Easter 2016

The Easter bunny came and brought his traditional chocolate eggs for the kids to find.

Mom and Dad Cheney came over and we all went to church together. After church, Dad took a picture of me with the kids before they changed out of their church clothes but unfortunately Dan wasn't home, yet.

Lucky that they're mine.

We had a delicious dinner of corned beef, deviled eggs, pineapple, salad, and rolls. We also had a guy from church over for dinner because his family was out of town. Mom made this fabulous cake and Dad added the decorative peeps and bunnies.

After dinner and dessert, we had another egg hunt for the kids with plastic eggs. We tried to make this one a little bit more tricky.

It was a beautiful day and I'm glad we could spend it with family. We are so grateful for our Savior and what his resurrection means for us. Happy Easter!

Camping with Sam

I had planned on taking Sam to hike Old Rag back in January, but the weekend of the camping trip we had Snowmageddon 2016, and Shenandoah Nat'l Park was closed.  Two weeks ago, the weather was perfect, and Sam's soccer hadn't started yet, so we decided on a whim to go on the camping trip that got snowed out in January.

I got off work as early as I could.  I crammed a bunch of stuff in my backpack, and I made Sam cram some of his own stuff in his backpack.  We headed out to the Berry Hollow trailhead to Old Rag (Berry Hollow is a 5.5 mile out-and-back route rather than the usual 9 mile loop trail) at about 5pm.  We got there at 7pm.  Our car was the only one in the 10-car parking lot.  It was pitch black, and I'd never been there before.  We got our stuff more organized, and hit the trail to look for a backcountry camping spot, which, it turns out, is hard to do in the dark when you've never been somewhere before.  I was feeling a heavy fatherly burden to keep Sam from being eaten by a bear or an Appalachian cannibal redneck, so I wasn't sure if we should make lots of noise (to scare away bears) or no noise (to avoid attracting rednecks).  In the end, we tried to make a moderate amount of noise (for the bears) but to keep a low profile (for the rednecks).

After walking down the main path for 10 or 15 minutes, we found a small offshoot trail that led to a perfect campsite about 100' off the main path (and out of sight of the main path--part of the low profile).  We set up our tent, found a big flattish rock a ways away to cook dinner on, hung our food up in a tree (for the bears, and possibly the rednecks), and went to bed.

This is a picture of Sam standing exactly where our tent was.  He was making a funny face, of course.  I forgot to take a picture before packing up the next morning.  We woke up about six o'clock and were hiking by seven.

Either I have an inadequate sleep system, or I'm terrible at sleeping when camping.  I tend to sleep for a couple hours, wake up for what seems like a couple hours, toss and turn a lot, then fall asleep for another two or three hours before waking up for good.  By way of background, I have a good 0-degree non-mummy sleeping bag and an inflatable sleeping pad.  I use my puffy coat for a pillow.  I'm open to any suggestions on improving my camping sleep experience.

There are a few really pretty views on the way up.  Here's one:

This is looking west into Shenandoah.  Just lots of trees and mountains.

At the top it was really cold and windy.  Hence the socks on Sam's hands in the photo below.  When we got to the top, there was only one other guy up there.  By the time we left there were probably 10-15 people up there.

The summit rock is behind Sam and to his left here.

 Looking back east. You can see Sam on the right side of the panorama.

Sam was the only little kid we saw the whole time.  He did a great job.  We got back to the car at about 11:30am, got packed back up, and drove back home.  We stopped at a Tastee Freez in Gordonsville for lunch.  It was the only thing I really saw in town.  I remember when I was little that Tastee Freez had all sorts of delicious milk shake options.  I was excited for my butterscotch milkshake.  This one had a grand total of four flavors:  chocolate, vanilla, banana (I think), and some kind of chocolate mint.  (I think the chocolate mint was somehow in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  No idea how banana makes the permanent list with vanilla and chocolate.)  Total let down.  After we ordered our overpriced stuff, I turned around and saw a Burger King right across the street.  Don't know how I missed that.

Another interesting thing about the Tastee Freez was their drawing to win the "World's Largest Easter Bunny."  It was a stuffed animal bunny hanging from a hook in the ceiling and was probably 2.5 feet tall.  I've eaten larger hollow chocolate Easter bunnies as a child.  Why are they always hollow?  And why do their candy eyes always taste so gross?

We had a great time on our trip together.  Sam's favorite part was the camping.  My favorite part was the view from the top.

Other February Stuff

On a rare gorgeous day, we went to the park.

 Our garbage disposal bit the dust. Dan installed a new one.

Yum.

 Afton has an assignment to decorate a large heart with things she loves. In this picture, Dan and I are getting married. I am in the red dress with blue high heels. Dan is in the pompom top hat. Top right is a pegasus. Bottom is a pegasus unicorn. Top left is a horse. Eli is next to the pegasus and Sam is next to me, with his head under the horse.

 Eli got better at standing unassisted. He is so close to walking!

He got a new toy from G&G Cheney for his birthday and he loves it.

He can also crawl up the stairs really well now.

It hailed.

 We wrote valentine love notes to each other. This one is from Afton. "I love Eli because he is cute."

 I made a dress (mu mu) for Afton to wear on the 100th day of school.

 Eli and I met Dan for lunch at his office.

Afton received many creative Valentines from her classmates because they don't allow candy at school. One of them said something like "I've got my EYE on you" or something like that and it came with an eye patch. Afton thought it was so cool. She wore it to Chick-fil-a cyclops style (along with a witch dress).

 She took it off when we got home. When I went upstairs to check on the kids before we went to bed, she had put it back on and was sleeping with it. That girl cracks us up.

Dan got the kids their traditional giant Hershey's kiss for Valentine's Day.

Afton took a picture of me and my Valentine.

 Our Valentine's Day treat. It was nice to have Valentine's Day on a Sunday.

Eli learned how to open doors.

Dan made partner at his law firm. They had a special dinner for all of the people who made partner.

 It was really nice. My only hangup is that the invitation said "casual." We know they did not really mean casual. If you tell me to dress casually, I will wear jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. Good thing Dan asked other people was "casual" really means.

Someone stole Dan's identity.

 Eli got a balloon when Sam and Afton went to the dentist.

And that is all.

100th Day of School and an Assembly

Last month we got an email from Afton's teacher letting us know that she was going to be recognized during a school assembly for her compassion. (Each month for five months they have an assembly recognizing students who excel in one of five character traits: Perseverance, compassion, integrity, collaboration, and commitment to quality.)

Anyway, that assembly got canceled due to snow.

This month we got an email from Sam's teaching informing us that Sam was going to be recognized during February's assembly for integrity. It's a surprise and the kids don't know until their names are called.

Fortunately for us, they combined the compassion assembly with integrity, so we got to see both kids get an award on the same day. It also happened to be the 100th day of school and the kindergarteners got to dress up like they were 100-years-old.

Here's Afton before school.

Here's Afton at the assembly.

And Sam. (Skip to 43 seconds or so. I accidentally got the girl before him.)

We're so proud of our kids. They are good examples to us.

Other January stuff

Right after New Year's, our local PBS station put on a Downton Abbey season 6 preview at a theater downtown. They've been doing it every year - airing the first episode of the season before it comes on TV. I stopped watching DA a few years ago, but a bunch of girls from church were getting dressed up, going out to eat, and then going to the premiere, so I thought I would join in. It was a great night! After dinner at the Strawberry Street Cafe, we went to the Altria theater to watch. There were so many people dressed up. It was fun people watching. Apparently it's the biggest Downton Abbey event in the nation. After the local PBS people said some stuff, they announced a special guest from the show. You could tell how excited everyone in the audience was... Until they announced someone that was on like two episodes three seasons ago. (He also plays a pirate in the Pirates of the Carribbean movies. I would recognize him if I saw him up close.) So he was funny and talked for a few minutes. Then HE introduced another Dowton Abbey cast member - the woman who plays Mrs. Hughes (and happened to be this guy's wife). Oh, man, the theater went wild. It was fun.

 The girl on the second from the left in the front pretty much single-handedly dressed and styled 90% of our group. She is amazing.

Eli loves bath time.

The Saturday night/Sunday morning after Eli's birthday, Afton came to our room in the middle of the night and complained that her jaw hurt. We felt around and didn't see/feel anything abnormal so we set up a little bed on the floor of our room and told her to go back to sleep. She kept crying saying that it hurt. We didn't get much sleep that night. That morning, Sam came in saying that his ear hurt. Then we put two and two together and figured out that's what Afton was feeling, too. Of course it was a Sunday so I had to wait until 10 and take all three kids to the Minute Clinic because Dan had to be at church. I got there 10 minutes before they opened, but two other guys were already sitting there. So I waited with my kids in the CVS for about an hour. Finally the lady saw them and diagnosed Sam with a double ear infection and Afton with one really bad one after having to ask them all sorts of random questions that had nothing to do with their ears. I wanted to yell, "Just look in their ears, okay???" That was not a fun day! I also got released from my primary chorister calling that day. I miss teaching songs to the kids! Now I'm the second counselor in the primary presidency and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Sam had a school assignment to create something related to Native Americans. He decided to build a model dugout canoe. Dan helped him out a bit.

Very authentic, huh? Sam came home from school the day it was due and told us all about some other kid's two-story long house with faux bear rugs, ladders, etc. Sounds like we weren't the only parents who helped out a little bit...

We went on some pretty walks when the weather was nice enough.

I met Dan for lunch one day.

 We went to the temple. They have this picture of the temple that you can take a picture in front of, so Afton asked me to. I guess people might want to do that so they don't have people in the background? Otherwise, I say just take a picture with the real temple in the background.

 Here's the kid area in the visitors' center.

The kids watched some TV. Let's be honest.

Afton had a school assignment to create a diorama for a dinosaur she was given. I helped with the blue and green background stuff. Dan helped with the other stuff while I went somewhere (can't remember where...), but a lot of it was Afton's idea. I was majorly impressed!

 (She fell at recess and got a big bruise on her forehead.)

Eli was cute.

And then it snowed. And snowed.

The kids had a lot of fun in the snow. Dan shoveled for hours and hours. I basically stayed inside with Eli. If he was already walking, I think we would have ventured out more, but with him just crawling, I didn't see it ending very well. Dan got to stay home on Friday. We utilized that time to play a rousing game of Monopoly.

And a bunch of other games. Church was canceled on Sunday, as was school Monday through Wednesday. So on Tuesday, the kids and I drove out to see my parents since the roads around us and them were clear.

No trip to G&G Cheney's is complete without a game of Hullabaloo.

 We got to meet Grandpa for lunch and Eli also got a few presents from them for his birthday. It was nice to see them for a quick visit!

The last day of the month the weather was really beautiful, so we went on a walk after church and spent some time playing on the driveway. (The grass was TOOOO muddy.)

 Eli is SO close to taking his first steps, but he's not quite there yet.

 Sam got a haircut.

 Eli eventually gave up on the pusher thing and got super dirty crawling around in the melting snow.

 The end.