Virginia Summer 2025

We now have all of our immediate family living in two states. Unfortunately for us, those two states are California and Virginia - about as spread out as we can possibly be! When my brother decided to fly his family across the country for summer break, we had to take the opportunity to join to get all of the OG Giorgianis under one roof for a few nights. 

We drove directly to Whitestone from the airport and proceeded to have the most water-filled vacation we have ever had at the "Blue House". Conditions were perfect, lots of sun but not terribly high temperatures, warm water but no jellyfish and all the right sized lifejackets! 

We had kayak rides and jet ski rides, lots and lots of tubing on the "little tube" and the "big couch". Life is good for these cousins who choose which vehicle they want to use to ride on the water. If there happens to be a delay due to low fuel or the dreaded rope intake, there is always the pool. 

Nighttime is for finding lightening bugs and roasting marshmallows and everyday is a princess day for these sweet beauties! 

The biggest accomplishment of the week was all of the grandkids ganging up to peer-pressure Grammy to jump off the dock. Even better, once she was in, the jumps just kept coming! The youngest kids made the greatest game of running from the very top of the dock and seamlessly running directly into the water.

 

We ended our stay in the Northern Neck with a lunch at The Tides in Fish Hawk Oyster Bar where we had the best table in the house - an old rowboat made into a table in the center of their dining room.

We got to eat on a boat! Literally!

And in an incredible showing of generosity, a complete stranger picked up our entire group's lunch bill. There were FOURTEEN of us! The only explanation we were given is that this mystery stranger loves to see large families out having fun together.  We all walked away with a little more faith in humanity. 

We drove from there to Lexington to visit Gran and Poppa, and their sweet pup Griffin. We had a yummy pizza night and a delicious night out at TAPS, a beautiful spot located inside The Georges hotel, a historic series of buildings in the center of town. 

It has been a couple of years since we stayed at Gran and Poppas house, so we were happy to hike the trail (see a bear!!) and spend time relaxing at the house. I had a chance to get a massage - a welcome change to sitting on planes and in cars - and we visited the golf course club pool for an outdoor day of fun.

A welcome change for us is having Ted and Kyra in Northern Virginia now, we get to see even MORE family when we fly to the east! We stayed at their new, new house and took advantage of their endless hospitality. 

They are very close to the beautiful Great Falls park, so we spent an afternoon hiking the trails. Northern Virginia has had an almost unprecedented amount of rainfall this summer, so the falls were churning! The kids were all a bit skeptical about "hiking" and "how cool can waterfalls even be" but their minds were changed soon after we got into the park. They have a great high water marker showing the most extreme floodwater that the park has experienced. The 1996 marker was after the snow melted from a blizzard when Jon and I both lived in NoVA in high school. It was an unbelievable amount of snow.

Our final excitement of the trip was seeing high school and college friends - and their children. We met up at an arcade/bowling alley/restaurant in Ballston and had a great time catching up. After reminding our kids who they all were and how we all knew each other, they had lots of fun too. Somehow this crew has ended up being only 25% girls. It doesn't really matter once they are playing games, having fun and know that an ice cream party at the Welsh's house awaits them at the end of the night. 

Northern Virginia will always be where we're "from" regardless of the fact that none of us are from there. It will always feel like home. 

Summer Camp 2025

 Our whole kid crew returned to Camp OTX again this year making it year 5 for Gretchen, 3 for Alex and the second year for Graham. Texas is gigantic, and the camp is pretty far away, so we take advantage of the coach bus option on the way to camp, and make the drive to pick them up at the end. There is now a little crew of kids that know each other and ride the bus together, making it a fun way to get the camp session started. 

This camp has just about everything you can imagine for kids to do. Our boys gravitate toward water activities and sports. Gretchen prefers the indoor options like crafting, pottery, painting, and cooking.   

Camp has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for all three kids. We love the closing ceremony where we get to see them for the first time in 2 weeks and meet the friends they have made and the counselors that they've spent all their time with while they were away from us. It's a day filled with emotions, happiness for us to see each other again, but also difficult for the kids to say farewell to the kids that they will likely not see again until next summer. 

NYC Family Time

Spring Break 2025. The time that the Gills went to New York City as a family. Jon and I love to visit cities to walk the streets and learn the rhythm of that place. This was the first time that we ventured to take this kind of trip with all three children. The weather was beautiful, chilly during the day and unseasonably cold at night. We thought we were prepared until we realized that our coldest child decided not to bring a coat (what?!) so the first order of business was to find a winter coat hidden among the spring and summer collections in the retail stores of the city. The story ends well, we found a super cheap super warm coat that leaves Alex room to grow and a way to stay happy during this chilly trip. By the end of the long weekend, he was so sick of hearing "Do you have your coat??" that I'm certain he will never forget a coat again. 

Thank goodness Macy's came through with the last coat of the season, as a big part of our trip was seeing the musical Six on Broadway. We went to the theater just as the theater doors were due to open, but still waited outside in a windy 27 degree night for nearly a half hour. We were outside shivering and taking turns using the exhaust of the pizzeria next door to help stay warm until we were finally allowed inside. The show was incredible; fun, beautiful, upbeat and short - the last being the most helpful in keeping our youngest entertained after a full day of walking AND a show that started at 8pm. 

The Black Tap

As you would expect in NYC, we found great food around every corner and every palette was appeased. The day we landed our first stop was The Black Tap, a burger joint known for the borderline absurd milkshakes they serve. Some with entire slices of multilayer cake sitting on top of the glass, brownie slices stuck through by straws, sprinkles, syrups, fruit and booze all layered into different options. 

We had a pretty rocky landing into JFK and an additional rocky stomach moment in the car arriving at our hotel, so we opted to skip the milkshakes and go straight for a tummy-filling meal of hamburgers and fries. Back to the hotel, rest up for a full day of touristing bright and early the next morning. 

We stayed in Midtown Manhattan and wanted to show the kids many of the traditional NYC attractions; Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the city skyline. To save the long walks to and from the hotel, we were able to show them another NYC staple - the Subway! Easy, cheap, efficient, it was fun to take our suburban kids on public transportation for the first time in recent history. 

Me and my chilly littles, keeping warm

We booked a boat tour through Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise which allowed us to cruise around to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island but not stop anywhere - which was the perfect mix for our crew. There was also an indoor area on the boat, which was highly appreciated by our warm blooded Texans. 

We spent a moment outside to take a picture with our nation's welcoming committee

As an extra bonus, our best friends took the train from Jersey and joined us for an overnight hangout in the city.

The adults left the teens in charge for a night out at The Rag Trader. It was loads of fun, even if the live guitarist was not interested in letting me sing with the band.

Lots of silliness at the Museum of Illusions. It was a bit crowded, and a bit small, but with just enough space to take some fun photos. 

The crowing jewel for the kids was the shopping. M&M store, Nintendo store and all kinds of anime/tourist/junk shops for them to peruse and poke around while finding treasures. 

All 5 of us have different favorite moments coming off of this long weekend. We walked and toured and admired many of the great (and some not so great) parts of the city. It was a perfect amount of time to see the sights, watch a show with time to spare for shopping and fun with friends. I foresee more city visits in our future.