February fun

Valentine's day was fun and candy-full; we got 8 inches of snow last week which shut down our town for (of course) 5 days; and Grandpa came to visit! Fun times. 

And today we went to George Washington's birthplace to celebrate his 283nd birthday.

The great outdoors: woods wandering, ax-chopping, etc

January stuff

40th birthday party of a childhood friend of mine in DC

We got a new computer (for the kids)

Our first snow day… with 1/4 inch of snow. Roo's teeny snowman

Giving thanks for Thanksgiving

My aunt Susan lives in Birmingham, AL but has a house in Oxford, MD where she spends a lot of her time when she can. It's a gathering point where she, Uncle Bob, and their five children (my first cousins) - who lives all over the globe - come together at times. One such time is Thanksgiving. And this year we got to join them (three of the five anyway, along with 6 of the 9 second cousins), along with my Uncle Rob and his family of four- and several other guests. It's a little over 2 hrs away from us and an easy drive. We had such fun with them all. These shots can give a bit of flavor to our day there:

On Saturday HF and I left the kids at 7 AM in the hands of a brave babysitter and drove two hours east to the Shenandoahs to hike the well-known Old Rag mountain. It's nearly 4,000 feet and a 9-mile roundtrip hike. We expected it to be substantial in nature (which it was). We didn't expect it to be snow- and ice-covered (which it also was). Turned out to be quite an undertaking!

Fun adventure overall (though as we slipped and slid, HF noted nearly a dozen times how sad he was not to have crampons with us), and dinner afterwards in F'burg was also a real treat.

Some fun stuff in November

Nana popped in for a fun 48-hr visit!

Some good old fashioned arts & crafts...

"Working together, we get the job done" (trim work around the fireplace)

This kid learned to start a fire with a flint and steel with his cub scout crew this fall:

Patch time

Family day Monday (Columbus Day) complete with Home Depot run, stop-in at children's museum, and pumpkin patch quick visit.

One fall in Virginia

Though it still warmer than I think to expect for early October (75 during the day most days), the days are definitely growing shorter. I catch the sunrises in the mornings now:

Today our homeschool co-op had a wagon ride "wildlife scavenger hunt" field trip at nearby Caledon State Park which was a lot of fun and very informative. We found a lot of cool stuff on our sticker-guided punch list. Here are a few shots of our fun fall discovery day:

Blue Ridge Mountains

Yesterday we took an outing to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah State Park. About a two-hour drive, and completely worth it in every way. Beautiful shady day; nice colors almost reminiscent of New England; John Denver singing about this very mountain range as we wound our way through the park roads; solid effort put forth by our troupe of hikers. What could be better?

We picked a doable 1.6-mile loop with a good rocky outcrop at the top - achievable success and enjoyment for all. Our trail crossed the Appalachian Trail and we chatted briefly with some through-hikers, which made it all the cooler. Milkshakes from Chick-Fil-A on the way home rounded out the win! (Great call, HF)

Falling back into the groove

It's been a full month with lots of activities, new and old. But it's also been a pretty nice month because for the first time in four years, we are doing a true "back-to-…" routine. Except for Mouse (who started up new this year at preschool), everyone's in the same place they were last year. And routine and structure are so.very.nice.  Added bonus: we have been in VA long enough to now have some actual friends to connect with more regularly, with less effort on our part. Love! I even joined an evening Bible study with two friends I really like.

How much chuck can a woodchuck…?

We have some woodchucks in our fields. They bother the fence posts and dig holes into which sheep and lambs are apt to fall. They are nemeses. Monkey has been after them with his gun any number of times -- some close calls, but no success. But this week, HF got one. Here it is, skin still on:

And here it is off -- while HF is gutting and preparing it (it is now all cooked up in a stew). Quite a science lesson, I assure you:

Mouse started her swim lessons this week. The girl adores swimming and is happy as all get out to be in the water; however, she's not a huge fan of the lessons. The first day she was fine and went right down the (tall) slide with no coaxing. See?

But every day after she's cried. Poor girl. Roo has gone in as a lesson 'helper' several days, as Mouse is not the only reluctant 3-year-old in the class…

The other, and most vocal, beginning swimmer who is disenchanted, is our friend Kate. Here she and Mouse hang out on the sidelines during their older siblings' first official swim meet (they did great!). Too sweet.

Our friends the Eaddys - the other family hosting a Latvian orphan - have access to a neighborhood lake and invited us to come swim there with them this week. So fun:

Monkey had his end-of-year cub scout ceremony on Thursday night, a barbecue most notable for the sheets of rain that were falling just outside the pavilion for most of it. They pressed on nonetheless, however, and Monkey promoted to Weebelo. New hat and new neckerchief to go with that new rank!

Here's the den

Today HF took Monkey out on the nearby Rappahannock River for his first canoe paddle. Very exciting! They both loved it.