Great Bridge Hike

Pat has been carefully researching all hikes in Virginia, and this one caught his eye. It is a hike along an old train track. This past weekend we finally had a chance to check it out! 

The hike is 60 miles in its entirety, so long! We felt like we did a ton and we only did 5 miles. It goes through the very quaint and popular little town of Farmville, which would be worth a trip in itself, though we were only able to quickly drive through.

And, of course, Kia and I :)

The whole path was flat, which was so nice!

The bridge was incredible! 

It must have been amazing to experience crossing via a train! And it is crazy to think that this bridge was here during the Civil War, complete with a walk way for people.

I felt so nervous taking these pictures with my phone. 

Sooooo worried.

Thankfully, I didn't drop it!

The river was so lovely, and it was so amazing to have this view!

Some of the earthen-works still remain from the Civil War. 

And one last pic of Kia at the end of the hike!

All the kids crashed within about 5 minutes of jumping in the car, which was nice considering we had a 2 hr 45 mn trip home!

All in all, it was a lovely hike and we recommend it.

Halloween 2016

In keeping with tradition, the Waldron's came over for trick or treating! I didn't take many pics, but here are a few.

Kateri stayed warm due to this 'princess tunic' from mom!

And the youngest trick or treaters: godzilla and a pirate!

What they said

Finding a big ugly crane fly in the front yard, showing him to me with great gentleness and care:

Kateri: He is soooo nice! If you want to call him Pumpkin Sweet, you can! He really likes that. 

Watching the construction at aunt Lulu's house

Me; (Wrapping a Christmas present for my nephews Blake and Luke)
Kateri: Why is that for Blook and Lake?
Me; (laughing, for some reason this struck me SO FUNNY)
Kateri: WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?
Me; Oh something tickled my funny bone and I had to laugh.
Kateri: (thoughtful expression)

(5 minutes later)
Me (changing diaper in other room)
Kateri: (gales of loud laughter)
Me: Kateri, what are you laughing at?
Kateri: Someone tickled my funny bones!!

First time dressing alike, courtesy of aunt Gigi Strube

Kateri is an enthusiastic morning person, Sebastian is not.
Kateri (shouting); BASH! It's MORNING TIME!
Bashy: (silence)
Kateri (quieter, almost apologetically): It's morning time, Bashy.
Bashy: (still silent, staring ahead)

Last flowers from October 26

Sebastian:(singing) " . . . High ho the derry-O, the cheese stands alone . . ."
Sebastian: (pause)
Sebastian: (with renewed gusto) "The HORSE gets the cheese! The horse gets the cheese!"

*Silence at Mass, during the moments after the consecration
Lady in our pew: (Sneezes loudly)
Sebastian: (chuckling even louder) Heh heh heh That FUNNY, mommy, that FUNNY!

Sebastian: (after he hurts himself in ANY way, minor or major, running to the cabinet): Bandaid on it! BANDAID ON IT!!!!!!

Kateri: We are building a train!
Me: Where are you going?
Kateri: We are going to WORK.
Me: Ok, great. Bring home the bacon!
Sebastian: (thinking momentarily)
Sebastian: Imma bring home the sausage, mommy!
(can you guess what his favorite breakfast meat is?)

My garden helpers

lemon balm <3

And, sometimes, you start severely questioning your parenting techniques . . .

ummmm

what on earth? I am so confused and worried

(Another time)

Kateri: (singing) "I will cut you in pieces with a knife, dear Liza, dear Liza . ."
Me: (silently pondering where I went wrong)



Me (reading)
Kateri: (running up to me with a doll) She hurt herself, so we put bandaids on her.
Me: (seeing blood all over the dolls face, bandaids haphazardly all over her head) OH MY GOSH. THAT IS REAL BLOOD. WHO IS HURT?
Kateri (indifferently): Bashy
Me: Sebastian! Where did you get hurt?
Bashy (nonchalantly): on the table
Me; No, where on YOU?
Bashy: (confused look, as if to say "why are you even asking me that irrelevant question?")

(turns out he had a little cut on his thumb, so no worries there!)

OH! these crazy kids!

A little of this and that!

Nothing says fall like a fire in the fire pit. Thankfully, Pat is the fun parent who has plenty of energy to execute things like this, as usually by the end of the day I am more than ready to sit down! 

The kids make double use of the fire pit by extending the fun to daytime hours . . . when the fire is gone and the sun is warm.

Hence we have had a number of ash smudges on our walls, carpet, and plenty of mid-day baths (which the big-kids love).  I am not always able to appreciate the FUN of this and so don't always capture the moment in an attempt to minimize collateral damage!

We've also tried to make it to a few festivals and go on as many hikes as we can fit in! This was a fun but crowded festival down near Montpelier. The kids were in heaven petting this very nice pony, I have never seen such a well tempered little guy. This is one of the reasons Sebastian has told me he is asking St Nick for a HORSE this year for Christmas . . . oy vey.

What do you think the neighbors would think if we put one of these in our back yard? 

Kateri and Sebastian, ever read to smile for the camera! 

There was a HUGE area for vendors at this festival, and as we walked through, Pat said, "I feel like I'm walking through real-life Pinterest . . ."

Touche!

We also went on a hike that Pat sees on the train-ride to work each day.

My hiking buddy

This was so much more tricky to cross than I thought it would be! It was crazy how much deeper the water was on one side, and it was difficult to see around Kia.

A few weeks ago, Laura invited us to go on a last minute nature hike with them!

A delightful time was had by all!

And lastly, Jeanne once left her sweater here. The kids must have knocked it to the floor, where Wrigley and Clark immediately determined how they could make use of every last inch of it! 

Everyone loves Jeanne! Even her sweaters are a hot commodity around here!