Places to Go (Vacation) - Jumping in Leaf Piles at Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, VA)

Last week, my best friend from high school came to town with her mom (who is practically a second mom to me) and two of her four children (ages 9 years and 17 months), so we decided to spend a few beautiful fall days at Colonial Williamsburg. We visited a few summers ago (previously posted here, scroll down to see the older posts) and the kids all loved it, so a return trip sounded like a wonderful idea.

On the upside, spending a 70 degree day walking through a 18th century town while colored leaves fell around us was all sorts of awesome. On the downside, several of the "houses" are closed on October weekdays and the place isn't exactly kid-friendly in the fall, unlike during the summer months, no games or kids' toys were out and the people (both the character actors and the tourists) seemed somewhat hostile to grade school kids. Williamsburg in autumn appears to be where retirees go to avoid children. And we brought five.

Luckily everyone remained relatively well-behaved and all in all we had a blast. Cannons were fired. Jails were toured. Leaf piles were jumped in. Garden mazes were explored. Old-fashioned dining occurred. Add in a hotel with a pool (many thanks to the Homewood Suites for a great display of hospitality and for finding T's lost "pink sheet") and the kids all had the time of their lives.

A perfect mini-vacation. Made complete with some good old "Colonial" Cabernet Sauvignon.



The muskets made the day.



So funny to have a nine year old boy in our house. T was over-the-top in love with his temporary "older brother", P has a great time whenever someone arrives who will stay up late with her, and F seemed a little smitten with the boy himself, though she's not telling me anything.