For my birthday, I asked my parents if they could watch our kids one night so Dan and I could do some hiking. The second Friday in May, Dan and I dropped of the kids and then headed over to Roanoke. It was raining pretty hard and had been all day. We stopped for Dairy Queen and then drove to the trail head. We were originally going to hike a little bit and then set up camp, but since it was still raining so much, we decided to go ahead and sleep in the van, then wake up early and hike.
It was surprisingly roomy back there once we put the back seat down and pushed the captain seats all the way up.
Saturday morning we woke up at 4:30 and were hiking by 4:50. The first hike we did was McAfee Knob. It's one of the most photographed spots (if not THE most) on the Appalachian Trail. Since we knew that, I figured we needed to get up there around sunrise to avoid the crowds. The hike up was pretty uneventful.
We missed the sunrise by about 20 minutes, but oh, man. It was beautiful! And I was so surprised to find that we had the whole place to ourselves. (We passed one tent on the way up.)
I'm pretty sure I said a million times, "I can't believe we're the only people here right now!"
McAfee Knob was 8.8 miles, I think. We passed a few people on our way down.
Our next hike was Dragon's Tooth, also on the AT. This hike was about 6 miles.
Big rocks jutting up that you could climb on. So that's what we did.
That hike was busier and we saw a lot of thru-hikers. The trail down was amazing. We walked through a rhododendron forest and they were in full bloom. It was so beautiful!
We grabbed some quick Taco Bell for lunch and went back to pick up the kids. Such a great day!
At the beginning of May, Candice came to visit Mom and Dad sans kids. It was her birthday present from Craig. (Thanks, Craig!)
Thursday, Eli and I met up with Candice and Mom at Short Pump for some shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Included in our meal was watching two barefoot rednecks in inappropriate shirts trying to catch coy fish out of the water features. Priceless.
Friday I drove over to Charlottesville by myself while Dan stayed home with Eli (bless his heart). We hit Bodo's for lunch with Mom and Dad and then got pedicures after Dad went back to work.
In all my years of living in Earlysville and visiting my parents, I had never gone to this tiny country store. Until now. We walked in and bought candy so that we wouldn't look totally weird. The family that owns it was really nice.
We also stopped to take in the view. You simply can't help it!
Friday night is prime people watching on the Downtown mall, so that's what we did, after a dinner at Bonefish Grill.
Next we checked out IX Art Park, which was on my "Do Charlottesville like a tourist" list. A quirky place.
Saturday morning I went on a walk with Mom and Dad.
Then we went to the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. It was unseasonably cold and slightly rainy so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was a cool place!
Thanks to me, we went to the Depot Grill for lunch, but no one really loved it. Tripadvisor let me down on that one. Then we drove home and hung out until it was time for me to go home. Candice flew out the next morning. It was great to visit with her and my parents and not have to worry about the kids. Not to mention, I came home to a sparkling clean house! (Thanks, Dan!)
Already looking forward to visiting Candice myself (sans kids) in September!
The windows in our house were wood on the outside and many of them were starting to rot. A lot of them were also painted shut and were very difficult to open. We replaced the whole house's windows.
(This is mid-Afton's room redo.)
It's so nice to be able to open the kitchen window and talk to the kids outside/get a breeze. None of our windows had screens before, either, so that's been awesome.
Although I hadn't signed up for it yet (I was planning on signing up right before the last price increase), a race I had been planning on running was canceled the week before. So bogus.
Dan had to go to a conference in Denver. Afton had her Let's Play Music recital.
We love her teacher, who is also a friend from church. (The recital was at a Lutheran church in case you were curious from the pictures.)
Since Dan wasn't around to keep me company, Keith Morrison did instead. Except watching Dateline alone is not necessarily a good idea if you want to be able to fall asleep.
The dang geese have taken over our lives. Yesterday there were 18 geese in our backyard. Anytime I see one out where the playset is, or the area where the kids play the most, I try to have someone scare it away. It was Sam's turn. He just got it to go to the neighbor's yard.
Our gym had a spring festival.
Dan came back the day before my birthday.
My birthday cake.
My birthday was on a Sunday this year. Mom and Dad came over and went to church with us, then we had dinner, dessert and presents. Eli had a meltdown at dinner, that's why he's missing.
So glad my parents could come!
Afton took it upon herself to make a game of "Pin the tail on the donkey." She did a great job! I forget who won - it wasn't me!
Eli is very picky when it comes to candy. His Easter candy lasted forever. He was certain he wanted a york peppermint patty from his basket, but I knew he wouldn't like it, so I had to videotape his first york.
Sam had his first pinewood derby. His car won the whole thing! He was pretty excited about that.
Afton and Eli discovered just how fun umbrellas can be.
I am so grateful for this grove of trees at the middle school where Sam's soccer practice was. Kept them entertained and out of the sun.
My "race day" came and I ran it alone, around my neighborhood and a few adjoining neighborhoods. It was super humid that day, and it took me a LOOOONG time. Dan and the kids found me around mile 10 and gave me some fresh water and moral support. Eventually I got it done!
Obligatory after-race picture.
Afton was super sweet and made me this sign. Great gob!
Dan and I went on a fun date night - dinner at a pie place, then checking a few Richmond landmarks off my list - Libby Park and Shiplock Park.
