Bluestone State Park, West Virginia

Months ago we coordinated with Mark's childhood best friend Justin (Blank) to meet up in West Virginia.  We found an awesome cabin at Bluestone State Park and met up for the weekend.  They live in Ohio and West Virginia was almost halfway between Ohio and Virginia.  I had high hopes that there would be fall colors everywhere but sadly there was not.  It has been really hot here for so long and we are 10 inches below average for rain so instead of vibrant Fall colors we got dead trees.  There were occasional spots of color but overall it was green or dead. But hanging out with the Blanks more than made up for the lack of vibrant colors.  They are such good, kind, fun people.  Mark and Justin grew up in Turlock together for most of middle and high school and roomed together at BYU Idaho.  The 4 of us were able to hang out a little bit while we were at BYU Idaho and have sporadically met up over the years when we can. We have such a great time together.  Our kids enjoy each other even though they don't know each other that well and it so easy to hang out with Justin and Hannah. It was so nice to meet up and have a whole weekend together.  We all came away from it wanting to make it a yearly tradition.  Their kids are Sienna (13), Porter (10) and Mairyn (6).  Both Mairyn and Porter asked if we could meet up again soon, like next weekend.  So cute. Hannah and Justin both want to add another day if we can next year.  I think they are really busy at home and it was nice to be away from it all.  We are definitely up for meeting again and making it a yearly thing. 

We both got to the cabin around 7:30 -8:00 on Friday.  We lucked out and only had a 3 hour drive while their's was closer to 5. The cabin was really nice.  It had a large open floor plan with a well stocked kitchen, large dining area and living room.  On each end there was a bathroom and two bedrooms.  So we all had plenty private space. It was really nice.  There was a large back porch with a swing and rocking chairs, and that was my favorite spot of the cabin. We were in charge of breakfast and lunch (sandwich stuff) and they covered dinner.  Since it was conference weekend I made cinnamon rolls and we did end up watching part of one session together which was nice. Justin had also requested Orange pancakes and I was happy to make them.  He had them when he came out last spring for a conference at UVA and stopped by to visit us. They were a hit.  They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and we stopped at DQ for ice cream and ended up finding what has to be the DQ with the best view.  The town closest to the cabin is called Hinton and it is really run down and does not have a lot going on. We were so surprised when we walked into this huge seating area right next to the river.  It feels like you are sitting right over the river. It was so nice.  So that was a fun surprise. 

Cabin 26

We spent most of Saturday outside in the perfect Fall weather. I was so grateful that even if the colors were not there the Fall weather was.  Our first hike was in Bluestone Park and the second one was about 45 minutes away in Grand View.  It was so beautiful, definitely worth the drive.  Sadly before we even ate breakfast Porter got injured.  He and Jared were outside climbing a tree and one of the branches Porter was standing on snapped and he fell over 10 feet down to the ground.  He was really scratched up and one leg really hurt.  He tried icing it but could not put any pressure on it.  When Mark and Justin went out to look at the tree they could see that most of the branches were really short like they had broken off because of the dry weather.  Porter could not put weight on it all weekend and when they got back to Ohio they took him to the ER and he had fractured his tibula and fibula.  It was so sad.  I am so impressed with him.  He hardly complained and just hopped around and waited in the car while we played around. He even went out in one of our kayaks.  He will be on crutches and in a cast for the next 4 weeks.

Our first hike was a steep slippery downhill hike(dead leaves covered most of the trail).  We were lucky that Hannah stayed in the car with Porter and was able to meet us at the end point because none of us wanted to climb back up that hill.  We stayed by the river for awhile and played frisbee which Mark loved.  I found some sidewalk chalk and Lydia, Mairyn and Sienna made a hopscotch game that had 50 squares.  It was fun to see our kids playing together so well.  The second hike was really beautiful and all the kids did a great job.  Justin drove with Porter this time and met us about halfway through.  He noticed that the trail went right by the road so we were pleasantly surprised when we saw his truck waiting for us.  We had snacks and then carried on with our hike.  Once we finished the hike we went back to Bluestone and did some kayaking.  Sienna and Hannah went first and we had them get in the water at the upper boat ramp and then we drove down to meet them at the second boat ramp.  This lake is huge.  When they first put in there were huge waves because it was really windy.  Neither of them had kayaked much and I know Sienna was nervous but they ended up having a great time.  Jared jumped in a kayak next and took off.  We thought he was just going to stay close to where we were but he thought we wanted him to kayak back to where Hannah and Sienna started.  We did not.  I tried to call him back but he could not hear me over the wind.  Porter was paddling nearby so we called him in and Mark jumped in to go chase down Jared.  He could not reach him in time though so the Blanks took Lydia back to the cabin with them to start dinner and I drove our car back to the boat ramp to meet Jared and then Mark.  Even though we did not plan for Jared to go that far we were super impressed with his kayaking skills.  He was going against the wind and current and Mark could not catch up with him. He just plowed ahead.   This was only his second time using an adult kayak and he really liked it. 

Hike # 1 Riverview Hike

Lydia, Mairyn, Justin, and Porter

Both Jared and Lydia think Justin is the coolest adult in the world.  They love to play with him, talk to him, they just want to be around him.  He is really great at making them feel like he really cares and wants to be with them and know all about them.  All week Lydia could not stop talking about how excited she was to see Justin.   I love it.

Hike # 2 GrandView Rim Trail

Spencers and Blanks

Dairy Queen with a view

Hannah (back) and Sienna Kayaking.  It was a beautiful evening.

That night after dinner we drove back down to the boat ramp and star gazed.  I had downloaded an app that you hold up to the sky and it shows you what constellations were nearby which was really cool and helpful. Sienna and I wandered around the lot holding my phone up to the sky trying to identify constellations and Jared, Lydia, Porter laid in the truck bed and looked up.  Mark, Justin and Hannah stayed near the blanket with the little ones and after awhile I came back to lay down and look up and Mairyn came over and snuggled up to me and it was really cute. I'm really glad we went out to do that.

Sunday we packed up the cabin and went out for more kayaking. Mark felt very strongly that the more kayaking we did the better.  It's not awful to drive with them on the car but you do have to go a little slower and stop more to make sure they are tight so he wanted them to be enjoyed and they really were. He and Justin went out for awhile and I was really happy they could have some one on one time.  Jared went out with Sienna and they stayed out forever.  They went much farther then we thought they were going to and ended up staying near this one cove for a really long time.  They would not tell us all the details but they saw a catfish and apparently made up a long story about Bartholomew the catfish while they were out there.  They were all giggles when they finally got back.   I did not expect them to bond like that so it's fun that it happened. We apparently need to be very clear with Jared about distance with kayaking because he has a lot of confidence and it's unnerving to have them be far away and out of reach.  Once they got back Lydia and Porter went out and then Hannah and Porter took a turn.  Lydia had never used an adult kayak before and did a really good job.  After that we said goodbye and headed home.  We were able to listen to a few talks on the drive and made it home in time to watch the second Sunday session.

It was such a great weekend. I am so glad that the Blanks expressed interest in meeting up again. Sometimes I really like something and worry that others won't or that I care more about it then them so it was so nice to hear that they want to do it again too.  I think the Blanks are really wonderful and am so glad we all enjoyed ourselves.  Even poor Porter talked about how he wants to do it again and he basically broke his leg! He is a really tough kid.

Date night and Harry Potter in Staunton

Mark and I are far from weekly date night people.  We are probably closer to every 6 weeks which is not a great record but we are working on it.  Mark particularly wants to improve this.  This past Friday we went on one of our best dates ever.  Often when I am walking around UVA I see the Lime Electric scooters laying around and I have secretly wanted to try them out for months now.  So Friday night we did.  And it was awesome. 

We downloaded the app, checked for scooters on the map, found and loaded two into the Highlander, parked near my building and started riding.  It was so fun.  It made me feel cool and young and maybe even trendy.  It was fun whizzing around UVA (they go up to 14.8 mph) and chatting as we did.  There is something about being at a University that excites me.  We rode around for about 25 minutes and then stopped at ColdStone for ice cream. We had not been to ColdStone in years, like more than 8 years and it was delicious.  Such a fun date! I would totally do it again.

 You can just make out the chemical engineering sign. 

Saturday we went to soccer and Lydia had her best game yet.  It helped that she actually paid attention and did not let her fear of the ball keep her from playing.  She even scored a gaol which she was thrilled about.  Jared's team lost but he scored 4 of the 5 goals his team made so he had a pretty good game.  They lost 7:5 but thats how it goes sometimes. I was prepared (and relieved) for this to be his last season but we were talking to the league coordinator after his game and he said that Jared can play next year since he is still 10 when season starts.  He will turn 11 about halfway through.  So, one more year.  Which is fine!  I am happy for him to do something he really enjoys and can't really complain about how it is set up.  All the games/teams on the same field at 9:00?  It's about as good as I think it can get for schedules.


After soccer we drove over to Staunton for their Harry Potter festival.  They do a nice job and its fun to see so many people out who love Harry Potter but we all felt a little let down this year since we had just done the studio tour in July.  We enjoyed our Butterbeer, watched Jared play Quidditch, and Jared and Lydia got sorted into the houses they wanted. Lydia did not play in a Quidditch match like Jared, but on one end of the court they had rings set up so she made some shots there.  We stopped at a chocolate store to get some chocolate frogs as well.  I wanted one little bite and asked Lydia for one.  She looked at me, I leaned in to take a small nibble and she popped the rest of the frog in her mouth!  I was shocked. It was so unlike her.  I was pretty miffed. She may be sweet and wiling to share many things but not chocolate frogs apparently. 

Such a great Fall window display! 

Too bad it was 90+ degrees out.  Lydia may have lasted in her robes about 10 minutes.  

Jared held out for longer but even he had to take them off. 

To make it more challenging, sort of like you were flying, you had to balance 

on these circular boards which was a nice touch. 

Lydia got "snitch" eyes face painted on her. You can just barely see it.  I do not like face painting.  This is probably the 3rd time she has had it done in her life.  I liked how it was cute, simple and small.  For the record neither Lydia or Jared have really asked to have their faces painted so it has not just been me being mean.  

A few months ago Jared lost his Harry Potter wand. I feel like we had looked everywhere for it. I am by far the best at finding things in our house and was having no luck.  Jared felt that the last time he remembered seeing it was when we did campout day at the beginning of August.  So we wondered if maybe it was in the tent when Mark put it away. I set the tent out weeks ago for Mark to look at but of course nobody really wants to unroll a tent and then try to get it back in its box.  So a few days before the festival I busted out the tent and there it was!  I found the wand.  It was great.  Not so much for Mark who had to put the tent away but Jared was so happy to be reunited with his wand. I was really glad we found it in time for the festival.

Raleigh NC

Friday we picked Mark up from his school and headed down to Raleigh.  Its about 3.5 hours away and will now be our closest operating temple.  This past Saturday was the first day of the open house for the Raleigh temple so we spent Friday night in Raleigh and got to the temple around 8:45 Saturday morning.  We are glad we got there when we did as it still felt pretty nice out.  We had to wait in line outside for about 25 - 30 minutes (they did not have you go online and reserve a time slot) but it worked out fine. The tour was a little more "on your own" than previous open houses because of that.  There were people in the rooms to answer questions and talk about what happened in the room but you did not go with a tour guide.  We had a much better experience this time then in Oakland.  Looking back I know I just built that up too much in my mind, had too high of expectations.  Too many memories attached to that temple. (But I am still glad we went)

It was nice to check out a new temple and take Jared and Lydia through. As we were doing so I was reflecting back on my own "first temple experience" and how much I didn't know.  I really had very few ideas what to expect.  It was all a big "surprise".  By the time Jared and Lydia will be deciding to go through the temple they will have already been through quite a few.  They are at 3 now and have at the minimum Richmond and Washington DC to come. There is so much more information available now, its nice.  We enjoyed running into a few Charlottesville friends (we ended up at the same hotel as some 1st ward friends), exploring the temple grounds and checking out the reception in the cultural hall where they had samples of the resources they used inside the temple. It was a nice way to start the day. 

Jared has had fun getting to know the Hendrick's who moved into our ward this Summer.

We headed back to the hotel to change clothes and check out.  A mid morning snack of donuts was our next stop and then we headed to the Children's museum downtown. Jared and Lydia love this museum.  We spent a few hours there and met up with some friends there for part of the time.  I mostly stayed with Lydia in the museum so I have very few pictures of Jared.  I am not sure how much longer this or any children's museums will be at the top of their list of places they want to visit. It was good to go on a trip and just let it be what Jared and Lydia really hoped for.  Some of the things we do on bigger trips are probably not at the top of their lists so this was a good trip for them. It was interesting to see what held their interest this time as opposed to previous trips to this museum.  Lydia was all over the place.  She really explored all that the museum offered.

Museum Fun

Geography/map/travel lover

This is the money room and Lydia had a lot of fun in here.  Collecting the "money" and having it dumped on her and playing in the pizza and pet shop. 

It was amazing how easy this trip was. All we had to do was get in the car and go.  No backup plans needed.  No worries about luggage or security.  It was nice.  We still plan to fly as much as we can but it is good to appreciate what we have close by.   On our way out of town we stopped for Dames Chicken and Waffles which was delicious.  I am pretty happy with my version of chicken and waffles but Dames will always hold a special place in our family.  

On the way home we stopped in Danville so I could go to Hobby Lobby and we could all get a fun drink from Sonic for the drive home.  I can't say that I like their soft serve very much and I have never eaten their food but I do love their drink selections.  Jared and I got slushies.  He picked limeade and I got vanilla raspberry.  Mark and Lydia got ice cream.  For once I was the best at ordering.  Normally I always wish I had gotten what Mark ordered but not this time.  We stopped by Mark's school so he could pick up his car and made it home just before 9:00. 

Montpelier revisited

This Tuesday is Constitution day.  To celebrate we went out to James Madison's home Montpelier.  We attended 2 or 3 years ago and it was fun to go back. They have time period lawn games, music and abbreviated house tours going on all day.  Jared, Lydia and I have all been enjoying Hamilton for the first time this past month or so (were pretty obsessed) so it was fun to go somewhere that tied into that.  Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution because a lot of ideas in the Constitution  came from his Virginia Plan and it was at Montpellier that he organized and reviewed many of his notes to prepare. History is fun! Listening to Hamilton has reminded me of this.

This was a fun sign I had not seen before.  Its pretty fun how VA places these thematic Love signs all over the place.  This is a new favorite. 

Jared and Lydia did not remember much of Montpelier so it was good we went back.  We started with a house tour and then stopped in the exhibit about slavery.  It's very well done and is sort of bizarre to read statistics about how many early presidents owned/sold slaves.  This exhibit focus on how slavery impacted the economy and also about how families were separated which was pretty powerful.  It sparked some good discussions with Lydia and Jared which is good.  We ended with lawn games and Lydia and I enjoyed a nice walk around the walled garden.   

I would love a pantry like this!

The desk where he organized/wrote the Virginia Plan.  Great view!

New to us was the room set up as an Interactive room.  There were toys and copies of letters and clothes and this great period bed that Lydia and Jared loved. It is a nice addition. I don't have pictures of it but I love the dishes they set out in houses like this. 

After the house we stopped by an old train station just outside Montpellier. It is a good history lesson itself.  It is the actual train station restored with the segregated entrances and everything.  It's small but nicely done. I don't recall seeing an official building showing segregation before.  It was so odd to see it in real life.  To see what a reality it was.  And it took so long for VA to move past segregation.  VA was not quick to integrate.

It was used for the post office and telegraph station too and they had an old typewriter, telegraph machine and phone in there which both Jared and Lydia thought were really cool. Mark really wanted to stop there and at first I wasn't so keen but it was a good little stop. He has gone there with students before. I am glad we went and am so impressed by all the brave people who risked so much for the Civil Rights movement.

Rocket Round up

Jared's Cub Scout Pack boys of ages 8-11 activity was pretty fun last week.  The boys and some siblings made rockets out of 2 liter bottles and met at the church to launch them. There was a really good turnout which was fun.  Jared's rocket did pretty well.  There was a clear "best rocket" (not his) and it was crazy how high in the air it went.  One boys rocket got stuck in a tree and Jared happily climbed up the tree to retrieve it.   The rockets were filled with water and then launched and Lydia had a great time standing next to the launcher and getting all the water sprayed on her.  She was soaking wet and very happy.  It seemed like everyone had a fun time. 

Awhile back Mark and the primary presidency member over cub scouts met to decide what to do with the Cub Scout age boys.  There is a really nice couple called to plan/lead activities but they were not getting a lot of support from families (guilty) and lots of activities were cancelled.  So it was decided to assign families of Cub Scout age kids specific activities to be in charge of and then have the couple called be there to support them/help ahead of time.  Mark and I brainstormed activities and people to be in charge and then he called the families to ask if they would accept the assignment to organize the activity.  Everyone agreed and then all who could met after church Sunday a few weeks ago to finalize everything.  The program has just really floundered since the church announced it would no longer be using the Cub Scout program. I was never a true Scout supporter but even my minimal attempts were put aside once it was announced we were splitting ways.  I think the next few months will be fun.  We are in charge of caroling in December.  Being part of the planning group, all 2 of us, did put me in a good spot to pick what activity I wanted to be in charge of.  I hope everyone enjoys what is planned and shows up.  I am curious to learn more about the new program. I feel like the church has really been stringing us along.  Mark got pamphlets and some thin booklets in the mail this week to prepare for the church wide 5th Sunday meeting about the program this month but they were still really vague.  Since I will be in nursery I will need to watch the broadcast about it at home some time.