charlottesville

We’re home safe and sound in Sicily and oh! how good it is to be home.  Mostly it’s wonderful to be back home with Elliott, who–according to me and Lena–is pretty much the best person in the world.  We had a completely lovely weekend together that involved little more than reading, hiking, eating, and savoring life together again.

Anyway, here are some fun photos from our trip to Charlottesville last week to visit my sisters (Emily and Julia) and my sibs-in-law (Jess and Jonathan), all of whom are current UVA students.  Elliott and I both went to UVA and love going back to relive old memories and make new ones with our siblings.  Because honestly… is there a more lovely college town in all the world?

Lena was pretty good in the car down to C’ville… and she even napped, which is unheard of!  Still, she was very glad to see her Aunt Jess.  She finally opened her birthday present from her aunt, too, which was accompanied by a note: “Brands don’t define you.  They just make you cooler.”  And it was a pair of darling little 12-month size Patagonia shorts!  Thanks, Aunt Jess!

Had to go to Take It Away, the sandwich shop where I ate lunch about 5 times a week as an undergrad.

After lunch we went over to Alderman library to visit Auntie Em.  She helped Lena walk up the steps of Alderman to imagine what it would be like in 2029 when Lena starts school at UVA.

Later we went down to the Map Room and met Alexa, one of Auntie Em’s best friends.  I used to study down here too!  Back when it was un-renovated and only a few people knew about it, of course.

And then on to visit the lovely Lawn!  The grass is lush, all primed for graduation in just a couple weeks.

From there we walked on to the Amphitheater, where Aunt Jess and Uncle Jonathan were listening to one of their friends play jazz on the stage.

For a final stop at UVA we went back to the Study Center, which was packed with students preparing for exams.  Lena kept climbing the stairs and really wanted to go into the library.  So finally I opened the door for her and let her crawl in.

And she was a total hit!  Look at this series of photos as one by one the students pop out of the carrels to admire the cute little baby.  She was totally hamming it up, taking one girl’s highlighter and then waving it around, putting it behind her head, babbling, bouncing up and down in the middle of the floor.  The whole room was giggling helplessly, including her mama.

Talk about some amazing therapy for stressed out students!  We love you, darling Lena.