Oma and Opa visited us for a few days this week. We had a good time catching up with them and since both kids were at school they got to go and have lunch with Brooke at school. We also played a lot and had a great time. They were heading off to vacation after visiting with us and I forgot to get Opa’s pictures but here a few we took!
Today we went to Breakfast with Santa at Brooke’s school. It is a fun PTA fundraiser and we all had a good morning there at the school!
We had an eventful Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving Day we had pancakes and then went on a two hour hike in the chilly but sunny weather. We had lunch when we got home and started watching the parade. Alex fell asleep on the couch in a very interesting position. We ate a delicious dinner that we were all thankful for. The next day we started decorating the house for Christmas! That night we walked NBG Million Bulb Walk and had dinner at No Frill Grill. Saturday we went tree shopping and got it all decorated. Sunday we did all the exterior lights. We are having a company come and do the roof line this year so we will post outdoor pictures when it is all done next week.
The annual raking and jumping of the leaves!
With the kids on break from school we took to the mountains of Virginia for a long weekend. We stopped at Carter’s Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville on the way up to pick apples before arriving at our cabin in Douthat State Park. We enjoyed a brisk 7am hike the next morning from our cabin and AJ showed the forest who’s boss. We also explored the lake that was created there. I had been sick since earlier in the week so that afternoon after putting on two pairs of pants and 4 tops to combat the chill I couldn’t get rid of, I took a nap and AJ and the kiddos explored the stream leading into the lake. After AJ grilled delicious burgers outside we all had s’mores. It rained overnight and we went on a short hike in the other direction from our cabin. After lunch I played go-fish with the kids while AJ read and relaxed. Then went on an amazing lakeside into mountain top hike and the kids had a lot of fun. We enjoyed hot cocoa and popcorn when we got back to the cabin. The next morning we all slept in much to our surprise and we left to explore Natural Bridge State Park and the Caverns at Natural Bridge on the way home. After looking at the natural bridge we enjoyed a very cool cave tour. It was both kids first time in a cave and their favorite part was seeing the Virginian large brown bats sleeping. We drove home, quickly voted and got everyone ready for school the next day. It was a relaxing trip and as always so enjoyable to get away into nature.
