Week 2- Virginia

For week 2 of our road trip, we were headed "home" to Virginia. This is where we all have lived the longest, and where the kids consider home- so we were all super excited.

We got into town late Thursday afternoon, arriving at Christine and Jose's in time for me to join in for virtual bible study! And the kids took no time picking up where they left off- even going out to play around in the rain together-
Tate and Macy couldn't wait to get over to the old neighborhood and see the "Yeet" group for the day! Missing from the group when I dropped off was Katelyn & Michael, but not for long.
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I love how both Dallis and Christine welcomed Jonathan back, just like they welcomed us back! Christine was even cool with Jonathan staying over. The kid never left our house it seemed, so of course he would be back with the group!

Friday night Christine had the girls over for book club, dinner and drinks- 

Since being in California, I'd been able to join in to their virtual book club each week, and it sure was awesome to have all the girls back together in person for the night!

Word travels fast in our small community of Lake Ridge... one of the friends told another friend that Macy was back. Then I got an email from her old teacher, asking if she would like to join in to a zoom call with the class? And then the PTA president reached out, asking if she wanted to join in to the graduation festivities! 

With tears in my eyes on day, it just hit me how much we McCulloughs were loved by this community. We spent 5 years there making friends, volunteering, and calling it home. Then we left. And in many ways, it was easy to leave. But it sure did feel good being back!

The PTA snuck a graduation sign in Christine's front yard for Macy as a surprise- 

And on that shirt above, with the suggestion of a friend's mom, the PTA got special permission from the Principal to add Macy's name back into Mr. Manino's class. I couldn't believe how much they voluntarily  and lovingly welcomed Macy back as part of the Old Bridge Elem family.

Graduation day arrived- and it was to be a 15 minute parade for each class through the school bus lane. Well, the girls all decided they wanted to go together- 

Some people had balloons and great signs. Not us- we had some recycled cardboard that Mia's turned into a great sign-
I even found this sign on the side of the road-Not kidding! As we were driving to the school, I saw it in the gutter and asked Jose to put the car in reverse- and I grabbed it to use during the parade. The high school had their graduation the day before, and it must have come off of someones car. Way to recycle! 

The girls all went together to Katelyn's class parade first, in the back of her Dad's truck-

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And then they all piled in with us-

Sadly, Christine had to work- but Jose was happy to be the driver, and Mia and Nico BOTH wanted to come along for it too!

One of Macy's favorite teachers, Ms. McGrail (who wants to marry MLB baseball cousin Stephen) was the announcer- so with each car that pulled up to the front of the school, she announced the student. And boy did she go nuts when she saw us! And she was wearing her Brault shirt too, just to embarrass Macy one last time-  

Each student got to get out and have their picture taken with their teacher-

It was so heartwarming to hear everyone cheer for Macy and welcome us home again!

The parade ended with the school mascot, Splash (my former job), greeting each car and giving the grad a cupcake- 
And of course Mrs. Akremi was there, also in her Brault jersey- and she chased us down and wanted to get in!

After we were done, the girls all jumped in with Hannah's mom and did her class parade too! Such sweet fun, such good friends and memories. 

One day we went to Quantico to go hiking with the Melendez's-

I could not wait to get my hands on little Josephine- who was now saying "Titi!"

The kid were psyched to get to slept over the Mann's- 

And for some reason, Josephine loved sitting close to Tate- and pooping!

Macy got to spend the day with Caroline- 

Such a beautiful sunset on our evening walk one night-

From pickle ball to roasting smores, we had some good nights at the Melendez's-

And Macy got to see Gus and spend some time with Mrs. Akremi- and take along Katelyn too!

Macy and Mia had a really fun time together being rommies and having sleepovers each night in Mia's room. From doing hair and make-up to being crafty, they had a great week-

Tate really wanted to go fishing while on our trip, so I sent out an APB to the dads giving them a heads up- and Jose was all about it! He loaded up all 5 kids (including Jonathan of course) and off he went fishing for the day- Tate caught the first fish-Ann sent me home with some of her homemade Lemoncello, which Christine and I sampled, and enjoyed, one night-

Becky planned a great belated surprise birthday party/dinner in the old neighborhood for us all- 

I'd planned a little "mom and me" post bday celebration one afternoon for Macy while we were in town with all the "CRACK kids' from our bible study-

Quinn knew exactly what to give Macy for her bday-

She got some other great bday gifts too- from signed picture frames to 5 Guys & Chic-fil-a gift cards to board games and a new moose! So much we'd have to ship it home...

What a special week. But boy did I miss Brian. We had so much fun, and so much support, and it felt so good being there- but something was missing and being there made me feel Brian's absence so very much...