i have anxiously been waiting to bring the girls to my gramma's for several months, and i was so incredibly thankful that the day was finally here. the last time we were with her, betsy was a few months old and she visited kansas city. prior to that, i took lucy and eloise to visit her when i was pregnant with betsy, but it was such an exhausting trip given the pregnancy and how difficult it is to actually get to her home, that i knew it would be quite awhile before i was bringing 3 little ones across the country for a flight followed by a 2-3 hour drive into the mountains. in december, she fell and hurt her back leading to surgery and a rough recovery. to be with her in person was a huge weight lifted from my heart!
my gramma's home is nestled in the astonishingly beautiful blue ridge mountains. there's no place like this, and being here brings memories from my childhood flooding right back. we spent every christmas here growing up, and i have especially wonderful memories of visiting in the summer, going cherry-picking for pies, antique shopping, church services and picnics, and playing jewelry shop with all of my great aunt pearl's old costume jewelry. seeing my girls and nephews play in this exact same space is something i will treasure my whole life long.
meals are a huge part of the day for gramma- sit-down breakfast, lunch and dinner + 1 or 2 dessert options. this week brought strawberry shortcake, banana pudding, cherry jello, and both chocolate and pineapple pies!
playing with 3rd cousins conner and caden- these are 2 of the sweetest boys ever, and all of the younger cousins had so much fun as together they raced cars, pushed an old tree stump down in gramma's yard, climbed trees and collected rocks and sticks.
eloise was in heaven- of all my girls, she especially loves little trinkets and gramma's house is full of every knick-knack you can imagine collected from her 86 years of life.
a big highlight was visiting sunnyside general store in fancy gap, virginia. this is a true old general store located right off fancy gap highway that sells everything from household goods to moon pies and old-fashioned hard candy. in the 1930's when gramma was 6 years old, her aunt & uncle brought her here for her very first dr. pepper. she says it's the best thing she ever tasted. these special cousins followed in their great-grandmother's footsteps, tasting their first dr. pepper's on the exact porch as 6 year old great gramma helen did eight decades ago.
we visited my granny's house- the house gramma moved into on her 7th birthday [september 14, 1939- the year both the wizard of oz and gone with the wind were released] and lived in until college. my great-grandparents built this house, raised their 4 children here and remained until they died. there's a creek that runs along the property that my mom & aunt played in during their childhood summers, catching minnows and crawfish. it was so special to hear that same creek still flowing. our distant ancestors are buried in a cemetery at the back of the property, and every easter of my mom's childhood, the whole family would walk up the hill to the graves and decorate them with flowers. this visit, my gramma told the story of moving into the house- the upstairs was still unfinished, and it being her birthday, she was given a nickel- a lot of money for a 7 year old girl at the time! she was playing upstairs in the unfinished section, when she accidentally dropped her nickel into the floor boards. she was devastated, and never did find it. what i wouldn't give to go pull apart those floor boards & find that cherished nickel!
the white house through the trees across the way here was my aunt pearl and uncle jack's home [gramma's older sister]. never far from her parents.
hotel pool party, complete with shamrock shakes and a tray of nuggets :)
i've seen this restaurant on main street my entire life, and i had to drive-thru and bring jon home some barbecue sauce, as it was definitely an influence as we named our bea :)
lucy found this sweatshirt at sunnyside & has worn it every day & night since- such a simple pleasure for her!
[in the midst of it all, jon celebrated his birthday at home, sending me this picture with andy, the stand-in wife, and charlie enjoying a quiet house for once! ;)]
priceless moments.
today, we are home, and eloise drew this picture of great gramma. the absolute sweetest surprise.
i am so thankful for my roots, and even more so, to get to teach our girls this important piece of theirs.
xoxo,
-ivy
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