Happy New Year and Beyond!

Well, just got back from Richmond airport taking Benj and Abbey to catch flight back to Houston.  They arrived on Wednesday the 30th in good spirirts and left the same way today (I hope ... lol).   Temperatures throughout their stay were in the 20's and 30's - don't think it ever reached the 40's - temps unusual for this area at this time (usual cold temps are in latter part of January and February). But, we didn't let the temps deter us from our 'touristy' duties.

Our first stop after arrival in Williamsburg - the outlet stores so Benj could pick up a hat. After that, we stopped by to see Debbie at work and then went to Trader Joe's for some snacks and such and then on to home to have "Christmas." 

We were loaded for bear with gift receipts just in case our gift choices were not up to par - but we could barely go wrong with winter clothes and accessories with temps as cold as they were outside ... lol 

I was even able to suprise Debbie with some 'extra' presents [winter boots and slip-ons; not to mention 'the long sought after blender'] - lol

Maybe the biggest hit of the first night and maybe the entire trip for Abbey was the 'feeding of the deer' - she really got excited when five deer came up to the deck to get their morsel of corn.

We were able to hit Jamsetown Island the day after arrival, and yes, it was cooooooooooold and foggy. The glass-blowers were in full-force of course and the deer were out in abundance as well.

On New Years Day we ventured down to Colonial Williamsburg for a looksee and of course all the shops were open. Yep - icy cold again but we pressed forward. We made a second trip down to the shops later and it was even colder I think.

While we did technically 'go down to the shops' Benj and I found as many benches as we could muster up and partook in the leisurely sport of checking football scores on Benj's B'berry. Go Packers!! Go Texans!! 

Benj and I stayed in town on Saturday while Debbie and Abbey went to Vienna, Front Royal, and Leesburg Virginia to share some holiday time with Debbie's side of the family.  Family members were in that area and Debbie hadn't seen them in quite a while so she and Abbey headed north for the day while Benj and I enjoyed some football and the movie 'Avatar' - my second time and Benj's first.  In typical Mason-male fashion Benj pronounced the film high on graphics and 'okay/good' in content - but yea, I think he enjoyed it as well - even if he did look dorky like the rest of us wearing his 3-D glasses ... lol 

Anyway, we had a great time together - thanks for coming Benj and Abbey - we enjoyed it!