Getting Ready...

I love Halloween. Here are a few things we have done to get ready.

Ghosts in the entry.  (Thanks to Andrea and Ru for the stuff)

Spooky tree from Pottery Barn for $5!!!  (Thanks to Ru's good eyes.)

Creepy piano for my recital.

Flowers from my sweetheart.

Fredericksburg Battlefield

We visited a new battlefield with Ru. It was humbling to learn about the awful battles there in Fredericksburg and the surrounding areas during the Civil War. Those men seem incredibly brave to me! It is a beautiful area now, and it was neat to see part of the original sunken wall that was there so long ago. The cemetery wall still shows signs of being hit by canonballs and bullets.










After the battlefield we walked around Historic Fredericksburg and had lunch at a fun place called Sammy T's that had very interesting food. Ru had to buy us some fudge to eat on the way home, mmmmmm.

Annual Cox Farm Visit

There are going to be a LOT of pictures in this post. Cox Farm was perfect this year. It was a gorgeous day, not too crowded, and the boys loved it--maybe as much as Nana! Their tractor ride is so fun. Favorite parts are when the star wars music plays and the aliens come down to the tractor,(They always surprise at least one of my boys and this year it was Nate) and the barn with the lights and music.
The best slide this year was the volcano slide, well, maybe the huge dinosaur slide, well, maybe the castle slides, maybe the tunnel slide. The slides are fun enough that I am glad to have Cameron as an excuse to go down myself. Actually, he did not want help and he did great on his own. The boys seemed to slide extra fast this year.

At the end of the day we each got to pick a pumpkin and now they can't wait to carve them.  We are so glad that Nana could come out to go with us.  Cox Farm wouldn't be the same without her now. 

The view from the top of the Dino slide.  We tried to have races down but all lanes are not created equal on that slide.

My worried goat feeders.  The goats do get aggressive so I don't blame them for being cautious.  They bit Cams food out of his hands in about 2 seconds.  I thought it was so cute of Nate to hold his hand and take care of him.

The goat whisperer.

Cam did the cutest scootchy (Is that a word?) thing with his legs on this slide.

Sam kept twisting and coming out almost backwards.

Nate and Spence would slide and then stand right up.  They were cracking us up.

So cute how they were giving fives to each other on the way down.

This was the entrance to a new section called Cornundrum. It was a corn maze with fun things along the way like a twirling vortex in the dark. Cam was completely freaked out by this gorilla. We had to ask him to walk away so we could get in. I love that the boys thought it was real.

See what a beautiful day!!!

Some of the animals we saw.  The always have a batch? of new piglets.  You can't believe how tiny they are compared to their huge mama.  Piggies are so cute, I guess I still kinda like them.

Another Memorial

After the pentagon memorial, we walked up the hill to the Air Force Memorial. I loved it and I have to go back with my real camera. I think our point and shoot did pretty well though. These are the last pictures it took, because Matt got swamped in his canoe on his last scout camp-out with the camera in his pocket and it hasn't recovered. So sad. Anyway, it was a beautiful view of the city and we'll definitely go back.

Fun with Ray and Ru Too

I know that all this happened a couple of weekends ago, but I am trying to catch up. On the Monday after Spence was baptized Matt had the day off, so we took our parents to the Marine Museum. That really is a well-done museum. I still haven't seen all of the exhibits because there is so much to read and watch and listen to. My new favorite part is the playground in the woods. It was a perfect place to have a picnic and enjoy the nice weather. And to let Cam run around too.

At least someone in the family watches the news. Ray had to tell me that the Pentagon memorial had opened. You would think I would know about that-how embarrassing. We decided to go and see it. I circled the parking lot a few time before I figured out where to park, but then I thought it was a nice memorial. Every person who died in the crash has a bench. If their bench faces the pentagon then they were passengers on the plane. If their bench faces away from the pentagon then they were working in the pentagon. The benches were aligned by birth year which made it a graphic representation. I guess they still have some kinks to work out, because there was a crew there working and apparently they have to clean it non-stop.

I felt glad to be reminded of 9/11 and what happened. It is so easy to get comfortable and forget how many people have sacrificed for our freedoms and how many are still sacrificing. I don't fully understand it, but I am so thankful for all those who serve.

Fun with Mom

When Mom came to visit we were able to go out and do a few fun things thanks to Matt. He was sick one day so my mom and I went to Occoquan and went shopping and out to lunch. On Saturday we were able to sneak away and go to the Eastern Market. We didn't have a lot of time there, but we each came away with something. I got a cute necklace made from an old international stamp and she picked out one of an old Shakespeare stamp. We also found some cute things in Occoquan and the outlet mall:)
I think one of her favorite things was exploring the woods with the boys. They came down the hill with this amazing collection of MUSHROOMS. I'm sure some of them must be poisonous, but they sure are beautiful. We're glad you came!