The Kimmels: Quality Time

Over labor day weekend, Brad and I went to VA for our 2nd Annual Kimmel Vacation. This year we went to the Homestead which is a resort MUCH like the Greenbrier (where we went last year). They have tons of activities to do but since it was Labor Day weekend, the rooms were booked to capacity...which means most of the activities were booked too. However, we still had tons of fun spending quality time together and just catching up. A very special thank you to Bill & Sandy for the treat of such a nice vacation and the opportunity to spend time together!

Brad and I arrived on Friday night around 5:30. In just enough time to have dinner with Bill & Sandy. We played pool afterward in the billiards/bar. Wes, Kevin & Blair didn't get in until after midnight. We were already sound asleep.

On Saturday morning, we got up and had a delicious breakfast at the buffet. They had EVERYTHING you can imagine. I loved all the freshly cut fruit....from strawberries to kiwi to mango...mmm. After breakfast we went on a walk up one of the mountains to see a good view and some pretty houses tucked away in the hillsides.

The girls had spa treatments Saturday & Sunday. On Saturday I had a hot stone massage and on Sunday I had a buttercup body scrub. They scrub you down with a buttercup/sugar scrub, then a rinse in a swiss shower (I really want one of these in the house except they are not the best for conserving water...) After the rinse they cover you in mud from Hot Springs VA. The mud is made with the water from the 'healing springs', said to detoxify your body. The mud was followed by another wonderful swiss shower rinse and they finished by lathering buttercup lotion to moisturize. I love both treatments. Very relaxing!

After lunch the first day we played croquet (I discovered I'm actually pretty good!). Blair and I spent some time by the pool reading but there were tons of kids having a good time so I spent more time watching the kids play than reading. Before dinner we played some tennis which is always tons of fun!

After dinne on Saturday, we went down to the bowling alley and played 2 rounds. I told you this place has EVERYTHING!

my victory dance. I think I only got a spare. ha

So this is where it gets interesting....
For those of you that know me, I LOVE to try new things...at least once. Well, I had never been kayaking before and the kayaking trip with the resort was booked so we went through a local company. They were really nice people but I guess I just assumed there would be a guide to take us on this 3 HOUR trip down the James River.
The guy let us drop our car where we would be ending our trip and then drove us to the starting point in this fabulous pink bus. Isn't it funny? They bought it off Ebay from a beauty salon. ha

Posing with our paddles.

Kayaking for the first time.

Having a great time going down the river.... keep reading.

OK --- well, like I said, I had never kayaked before. The rapids were ONLY class 1 but we came across this section that had a strong rapid that pulled me over to the left bank and through a narrow section with some rocks. Brad went through first and I saw that he had a difficult time and got wet. I went through next and I guess I didn't keep paddling hard to get through because my kayak flipped and I went under. My kayak was on top of me which I think freaked me out a little bit and of course the rocks were scary because we were not wearing helmets (honestly I didn't think about it). Anyway, I remember Wes coming through right behind me and sounding really worried. Brad was already 50 yards up the river and didn't know I flipped. Then I remember Blair telling me to put my feet up and just float on my life preserver. I finally got to a spot where I could walk and went to the right bank. Wes had my kayak on the left bank and was getting all the water out for me. Kevin and Blair were with me on the right bank. This is where the SAT question comes in -- If there is one person with 2 kayaks on the left bank and 3 people and 2 kayaks on the right bank, how do you get the 3rd person from the right to the extra kayak on the left. Sidenote: I consider us to be educated and smart people but what happened next was not the best idea....I laugh really hard inside just thinking about it.
Blair: "Why don't you get into my kayak and I will get into Kevin's kayak and he will take me across the river to Wes and I will use your kayak"
Seemed like a really good idea at the time but my knees were still wobbly from the near death experience moments before. (ok, im probably exaggerating but it WAS really scary).
Blair proceeds to give me her Kayak and in the meantime Kevin took his tennis shoes off because he didn't want them to get wet....
As Blair got in with Kevin and pushed themselves off the bank, it sank INSTANTLY.
Blair swam to the left bank with Wes and started taking photos of what happened next. (we bought a dry bag to keep the camera and 1 cell phone safe).

Kevin was trying to keep the kayak so at one point he was surfing it down the river and all you can see is his head. I am in Blair's kayak at this point and am collecting his tennis shoes that are floating down the river. While im doing that, Kevin floats past me riding his kayak UPSIDE DOWN. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a very long time. I had tears streaming down my face from the laughter.

Kevin got his kayak to the bank but I swear he must have picked the steepest bank on the river because they had a very difficult time getting the kayak full of water (water weighs a lot!). Wes had to come down the river to help Blair & Kevin.

I stayed in my kayak where I was safe and kept track of the other kayaks & paddles.

Brad stayed dry the entire time. HA!

Finally got the water out of the kayak and proceeded down the river. Needless to say, we had to call Mr.Kimmel and tell him that we we "had a minor setback" and would be late for drinks/dinner.

We had 2 more hours down the river and approached the end of the journey at 5:50. We started at 3 so we still did the trip in less than 3 hours, even with our little mishap -- Which is a direct result of me tipping in my kayak!

After dinner photo shoot. I LOVE that Blair is just as crazy about photos as I am. We make the perfect team! ...and we drive the guys crazy!

After dinner the last night, we went down to the billiards room again and played some darts.
This is me & Brad being goofy and this photo makes me laugh.

Mr. Kimmel, Kevin and Wes all went to Washington & Lee University in VA and since we were in VA, the bar had a W&L helmet. Blair put it on to model for us. :)