Good Luck Charms

Bryce had meetings tonight at the church, so as soon as we finished dinner and the kids had run upstairs, we decided to play a quick game of YAHTZEE. The loud roll of the 5 die brought the kids to the table within seconds, of course, so I decided to let them "play" by whispering good luck into the dice rolling cup. I began my roll with two 4's. Naturally, I had them call "four" into the cup. I rolled. Two more 4's! Two more whispers on the last roll, and what could it be? A four!!! YAHTZEE!! It was so great! Then, it was Bryce's turn. He rolled and chose to also go for his fours. He decided to use my good luck charms in the same way. What happened? YAHTZEE in two more rolls!!! Can you believe it! The kids were so amazed that THEY had made the dice roll fours. They really are good luck.

Blue Ridge Parkway

We drove along a piece of "America's Favorite Drive" yestereday, the Blue Ridge Parkway! For those not familiar with the parkway, its a scenic roadway connecting the Great Smoky Mountains to Shenandoah National Park. Absolutely beautiful! The valleys and cascading landscapes were remarkable. I can't believe this was the first time we had done this stretch! We visited Mabry Mill, a famous stop-off for photographers. The kids were fascinated to watch the working mill spin by power of water! And yes, everything around it was so picturesque!







Along the parkway is a small town called, Meadows of Dan where we stopped at a candy factory for some sweets! I don't know why, but the only picture we took there was of Lucy with all the "I Love Lucy" chocolate factory paraphernalia! There were sweets galore! The kids got to pick out a few of there favorite choices (some of the candy was so cheap - like 15 and 20 cents!), and Bryce and I got some amazing chocolate covered pretzels for half-off! I think the kids enjoyed the day trip; in fact, Caleb mentioned how he wanted to see more "stuff in Virginia that we've never seen!"

4th of July

I feel like I say this about every holiday, but I think Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays! We had so much fun celebrating this year.

We started off the day with our first ever neighborhood parade! I have good memories of doing this all growing up and wanted my kids to have a chance to participate in one! They decorated their bikes and scooter the night before. We all walked down the road together and ended up at the park for neighborhood mingling and popsicles. We had so much fun and the kids felt really special.





After a light lunch, we headed down to mainstreet for the Blacksburg parade! It wasn't much more than a bunch of emergency vehicles, but the kids got a lot of candy! We're always up for a good parade.


We had a BBQ with friends and played kickball, corn hole, and enjoyed good company. Then we all headed over to the park for the 4th of July concert that Bryce participated in. The kids were squirmy by the end, but it was really nice to hear some good ol' patriotic music!

We planned on going home after that, but the kids were having so much fun playing on all the playgrounds at the park that we ended up staying until fireworks that night! We had a few of our own that were fun to watch (Annabelle didn't quite know what to think!). The Blacksburg firework show was perfect! We all sat on a blanket together with our glow bracelets and watched the lights explode in the sky! The kids wouldn't take their eyes off of them! What an amazing day!

Uncle Devin Visits!

Hooray for Uncle Devin! We were so excited to have Mel's brother, Devin come to visit! We went to the zoo in DC, hung out at the temple, came back to Blacksburg and enjoyed the perfect weather having BBQ's going on walks, Pandapas Pond, the Frog Pond (the swimming pool), and hanging out together. Thanks for coming, Dev~ we love you!

Annabelle's First Birthday!

Happy Birthday Annabelle! Seriously, this year has really gone by so quickly! It seems like a couple of months ago we were waiting and waiting for you to arive, and here you are! You are so sweet - we love you so much! Lucy says in her prayers every night, "Thank you for Annabelle. Thank you that Annabelle is so cute!" That's how we all feel! You are just so wonderful. We had a good birthday with presents, candles, cake, and fun!

Swim Lessons

My kids just finished 2 weeks of swim lessons and they loved it! I took some good videos, but the pictures are only so so, but that's all I've got!

Caleb was a Sting Ray and learned to jump of the diving board and is now totally comfortable swimming in the really deep end!

Lucy was a Sea Turtle and practiced diving into the teacher and got comfortable swimming on her own!

James was a Minnow and loved being in the water! He practiced doing "big scoops" and floating on his back.

The hardest part was keeping Annabelle out of the water :) What a fun way to start the summer!

Caleb's 7th Birthday!

This year for Caleb's birthday, we did a "family" celebration. Caleb got to pick which activity he wanted to do for his birthday, and he chose roller skating at Adventure World, and riding bikes on the Huckleberry trail. Caleb had a great time rollerblading, and the kids were in heaven when we told them we would give them each some tokens to play with! It is always such a hard decision what junk to buy with all the tickets . . . !

The bike ride couldn't have been on a more beautiful day! I got to try out my new bike, and Annabelle enjoyed her first ride in the bike trailer!

Caleb felt special all day on Sunday. I think James and Lucy got a little tired of hearing, "Caleb can pick, its his birthday!" James hasn't stopped asking me about when he gets a birthday again!

We love you Caleb! You are so special to us!