Virginia vacation slide show

This is a slideshow of pictures from our vacation to Virginia with Matt's family in July.

My Big Girl

Abbie on her "new" used bike

In the last couple of weeks, Matt and I realized that Abbie needed a bigger bike. Recently, she would find a bike at Toys 'R' Us or Wal-Mart and start riding around the store on it. She had also started riding Sophie's bike (with no fear and looking pretty confident) recently. At first, I thought that we could wait until Christmas but she has really been into riding a bike lately. So, instead of buying a new bike the same size as Sophie's (since she's not quite ready for the next level), I suggested that we look at consignment sales or garage sales. Matt, being the good husband that he is, went out early last Saturday morning to a consignment sale and found this bike for Abbie. She is so proud of it! After all, it's purple (her favorite color) with princesses and a basket, it has a bell on the handle and a hand brake. At first, she had no fear but she has become more cautious after a couple of falls where she wanted to be independent but didn't know how to stop. We'd have to run to catch up with her and once I didn't quite catch her in time!

Bella Rustica

Sophie riding a horse

Abbie's turn on the horse

the girls pose for a picture

Abbie's pushing Sophie on the tire swing!

Last weekend, we were trying to get a couple of things done in the morning and then Sophie had some birthday parties to attend in the afternoon. However, we had a little time in the middle of the day so we headed just down the road to Bella Rustica, a fundraiser for Agape at a local farm. They were having a big barn sale and one of my friends was selling some of her children's clothes so we stopped by. Abbie was especially looking forward to riding a horse for the first time! Sophie was a little unsure (she's ridden horses before but it's been a while) but she decided to ride one. It was a beautiful day for the sale and the girls enjoyed riding on the tire swings. There was live music and people were selling all kinds of things at the sale. I didn't buy anything but I had a good time browsing around and running into some people I knew.

San Francisco-part 2

us with the cable car

Matt and Paula-Muir Woods

                                                               Chinatown

We had so many good pictures from our trip that it's hard to narrow it down.  I just thought I'd share a few more with you.  Matt took his new camera on the trip and we got some awesome shots!

San Francisco

                                                  Matt and Paula in front of Golden Gate Bridge

                                   Matt by the "Door to Nowhere"

                                           Matt and Paula on coast walking to Point Reyes

                                             us at the Point Reyes lighthouse

                                             I love this picture!

                        Matt splurged and rented a convertible that we cruised around in while we were in the area.

                                       Alamo Square-San Francisco

                                             Lombard Street

                                        Golden Gate Bridge

                                     Japanese tea garden

Last week, Matt and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.   We decided to take a big trip to celebrate.  We arranged babysitting for the kids with both sets of grandparents and spent almost a week away from our kids.  Matt and I headed to the San Francisco area and we also visited Sonoma Valley just north of there.  We had been to San Francisco several years ago but we decided to head back and visit some different things as well.  Matt's parents, Mimi and Paw-paw Tom stayed with the girls for the first        3 1 /2 days and Paula's parents, Nana and Paw-paw, kept the girls for the last 2 1/2 days.  I will say that after about 4 days I really missed the girls and was ready to come home but we had fun.

Matt and I arrived in San Francisco on a Wednesday afternoon, rented a car and saw a couple of sights around San Francisco before heading about an hour north to Sonoma (in the wine country).  We were a little disoriented by the time change but we got used to it (they are 2 hours behind us).  On Thursday and Friday, we toured the Benziger winery which was very interesting and took some beautiful drives all along the coast including a visit to Point Reyes one day and some sights around there (the lighthouse pictures you see above).  It was somewhat cool in San Francisco but in the outskirts of San Francisco, it was a little bit warmer.  We toured the area where Jack London lived (author of Call of the Wild) and saw the little town where Charles Schulz was from (Santa Rosa).  They have several statues of the Charlie Brown cartoon characters around their town so we enjoyed finding them.  =)  We had a somewhat relaxing vacation but we also did a good bit of walking some days.  On Friday night, we went back to San Francisco and stayed there for a few nights.  It was very foggy each day in San Francisco and they had really cool temperatures!   We stayed in the Fisherman's Wharf area.  We had fun riding the cable cars and streetcars around the town (we returned our car Saturday so that we didn't have to pay their astronomical prices to park in SF).  We were able to go back and do some of our favorite things including the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Lombard Street, Alamo Square and the Japanese tea garden.  However, we did not visit Alcatraz this time (we had taken the tour last time and they were all booked up).  I enjoyed seeing more of Chinatown this time too.

Boiling Springs Academy

This past Sunday, Matt took Sophie to visit the Boiling Springs Academy at Primm Park in Brentwood. The builiding is open for tours on certain Sunday afternoons. He thought Sophie would enjoy seeing what school used to be like. The academy opened in 1833, and it was a private school that cost $8 a term. Over the years it became a Williamson County public school and a community church. The building was used as a tobacco barn for most of the last century, but it has been restored in the past few years.

This might be the only outhouse in Brentwood. There are actually modern facilities at Primm Park a little bit further away from the school building.

The interior of the school has reproduction desks and decor from the 1840s.

Sophie enjoyed writing her name on the slate. She also wrote Abbie's name.

Oops! Sophie was acting up, so she had to wear a Dunce cap and sit in the corner. Matt and Sophie had a great time at Primm park.

Abbie enjoys the swing on our playground.

Sophie's 1st day of 1st grade

Sophie poses by our front door

Here's Mama and Sophie in front of our brand-new school! =)

Here's Sophie by her classroom door. She looks a little nervous!

Sophie and Abbie

A few days before Sophie's school started, they had a ribbon cutting ceremony at her new school, Clovercroft. It was kind of an Open House too so we were able to look around, meet Sophie's teacher, and find out where her classroom was. Overall, Sophie was excited about going back to school but a little nervous. She was very happy to find out that she was in Ms. Wade's classroom. Ms. Wade is a brand-new teacher but we've heard wonderful things about her from friends. Sophie knew a couple of the girls in her class from last year so that was nice and she knew a few other kids too. On the first day of school, we all went with Sophie (Mama, Daddy, and Abbie). We were able to get there a little early and take some pictures. That evening, my mom called and told me that she saw Sophie and I on the news. Apparently a news crew was there interviewing the principal and a couple of parents and Sophie and I walked in the background as they were talking to someone. I never got to see that segment on the news though. It's exciting to be at a brand-new school! I hope that Sophie has a wonderful year in the 1st grade.