Baking a Cake Together

Crash Test Dummy

Benji got a crash test kit from Aunt Barbara for Hanukkah and decided to spend some time with it this week.  It is surprisingly hard to make that little plastic guy "die":

Crabtree Falls Hike

It was beautiful again on Sunday, so we decided to try out another local hike. We opted to go after Sunday School this time, which meant that we did not head out until after 1. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the hike site was over an hour away, so by the time we got there, the sun was already moving down the horizon. We did the first mile of the 1.7 mile trail, which took about an hour going up and 30 minutes going down. We definitely hit most of the highlights - locals on the trail told us that the last  bit is not very scenic until you get to the view on the top.

Crabtree Falls in the tallest waterfall east of the Mississipi and it was as majestic as promised. It is made up of a lower, middle and upper falls.  We made it to the base of the upper falls, so got some really great views:

At the lower falls

 

The mountains in the "golden hour"

First peek at the upper falls

Near the middle falls

The kids rushed ahead on the way back down, which made for some nice birds-eye views

Back in the parking lot we snapped a few pictures of this historic wooden arch bridge while we waited for Kevin to get the car.

Everyone was hungry after all the exertion, so we stopped at Dr. Ho's Humble Pie for dinner before heading home to relax.

Camp Fair 2017

Annual event where the kids express enthusiasm for all of the summer camp options in Charlottesville and then sign up for none of them.  I think they go for the free Ben and Jerry's every year:

Chandler's Treat

He insisted on the pink one:

Girl Scouts at the Obervatory

They earned their "Night Owl" Badge at the McCormick Observatory on Friday:

Checking out the Spectroscopy display

Group photo outside the observatory

Marble Copter

As a prize for selling boy scout popcorn in the fall, Benji received a "marble copter" He's been begging to try it out, so we made some time early on Sunday to give it a go:

He had a hard time pulling hard enough to get a good flight, but the faces he made while trying were precious:

Humpback Rocks

It was 80 degrees here on Sunday, so we decided to skip Sunday School and head out for a hike at Humpback Rocks. The kids had never been and we thought they were ready for this strenuous climb:

On the trail up

Rest break

At the top

Someone offered to take a picture for us!

Looking out over the valley (this is the other direction than the last picture)

Abby with the valley in view

After the hike, we stopped for lunch at Greenwood Gourmet and then headed home. Benji asked to stop at one of the scenic overlooks and we were happy to oblige:

Valentine's Day 2017

The kids begged for a Valentine's Day breakfast, but since Kevin and Abby leave the house at 7am, we compromised on breakfast-for-dinner:

Opening a gift from Gammy

He really wanted to try a strawberry in his sparkling cider after seeing Kevin put a strawberry in his champagne

Between dinner and dessert, Abby and Benji snuck off for a surprise. They arrived back with Benji wearing a tie. Abby sweetly tied it for him after watching a tutorial on Google:

Over dessert, we exchanged homemade cards:

Abby and I tried our hand at making a cookie cake

my cards to the family

Abby's card to Kevin

We made a joint card for Gammy

Kevin's card from Benji

Kevin's card to Benji included a secret cypher

When Benji opened Abby's card, he kept exclaiming delightedly "It's an acrostic! Abby made me an acrostic!"

With dessert done, Benji decided it was time to loosed his tie: