First Family Hike

One of the most popular questions since we moved to Roanoke has been, "So, do you like to hike?"  After a month and half, we decided to take the family out and give it a try.

We took the kids (and we had our friend, Michael in town, too) out to Roaring Run Falls in Eagle Rock, VA.

The hike was about 1.5 miles long, and it went long a creek most of the way out to the falls.  It was a beautiful day and a great, shorter hike for our family.

The kids loved hearing and seeing the water.  

We didn't bring any swimming shoes or clothes with us this time, but if we hike this way again, we'll take time to get in the water and slide down a few of the rocks.

Happy Birthday Laine!

Laine started her birthday morning with our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast.

The kids each wanted a picture with her before they headed off to VBS.

Laine looks a little groggy here, but she really was excited about her birthday!

After dinner we celebrated with some cookie cake - Laine's pick for this year.

I love this picture of Laine - she's so beautiful!

Happy Birthday, girlie!  Enjoy being 10!!

DC trip - Day 3

The last day of our trip we just had the morning in DC, since we drove back to Roanoke that afternoon. 

We got to the city a little earlier than we realized, so we first went to the Smithsonian Castle while we waited for the other museums to open.  

Our next stop was the Museum of Natural History.  This was a really cool museum that I hadn't spent much time in before.  Laine loves animals, mummies, and stones, so we visited those exhibits.  They were really well done!

Next we took the Metro up to the White House.  We went to the Visitor's Center and watched a nice 20 minute movie about the White House, as well as looked at a bunch of paraphernalia from the White House over the years.

Then we walked to the south side of the White House and got a few pictures.  We couldn't get as close as normal because of extra security restrictions.

That night we drove back home, and my mom headed out the next morning.  It was a fun time together!

DC trip - Day 2

The second day of our trip to DC we visited all the memorials and monuments.

We walked a lot, but we also used the Circulator buses around town, so that saved our feet some and gave us a moment of air conditioning.  Would definitely recommend using those buses to anyone visiting DC!

The monuments really are amazing, and the city is just beautiful!

Laine loves American history and has learned quite a bit through school and books she's read, so she was excited to see all the monuments.

It was a beautiful day outside - couldn't have asked for nicer weather, even with a little breeze.

This was my first time seeing the MLK, Jr. memorial - it was really neat, with tons of quotes written on the walls surrounding this one piece.

And the FDR memorial is well done too.

This is the spot where MLK, Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" Speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

My mom and Laine enjoyed their time together - especially since my mom had fun stories of growing up in DC.

The Korean war memorial

The WWII memorial

We ended the day by going to the American History Museum.  Amongst other things, Laine wanted to see the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, which we recently let the kids watch.

It was a full, fun day in Washington, D.C.!

DC Trip - Day 1

My mom, Laine, and I went to Washington D.C. last week for her birthday.  We had a great time!

The first day we checked into the hotel and headed toward the zoo.  Laine loved riding the Metro around town.

We went to visit the pandas first.  They were all inside, staying out of the heat, so they were easy to spot.

We also found the bird house and walked beside a few peacocks.

And Laine loved the giant jellyfish made out of recycled bottles and other plastic recovered from the ocean.

Batting practice

We were given a Hit-Away a while ago, but just recently Cole started using it.

We found a great tree to hook it up to, and Cole's been out back regularly hitting.

Looking through these pictures, it amazes me how intense his face is - he is really going after the ball!

Looking forward to watching Cole play in a real game eventually - once he finally gets old enough to join a team!

Western Virginia Museum of Transportation

The kids and I checked out the local transportation museum last week.

We found this cute little switcher train with Mead's name on it!

They climbed in and explored various engines.

And we also climbed aboard the cabin of a private jet - really cool!