Underground

Since our time here is quickly winding down, we are trying to see as much as possible. This weekend we headed to Luray, VA. It's a small town out in the Shenandoah Valley. The big thing to see is the caverns.

We hiked down a couple hundred feet overall from the surface and saw some really cool rock formations. There were stalagmites and stalactites as well as a few other interesting creations from billions of years ago. As soon as we got down there our guide informed us that we'd be down there for about an hour and be walking for a mile and a quarter. My first thought was, "I hope there's a quick way out for us when the kids get bored." 

This picture below was a small lake that perfectly reflected the ceiling. It was really impressive in person. It gave the appearance of being quite deep, but in fact it was only about 10 inches. 

The columns inside were really impressive. There was so much space! They even had a few  areas that had been paved with bricks that they allowed weddings to take place in. It was very beautiful. In the biggest "room" someone had crafted an organ into the stalactites. Using electrical pulses, a rubber mallet would softly tap the different formations to create the proper tones. They briefly played us a song.  

There was even a wishing well. I was surprised that they allowed people to toss coins into this pool. The water turned green from all of the copper pennies. Apparently once a year they collect the change and donate it to charity. They've raised over a million dollars.

Thankfully all of the kids stayed entertained for the entire walk. After climbing almost 70 stairs to get back to the surface, I was a little bit tired myself. Our tickets included entrance into two other small museums on the property. One was all about cars. It started with old wagons and carriages and then chronologically showed cars as they developed. It was interesting to see some really old cars.

The other museum was all about the old ways of life in the valley. It had old furniture, guns, and other household items from the 1800's. My kids really weren't interested so we went through it pretty fast. Then we headed outside where we played with this mining replication. We liked floating the sifters down the "river". It was crazy hot outside with like 95% humidity, so any splashing in water was welcome. Unfortunately, we got in trouble with a cranky worker so we had to move on.

We found a cool stump to take some pics. We tried our best to get a family selfie. Didn't work so well this time.

On our way back towards home we stopped at The Shenandoah River State Park to explore a bit. We were hoping to find a place where we could play in the river or throw rocks in. We ended up leaving after a short time. There weren't really any good places there and it was really hot. 

The scenery was beautiful though. Glad we made the trip. We stopped at Spelunkers on the way home for burgers and frozen custard. It was a fun day!

Mother's Day Tea

Today was a special day. It was Mother's Day tea at Neil's preschool. I had never been to one of these before so it was a pleasant treat! The kids escorted us into the room and together we picked out a tasty plate of goodies. There were lots of selfies going on.

Once everyone had eaten, the kids sang to us. Afterwards, we got to see their special portraits that they drew. 

I absolutely loved Neil's portrait! He said, "I love my mom because she gives me butter, my beautiful mommy."  I have no idea where that came from. No, I don't regularly hand out sticks of butter to my kids. It was so sweet though. It made me laugh. He really knows how to melt my heart. What a sweet boy he is! Truly a fabulous mother's day gift!

He also painted me a flower pot that had marigolds growing in it. I'm glad I have a small picture of it because we accidentally dropped it on the way home. Ceramic doesn't do well on concrete. He was pretty sad about it. :(

We ended our little date on the playground with friends. The weather was perfect and it was so fun to spend some time with Neil at his school. Now that preschool is wrapping up, I am starting to feel nostalgic. My baby is going to kindergarten this fall! I am leaving behind this cute world of preschool forever. Part of me just doesn't want it to end. Where does all the time go? How did he get so big?

National Cathedral

Today we decided to do a bit more exploring before Chris had to fly back to California. We checked out a fun little place in DC called Friendship Park. It was a nice shaded park with sand and rolling toys all over. I forgot to snap any pictures of the park, but it was a relaxing way to spend an hour or so.
Afterwards we headed to the National Cathedral. It was just a few blocks from the park. What a magnificent building! It was beautiful. We got there just before the evening worship and had just enough time to tour the inside. We even took an elevator up to the 7th floor where we could see the surrounding city for miles around. It was breathtaking! I highly recommend checking it out.

 

5k for Grace

Grace really loves to run. Not only does she play soccer, but she has also been training every week with a good friend from school. For several weeks now she goes out around the neighborhood with her friend and her friend's mom on a nice 2-3 mile loop. Thank goodness for her mom! I have never really been a fan of running.

Race day finally arrived. Grace woke up extra early, ate some toast, and got herself all prepped for the 5k. It was held in the town of Vienna just down the road. Participants could choose to do a fun run mile or a 5k. All of the proceeds go towards our elementary school.  She was only one of seven other kids in her age group doing the longer race.

Chris was able to go cheer her on and watch her cross the finish. I'm so proud of her and all of her hard work. There were some pretty tough hills to climb, but she hung in there. She made it to the finish in good spirits. Then she got some face paint and we all went to Zinga frozen yogurt to celebrate!

Bridal Shower

This last weekend was extra fun for me. Chris flew back to Virginia to be with the kiddos, while I again took off on a solo trip. This time it was back home to Oregon. My sister and I had been helping my mom plan a bridal shower for my other sister for months. It's a little bit of a challenge to plan something like this from far away.

I arrived around midnight on a Wednesday. I was wiped out! It felt like 3am for me. Thankfully, I was able to sleep in the next day. When I did get up I went with my mom and sister to meet up with my dad for lunch at Chang's Mongolian Grill. I really love that place, and a trip home just isn't complete without it. Afterwards, I had a hair appointment at a local salon. I had planned on getting a bunch cut off, and maybe a few highlights. They took some creative liberty, and I ended up with this:

Yikes! It was pretty much the craziest thing I've ever done to my hair. It wasn't exactly what I was going for, but it's growing on me. 

The day before the shower, Friday, was full of tons of prepping. My fabulous mother in law worked hard on making mini quiches and cinnamon rolls. We got to meet Keara's future mother in law Kelly. We all stayed up late finishing last minute decorations and food for the next day. We even squeezed in a Dairy Queen run. 

Saturday morning was the big event. Everything that we worked so hard on was finally ready. Bree had made tasty lemon poppyseed muffins, Hilary brought a great cheese and cracker platter as well as fruit, and Connie had the tasty cinnamon rolls and quiche. Bree and I had asked Jeff ahead of time a big list of questions about Keara. We also had him write out several things that he loved most about her. We printed and framed some of the quotes.

We served orange juice, raspberry danishes, fresh fruit, yogurt, quiche, cinnamon rolls, cheese & crackers, and poppyseed muffins.

We asked everyone to bring in a recipe to include in the recipe book for Keara.

We had an excellent turnout! Even friends from high school!

Sisters.

Mom & sisters

Mom, Aunt Hilary, sisters, Kelly

We had so much fun! Keara got so many great gifts and it was fun to chat with all of our friends and family. I'm so glad that I was able to go!

That night, after everyone had left, just the five of us went for dinner. It was just my parents and us 3 girls. We hadn't all been together like that in many years. I thought it was extra special. No extra husbands or kids. Just us. We definitely need to do that again sometime. 

The next day my sisters both had to leave. I was able to stay on a couple more days. I took advantage of my time away and got to visit a couple of my good friends, go shopping, and hang out with my mom. I also got some extra baby snuggles with my new niece.

The next time we all get together again will be wedding time! Not much longer. By then I will be packing up my house and setting off on my own new adventure. If I missed you on this trip I apologize. I will have much more time to visit in June/July. 

Some sports pics

The last month has been absolutely crazy! It seems like everyday is packed full of activities. With both girls doing different spring sports we have been running all over.

Apparently the new trend...hot pink with orange. Go Tigers!

Batter up! Claire is starting to like softball a bit more with each game. Go Power!

Only one more month of craziness. We can make it.  I don't know what I will do when Neil plays something too. Life just never stops.