to spend Thanksgiving with my parents.
I grew up there, in the Kempsville area.

image from Google Maps
As you can see, the whole family 
has a thing for red cars.
I flew in Wednesday night, which turned into
Thursday morning at 1:20 a.m. after some
flight delays.

The next morning found Mom cooking up a 
big dinner for three.
The kitchen was warm and
smelled wonderful.

The toaster oven pitched in to melt 
marshmallows over yams.

Corn souffle and green bean casserole 
cook side by side in the oven.  

Mom said it didn't turn out right.
I thought it was good.

Nonetheless we enjoyed the feast.
A turkey breast and a HoneyBaked ham,
mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, iced tea
and for dessert, a Costco pumpkin pie.

On Saturday, they took me on a 51 mile drive 
past cotton fields and farm communities 
to Wakefield, VA.
To eat at The Virginia Diner

at their great little southern favorites buffet.
Which was delicious!
However the buffet was not the reason 
we drove 51 miles.
Mom and Dad had Virginia Diner's 
"Double-Dipped Chocolate Covered Peanuts" 
on their Christmas list.
After eating we stopped in at their gift shop 
for Dad to purchase TWELVE cans!
He gave 3 to me and plans to give 3 or 4 as gifts
to neighbors and friends.
The rest are for them!
 
Back in February Mom had requested
a hand painted sweatshirt from me.
She didn't want a screen printed one.
She wanted a painted one like I did for her
back when I was like 16 years old.
I bought the sweatshirt in February
but never got around to buying the paints.
Mom took me out on black Friday
to Michael's to pick out the paints I wanted....
she had no ideas and no requests
for a specific design, it was up to me.
I had an idea for a design,
and chose 12 colors and a set of brushes.
Here are the results.
A few robins and dogwood branches.

On one sleeve a birdhouse,

on the other, a nest with eggs.
It has been a long time since I painted
anything by hand and I felt a little
rusty.
Nevertheless Mom was delighted and
very proud of her "hand painted" sweatshirt.
I even put a little surprise on the back.
 
I was very busy during my stay.
They took me shopping for new clothes
and a new pair of shoes.
I put up their tree, decorated it,
and decked the front of the house with
a few decorations.  Mom and I had to buy
new porch bows at Big Lots, because 
the old ones had turned orange from the sun.
And I brushed up on my sweatshirt painting skills.
All in all, I had a pleasant enjoyable trip
and it is always awesome to see my parents.
Now it's back home to Vegas to undecorate
from Thanksgiving and quickly decorate
for Christmas.
Thanks for stopping by
and happy hunting!

1 comment:

  1. I had missed this post because I've been trying to not spend so much time on line. Love the sweat shirt you made your Mom. I used to paint clothes when I was in highschool too! I'm sure she loved it. Those chocolate covered peanuts sound good and worth the trip. Loved seeing your Thanksgiving.

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