fun things that happen around here

Jo learned to swim! I think she's my youngest swimmer. She is almost 4 years old. She's not pool safe at all yet, but can swim to me and back to the wall and jump in off the diving board and if I help her get a breath will then swim to the side. She is loving it! She dives in from the side of the pool and says, "mom, I touched the ceiling!"




Yesterday morning right after Lexey woke up a spider crawled across her foot. She screamed bloody murder and I went in to check on her. I gave her a hug .. she was very tense. Poor thing! I moved her to another chair and vacuumed the room so that I was sure to get the spider. She was to traumatized to leave the chair for a good twenty minutes.

jamestown settlement

On our way to the airport, Lexey and I went to the Jamestown settlement. It was a really great place.

Surgeons tools from the 1600's

brain surgery in the 1600's --drilling a hole to relieve pressure

watching a gun demo.

A full scale replica of the boat settlers came over from Europe on.

Lexey working the boat.

We also  got to see powhatan-village. It was quite amazing.   Lexey learned to braid. 

admired the animal skins!

this is a huge bear skin

and mashed corn outside a house. Their houses were really impressive. In my opinion, more impressive than the settlers homes. Of course the Indians were experts with the land while the settlers would have been brand new and not known how to use the raw materials as well.

Beautiful view out the window on our flight home.

Charlottesville, VA

Lexey and I had such a great trip! Here are some of the highlights/events

Sat June 13 - depart Houston 8:30am, connect in Charlotte, NC and run to our little airplane hopper to Charlottesville. It was VERY bumpy. We might have thought we were going to die a time or two.
Land at 2pm in the quaint and darling little airport in Charlottesville.  Scott, Abbey and Madison meet us at the airport! Squeals of Joy! We go to lunch at delicious Burtons, then to the farm to meet the birds and ride the polaris.  Then home to Scott/Abbey's beautiful house.\

Lance arrives!

Dinner pizza at mint springs park at twilight. Scott's said the prayer for dinner...when he mentioned "and please help us to be safe from the bears and sharks" Lexey's eyes popped open wide and she started looking all around for signs of bears!

Sunday: walk around mint springs park. Lexey thought it was a difficult hike. She isn't a huge fan of hiking. It was such a beautiful morning. We jumped in the lake to cool off.
Chuch was amazing. One of the best meetings ever, great talks about conversion and the small changes over time that turn us into good people.

Farm
Dinner: Japanese grill. Lexey was very surprised by the knives, fire and excitement. I was proud of her for eating a great dinner and trying new things.

Mon: we were supposed to go to Norfolk in the morning but due to Austin barfing we decided to spend the day in Charlottesville. I cooked a few meals and then we went back to mint springs park with Lance and Lexey to spend a few hours swimming. We stayed from 11-4. They had a great time!
When we got home Pete and Parker were at Scott's house. We all had dinner together..a delicious chicken curry I made ....and then went to the farm to feed the birds/ride the Polaris again. Then I rode with Pete down to Norfolk. on the way down we stopped at Cafe Rio. Lexey got a chicken quesadilla and LOVED it!

 Lexey was such a fun travel buddy. Bursting with happiness! Such a sweet girl

 We had to travel on this tiny airplane.

So great to hold baby Madison.

 It's always a treat to see the birds. It smells better in the winter though!

 The owl was my favorite. So beautiful. Gorgeous hoot sounds. Loved to hear him hiss at the dog.

 Such spectacular countryside. So beautiful. Hard to capture on camera. Really takes your breath away. Scott driving the Polaris also takes your breath away.

 Lexey took lots of pictures of Madison

 Lexey bed head!

 ready to hike mint springs park

 So beautiful!!!!

 Lexey isn't a huge lover of hikes!

The beautiful lake!

The genius way scott hangs their bikes

The "L team" - Lance and Lexey

We went to a japanese grill restaurant. It was a whole new experience for Lexey and I! She was quite surprised by the fire. I was proud of her for trying all the new food. She loved the chicken. She is my carnivore!

Lexey had to hide under the table at one point due to fire hazard.

Cute selfies with Lance and Lexey

Love Lexey's smile! She is laughing with joy!

We tried some Graeters ice cream. The coconut chocolate chip was best.

 caught  a fish

 looking at fish in the lake

We had such a great trip. Abbey and Scott are delightful. Lance is so fun and such a good boy. Madison is an angel.