Firsts...

1. Our "Backyard" (after our patio) is a fairly steep hill that leads to the "woods" as we call them. We were told we had access to the Rivanna Trail from our back yard but had yet to find it.  We had found an access path at the far end of the town homes and had used it to get to the trail but hadn't found the one right by us.  We tried to find it from the bottom but had no luck. Sunday after church Jared asked if he could play in the shade at the bottom of the hill.  I was feeling pretty agreeable and went down with him and Lydia.  Once I got to the bottom I noticed a "trail head. "  The access point! I quickly went up the hill into the house and told Mark about it.  We decided a little afternoon hike was in order.  It is a much better trail then the one we previously used.  I still can't believe that these woods are my backyard! It was a quick easy hike and we all had a great time.

 I took this from our patio. It is like 20 feet from our door. 

We found the river. Mark was talking to a teacher at orientation today and she said that she and her husband and her 5 year old daughter floated down the river that weekend.  Not all of it but a little portion. It sounds super fun so we will have to give it a try. 

2.  Day of school! This was without students.  Students start on the 20th which is way later then Colorado. In Mark's old school district their first day with students was Friday. Mark started his orientation on Monday since he is a new teacher.  The first few days are lots of trainings and getting username/passwords all set up and doing paperwork. This year I got him a box of IBC Root Beer and told him I hoped his school year was "So-Da-lightful". I hope he loves his new school. One of the teachers he sat by actually moved here from Colorado.  She lived in Denver and her fiancee lived in Colorado Springs so that was random. She and another teacher both live in Lake Monticello, which is an area Mark and I actually checked out when we came in April and thought about living in.  It takes them about 35 - 40 minutes to get to school and that is longer than Mark wants to drive and longer than I want him to drive but they do have affordable housing... we will see.  

New School: His classroom is not set up yet. But here is his hallway and door. 

 Room 304

He is on the third floor.  His school was actually built in 1951.  When we walked up the first time one of the things I noticed was a sign that marked the area as a fallout shelter (!).  It used to be a high school and has a very impressive auditorium.  The school has a great arts program especially their choirs. It makes me happy that he can work somewhere were music and art are still taught and funded.  We hope it will be a great year!.

3. Bee sting.  Jared was outside playing Monday while Mark was grilling.  I was in the kitchen working on something when I suddenly heard Jared start sobbing.  He had been playing down in the grass and got stung.  Mark brought him in and we worked to calm him down.  It was sort of nerve wracking since we did not know if he was allergic.  Thankfully his arm didn't swell too much and there were no other symptoms.  It looks fine today and Jared said it wasn't hurting at all. Now we know he is not allergic. He really handled it pretty well overall. 

 4. Splash Park. We drove over to a splash park here in town.  We have gone swimming quite a few times but hadn't made it to one of the 3 splash parks here. (I love that there are 3 to choose from) I still don't feel that confident driving around town outside our neighborhood.  This park (Forest Lake) is on a side of town I have never been before. I made a few wrong turns mostly on the way back (because I forgot to look up the directions in reverse and had to figure it out while driving which makes me nervous) but we did it. And for the first time Jared was just as adventurous as Lydia.  Lydia has always been willing to play in all the features and get soaking wet where as Jared typically does not. He especially does not like getting his head wet. They had a great time today. It is a really nice little splash park attached to a great playground. There is also a nice walking path. We met Megan and her three month old little boy there. Megan is in our ward and moved in about 2 weeks before us.  It was nice to visit with her. One of my goals for living here was to really get out there and be involved with people. To get to know them and initiate get together.  To be more of a typical stay at home Mom with play dates and everything.  (I have one set up for tomorrow and Thursday too!!)  Jared and Lydia are old enough now that I have more flexibility (or am more willing) with our time. It has been really nice. It was a really nice outing. 

5. Kitchenaid standing mixer.  Every now and then Mark and I talk about getting a Kitchenaid.  Then we look at the price and decide we do not need one. The other day Mark saw one on Groupon for a pretty great deal and we decided to go for it. Tonight he made up a batch of cookies and loved it. A long time ago I used to make rolls from scratch.  Since we live in a much more humid climate now I think I might start again as it seems they would rise easily here.  I have made pizza dough since we have been here and it has turned out way better then in Colorado.  I am sure this standing mixer will come in handy.  Too bad we don't have any counter space to set it on. It's pretty heavy duty. It will be a workout just to get it down form our pantry. Jared and Lydia enjoyed the spoils from this purchase tonight. 

A perfect last day of summer vacation

We had such a fun day today. It was a great way to end our "Summer".  We are going to try to slow down for August and let Mark have lots of time to adjust to his new school/classes and establish a nice daily routine.  This city has so many amazing free or cheap activities that we will still be plenty busy but not like this past week.  In the last 6 days we have done so much! UVA races, camping, County Fair, and today: peach picking, Children's Discovery Museum and Movie night at the Stadium.

When we found out Mark got the job here I began looking up fun things to do in Charlottesville. I started with the beginning of August because that is when I thought we would be arriving here.  The first thing I saw was Peach Ice Cream Days at Chiles Peach Orchard. They are a pick your own orchard 30 minutes away from our house. The Lions Club was having a fundraiser there today and were selling homemade peach ice-cream using Chiles peaches.  We eagerly drove out and picked a basketful of peaches and then enjoyed deliciously fresh ice cream. It was so good.  We are lucky we had Mark with us as he could reach the peaches up really high.  Jared and Lydia loved being lifted up by him and grabbing the peach.  It was such a nice setting and great to teach Jared and Lydia about how people work to get their food.   Last September we tried to pick apples in Colorado with no luck because the trees were all frozen. Crazy April snows.  It was so fun to go out and walk around.  I grew up next to peach orchards and have always thought California peaches were the best but now I am not so sure. We went right as it opened so it wasn't crowded and had a really great time. We will be sure to go back and pick some apples next month.

We came home for lunch and naps and then headed out to the Virginia Discovery Museum.  Some neighbor's of ours (Richard and Portia from Northern  California no less they had heard of Yuba City and Turlock!) had invited us to go with them.  They have been super friendly and have a 17 month old little boy.  The museum is a small children's museum downtown.  What is really cool about it is that the library here has a deal with the museum where you can actually check out a "pass" to the museum that is good for 4 people.  You just request it like you would a book.  It was so nice to be able to go check out the facility for free.  I had read about it online and wasn't sure how much fun it would be but it was awesome! They had way more exhibits then I thought they would and Jared and Lydia loved it. I think we will get a membership.  It was really nice to get to visit with Richard and Portia more too. They are so friendly.  Here is just a sampling of the fun we had.

 These tubes had really strong wind going through them and you could place pom-poms and scarfs and watch them fly through.

 Lydia loves stuffed animals and this little bear habitat had bears of all sizes. 

Whenever we walk by stuffed animals in a store she grabs them to kiss and cuddle them. 

 How does your garden grow? Very well for Jared. 

The back room is called "Little C'Ville" and is set up like a miniature Charlottesville. It has a doctor's office (UVA medical facility), firehouse, post office, a very authentic Panera bread (It was incredible I could have played there for hours!!), a theatre, an orchard and a Farmers Market.  It was so awesome. We didn't even know there was a back room until Portia mentioned it.  We could have easily spent half the day in there.  I think I am a bit too obsessive compulsive with needing things to be in their place. I wanted so badly to go organize all the fruit at the Farmers Market and especially straighten out the Panera bread.  If I ever worked here I would have to avoid that room until closing time when I could go in and sort it all. And I would thoroughly enjoy doing it. But I refrained and had fun watching the kids play. 

 This is the upstairs portion of the firehouse.  I love how they added this little kitchen just like a real firehouse.  There is a cute (and obnoxious) bell you can ring too. Jared was having a great time up there.  I walked over to see what Lydia was up too and suddenly Jared came running up to me. I could see he was about to lose it to I took him to a bench where no one was so he could calm down and tell me what happened.  I was so proud of him.  We tell Jared all the time it is fine to be sad or mad and even cry but we don't need to throw a huge fit.  We took some deep breaths and I asked him if was ready to tell me what happened. After a few more breaths he told me that a girl had hurt his feelings.  I asked him how and he he said she told him to stop ringing the bell because it was giving her a headache.  I am writing this because I was so proud of him for being able to calm himself down and talk to me about what happened.  He is growing up. He really is. What is so fascinating and great about kids his age is that they can forgive so easily.  When we left the museum the girl was walking up the road near us. She ran over to a pole by a building and starting running around it.  Jared ran over and did it with her and they had a great time.  It amazes me how quickly they can move on.

 Panera Bread: seriously so authentic!! I loved it!!!

Outside the museum they have an old antique carousel that you push like a merry go round so we took a few spins on it.  It was such a nice outing.

We got home and Jared and Lydia enjoyed some quiet time (their choice) reading books while Mark and I got dinner ready.  I love seeing them do this.

Mark and I were still undecided about whether or not we would head over to UVA's Football stadium to watch the movie.  We knew it would be really fun but we had already done so much.  We sat down to dinner and I looked at Mark and said "lets just do it!" So we told Jared and Lydia about it and asked if they wanted to stay home or go see the movie (just in case) and they were really excited to go watch the movie.  They were playing "Frozen" after all. We packed our lawn chairs, picnic blanket and some snacks, grabbed sweaters and were out the door.  Mark and I went to a few "movies in the park" events in Greeley back in the day but watching a movie in a football stadium on their replay screen was even cooler.  Especially watching Lydia dance and sing around to all the songs. I love that they offered this free community event.  I am so happy we live in a college town. I am sure there are annoyances but I am so excited about the fun things they do. We had a great time!

It was such a fun day. Jared and Lydia got along so nicely with each other and listened so well.  It was so different than the night at the fair.  It gives me hope that we will feel settled and find our groove here together. I have to keep reminding myself that their summer was so transient and we have only been here 2 weeks. I will need to work things back in slowly but we will get there. I can't wait to start our fun learning time activities and simplify things a bit.  And I have over 1000 pictures to show them of all the fun things we did.  Life is so good!

Albemarle County Fair and routine please!

We went to the County fair last night. It was held at Ash Lawn-Highland, just the home of President Monroe. The grounds were beautiful and the fair very quaint.  Just like an old fashioned fair which was actually their theme for this year only they called it "Old Time County Fair." We checked out the agriculture exhibits and crafts and spent a good amount of time around livestock. There was a bluegrass band performing which was fun to listen to and a little tractor train that the kids rode. We went with the Farnsworth's and Jared was so happy to run around with their little boys.

 Produce winners.

 Jared was impressed by the huge squash on the back row. 

 Looks like a good discussion. 

 This signifies the end of the good times.  Sadly it was pretty early on in the outing. 

Fruit snack break. 

We had planned on buying some cotton candy but they weren't selling any. 

 There were a few rides but we didn't feel like paying for them and Jared and Lydia did not think that was very cool. They really had a hard time last night. It was rather unfortunate. As we were leaving we walked through the last row of booths and there happened to be a few representatives for some local politicians.  They had balloons at their booth.  Any guesses on what happened? Jared walked ahead to look at some tractors and Lydia went over and asked very nicely (so says Mark I was with Jared) for a balloon. They gave her one and Jared flipped out!  He was so upset he didn't get one too. It was a super sad way to end an evening out. We tired to calm Jared down but had little success.  I was beyond done by then and so happy to get in the car.  I have sadly been really impatient with Jared and Lydia the last 2 weeks or so and hope I can fix it soon.  As we were walking to the car Lydia pulled on the string (it was tied around her wrist) and her ballon floated away. I was not sad to see it go.

We have had a super fun summer but I am so looking forward to establishing a new routine like the one we had in Colorado before everything got thrown out the window. We have been so busy and done so much but I can't wait to have things back to normal. To plan simple activities and learning times for Jared and Lydia and be at home more. To make it our home now.  Mark goes back to school next week but just for orientation. I think that will help us all settle in, hopefully before this comes on in full force and even more fun begins.

It's going to be amazing. I just know it.