Natural Bridge, Caverns, and sights

Courtney had soccer practice in the morning so Bryan and I explored around. They have some beautiful parks, hiking areas, and other areas to see. We went to Lexington and walked around the cemetery, and the town, and went to some houses. It was a fun morning.

When Courtney had time, we went to Natural Bridge and hiked down to the Bridge. It was a beautiful area. 

We then went to the Natural Bridge Cavern.

We then took Courtney out for some ice cream and to say goodbye. This was brutal but she is going to do amazing! Bryan and I dropped her off at the Lofts and drove to Richmond so we could fly out on Saturday. Yes, I cried all the way to the airport.

SVU campus

Bryan and I were going to hang around for a few days while Courtney got settled. She had soccer practices during the week so Bryan and I went exploring while she was at practice. She received her uniform, so that was exciting.

These are the steps Courtney goes up and down each day to go to campus.

Move in day!

Courtney will be living in the Lofts on campus. This is a 4-person room with a shared bathroom. Courtney had a time set to move in and we were there on time. She met her RA, Lauren, who showed us the room, gave Courtney her key, and gave her some advice to moving in. 

Courtney's bed:

A gift from her roommate on her bed:

Courtney's filled closet:

Courtney in front of her desk:

Outside her room:

We had to go to Walmart to buy some things we didn't want to pack and haul across the country. We also got her bed set up and made, along with all her stuff put away.

Two of her roommates are volleyball players and had moved in earlier in the week.  She got to meet one of them when she was on a break from practice. 

Once she was all moved in, she had a soccer practice led by the captains to get to so she dropped me back off at the hotel.  Bryan was flying in that night and would drive a rental car from Richmond to Buena Vista.

Driving Courtney to college

It took 32 hours, but we got her to college.  Courtney has chosen to attend Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, VA. 

I drove out with her (it took 3 days) and Bryan flew out to join us in Virginia.

August 13:

After loading Courtney's car with her stuff, we took off for Virginia.

Our first-day goal was to get to Grandma and Grandpa Pack's house in Colorado. They weren't going to be there but Julie and her kids were. Traffic was pretty bad around the ski areas so it took a long time to get there, but we made it.

August 14:

We got up really early, packed up, and took off.  I was surprised at how little there was to see on the east side of Denver but it made things interesting. The speed limit is so slow also!! 

We drove through the east part of Colorado, all of Kansas, and into Missouri.  We spent the night in Mount Vernon, Missouri.

We only stopped for gas so we didn't see much outside the car but there were some pretty sights as we drove by.

August 15:

This day saw us going through Missouri,Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and made it to Buena Vista

We got in really late, found our hotel (the same one we stayed in when we checked out SVU in April), and went to sleep. We were exhausted. It was a long drive but we were finally there!

Courtney's 18th birthday

I can't believe she is 18 years old!! Courtney requested a Barbie doll cake, which I hadn't made in a few years for her. It was fun to do again. She also got her huge Texas donut for breakfast and some juice.

We had dinner for Courtney and Grandma Oman (since we would be gone when it was her birthday).  After dinner, Courtney played games and we had cake and ice cream. It was fun to hang out with family before taking Courtney to college.

She is now an adult. Watch out world!!!

Disneyland vacation

We decided to go on a family vacation to Disneyland. We were supposed to leave right after the hike and drive straight to Anaheim since we would already be in California. But the hike didn't turn out the way we wanted. So we drove out on Tuesday and stayed in the Del Sol hotel right across from the entrance. We stayed in a suite, which was the same price as a regular room, but it had bunk beds and 2 queen beds.

The parking situation was kind of crazy at night. They had self-parking and also valet. But when I went to get ice, I noticed the parking from the valet was crazy. 

Wednesday we went to California Adventure. We did rope drop and it was great. But the weather was super hot! We had Genie+ so we were able to schedule things but there were some glitches. A couple of the rides went down and that was actually a huge benefit because, if you have a Genie+ pass for that ride, they give you a universal Genie+ pass that you can use for a lot of rides. This enables you to ride a ride a second time, if you want, without having to stand in a long line. But it was annoying to have the rides go down.

We rode all kinds of rides. There aren't as many in California Adventure that we like to ride but it still gave us enough things to do. We went directly to Cars ride because we didn't want to miss out. The line was super long but, because our kids are older, we can go on the single rider. 

We rode all kinds of rides and even watched the Captain America show (which wasn't worth the time). We took a break in the middle of the day to go back to the hotel and cool off. This was a lifesaver and something that made the trip great.

Thursday, we went to Disneyland. I tried to schedule the days we went so they weren't too crowded but there were still a lot of people.  We wanted to do the rope drop to ride stop. That's where you get to the park early and stay until the last ride ends. We made it to rope drop and were able to get quickly on Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge without standing in a long line. It was nice and we had fun on that ride. 

We went on Rise of the Resistance but the line was long and it took forever. But we had fun on the ride.

We ended up riding a ton of rides. We took a break in the middle of the day so we could stay until the end. It was fun to stay until the end, although we left a little before the park shut.  I will tell you that, after the big fireworks show, all the people take their kids home so it was eerily quiet and a different experience. I actually liked it and would rather be there early in the morning and then late at night. Taking a break in the middle of the day was great and something we will do the next time we go. Plus, it helped to chill us down a little because the weather was so hot!

It was fun to hang out with the kids at Disneyland. It also helped that Ethan would go on rides with Courtney when we didn't want to. ;)