Folding Cranes

Benji has wanted to master this skill for a while.  I showed him how to do it again last week and he has been practicing. He was super excited to show me the very first crane he folded without any help at all:

Apple Picking - Henley's

We wanted to try out a new apple orchard this year (we love Carter's Mountain, but it is always so crowded on weekends), so we headed out to Henley's Orchard in Crozet. This is a lovely family-owned orchard which is much lower key. We loved the ambiance, but their apple season was so clearly over that the apples were literally dropping off the branches around us. We picked a few sad over-the-hill apples, but will probably hit Carter's Mountain later this fall to do some better picking:

Game Night

We had our friends the Rothmans over for a game night on Saturday. The kids amused themselves, and when we finished our game, we found them like this (all playing Minecraft together):

Cereal Spirit Day

I think this is Abby's favorite spirit day of the year. They exchange favorite cereals with their buddies, decorating them with encouraging messages. Abby's buddy, Amelia Nachbar, hit it out of the park with a fun field hockey-playing Toucan Sam and a personal note on the back of the box:

CHS Field Hockey 2019

This was Abby's first non-scrimmage game of the season, and she scored a goal in the first few minutes (which we missed because we were held up in traffic). It was super hot in the bleachers at Fluvanna High School, but the light was pretty and I took a few pictures:

PrideFest 2019

Boy Scout Hike at Ragged Mountain Reservoir

On Saturday, Kevin and Benji joined his troop for a 7 mile hike around the Ragged Mountain reservoir. Along the way, they found some wildlife and other fun things, and they even spotted a bald eagle!:

Labor Day Weekend 2019 (Lamy-Peterson Visit)

Our annual Labor Day tradition is to have the Lamy-Peterson clan to Charlottesville for a weekend of relaxing and gaming. This year was no exception, but the kids were extra creative in keeping themselves busy:

Benji and Sophia did a lot of minecraft competitions. They love this spot behind the spinning wheel

New spot

All the kids put on a play for us, complete with lighting and special effects provided by Benji

Cast bow

Charlottesville Women's 4 Miler 2019

Abby was disappointed that I did not register us last year, so this year I made sure we were in the race. She ran with her friend Elisabeth and I walked with my friend Molly. She had a PR of 46 minutes. Molly and I took our time and just chatted and walked, making the race far more enjoyable, but we finished with a slow time of 1:08:

With Molly

Abby, Elisabeth and Lucy (Lucy runs track and ran far ahead of them, finishing in 32 minutes)

Mothers and daughters (with the Scharfs)

Abby and Elisabeth at the start line

Joyous girls after the race

Together again

Princess Spirit

It's Field Hockey season, and that means spirit days! First spirit of the year was "Princess":

Rocky Top Climbing Gym

This was an August bucket list item. We had wanted to all go as a family, but Abby got super busy with school work and field hockey and Kevin decided he'd rather not (because heights), so Benji and I climbed and Kevin watched from the safety of the floor:

Nature Photography

Benji thrilled me when one day after school he asked it I would give him a photography lesson. He grabbed his camera and off we went to learn some photography basics around the neighborhood:

Benji really enjoyed trying to get a good shot here

This picture was for me :)

Visit from Chris White

Chris stopped by on his annual end-of-summer trip to his parents in South Carolina. We got to try out my new birthday game and had a good time catching up on all the news:

Saved by the 90s

We've been trying to have a date night each month. This seemed like the perfect opportunity (and we had a ton of fun):

Hiking Hawksbill Summit

The last weekend in August, the temperatures finally dropped and we had a beautiful weekend with highs in the upper 70s. We decided to take advantage and head out to Shenandoah for a hike. We decided on Hawksbill because it is the highest point in Shenandoah, with 360 degree views. It was also only a 2.4 mile hike, which seemed manageable for Abby, who had a lot of homework:

View from the top

We chose this spot near the top for a picnic lunch

A stranger offered (out of the blue) to take some shots of the whole family

The layers of blue hills, as seen through the fog

We love how sweet Abby is to Benji

Happy 44th Birthday, Mommy

We had lasagna and cake on the actual day:

On the Sunday following, the kids gave me their present, which was an awesome escape room they had designed:

Benji, explaining the set-up

And the timer, which he was very proud of

Written instructions from Abby

Fun puzzle which involved reading music and knowing sign language to get a code for one of the locks

One of 4 locked boxes

Puzzle to be solved using a UV light

The right ingredient had a black light message pointing to the key

The theming of the escape room was great

The final puzzle, to get the final combo (they made it hard!)

Phew - saved the cake!

After we were done, the kids showed us their planning sheet -- it was really something!: