Morgan's 2nd birthday

Abbie and Morgan with the Cozy Coupe.

Morgan, the train conductor!

Sophie and Monroe

Matt R., Martha, Abbie, Paula, Matt, Monroe, Sophie and Morgan.

Our group with Nana.

Look at my tire-swingin' girl!

Choo-choo!  Abbie's driving the train now!

Morgan and Abbie playing in his new sandbox.

Uncle Phil

This past weekend, we drove up to Kentucky to celebrate Morgan's 2nd birthday.  Matt and Martha had his birthday celebration at their farm.  It was very hot and humid but it was somewhat pleasant that morning because of all of their shade trees.  They had a train theme for Morgan's party.  Matt R. made the cute little wooden train car to go over their wagon that you saw above so that kids could get a ride.  Several family members were able to come to the party as well as a few of their friends.  Morgan liked playing with my cousin, Keri's son, Carter, who is about the same age as Morgan.  The kids loved riding on the cars and riding toys and playing in the sandbox.  We had BBQ and hot dogs for lunch and Martha had made a train cake with the help of Morgan's Aunt Beth.  When Morgan opened his presents he almost immediately wanted to take them to his new sandbox.  That was pretty cute!!  He got a lot of toy trucks and car stuff.  

Family Fun

Our girls made it to the top!

We were able to see this pretty waterfall!

Matt climbed over some rocks and up into the mouth of this little cave.    

Paw-paw and Nana with the grandkids.

Paula, Matt, Martha, Matt R., Morgan, Monroe, Phil, Sophie and Abbie

Uncle Phil and his nieces and nephews.

me with sweet Monroe

Abbie and Monroe (who loved listening to Sophie playing the violin).  =)


We've had a fairly busy August.  The girls have been in school since August 8.  About a week and a half ago, on a Saturday, our family drove out to the Narrows of the Harpeth Park to see what kind of trails they had, etc.  We knew that it was going to be a fairly warm day so we went in the morning.  There were a lot of people out there canoeing but we walked on a couple of little trails.  The first trail was short but very steep but we all made it and enjoyed the view from the top.  Then, we went on another trail that you took you down to a waterfall.  Matt and the girls enjoyed climbing around the little pond on the rocks.  Thankfully, no one fell in the water because we didn't bring extra clothes!  Matt climbed up into the cave but we told the girls not to try it.

Later that day, we went over to Nana and Paw-paw's house for an early dinner.  It had been a long time since we had gotten all of my family together because Phil had been out of the country doing mission work for a lot of the summer.  As well as my more immediate family, Uncle Jim, Aunt Linda, Amy, Chris K, and Annie from Nana's side were able to come for dinner.  Uncle Mike, Aunt Shannon and Sierra were able to come from Paw-paw's side of the family.  It was nice to see everybody.  We celebrated all of the August and September birthdays including Matt V, Phil, Matt R. and Morgan.  Sophie played a few songs on her violin for some of the family and it's amazing how attentively Monroe watches her (he just turned 6 months old).   My girls are crazy about their little cousins!  They love helping take care of them.  =)

Back to School 2014

Sophie and Abbie on their first day of school.

Abbie and Mrs. Hess at Teacher Meet 'n' Greet

Abbie's excited about her 1st day of first grade!

Sophie with Mrs. Blad, her new teacher.

Mama and her girls

Overall, the girls were really excited about going back to school.  Their first day was a half day on Friday, August 8.  We found out who their teachers were on that Wednesday afternoon before.  Each of the girls had at least one friend from Girl Scouts in their class so we were happy to know someone.  We met each of their teachers on Thursday night before school started.  Abbie was so excited that she got in Mrs. Hess' class.  We've heard great things about her!  Sophie's teacher, Mrs Blad, is a new teacher but we've heard she's really nice.  Her team teacher, Mrs. Wells, has been teaching for a very long time.  The girls have only been in school for 2 1/2 days now but overall things seem to be going well!  It's exciting for everyone to have a fresh start.

Chincoteague

Abbie at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel scenic overlook.

 We set out for Chincoteague for a beach and pony visit.  From Richmond, we traveled through three underwater tunnels as we drove to Virginia's Eastern Shore.

 Our hotel has a Chincoteague pony that you can visit.   Here is Abbie and Sophie with Lightning.

The Assateague lighthouse was built in the 1860s.

 We climbed to the top of the light house.

 View from the top.

The girls completed the Junior Ranger program at Toms Cove.

 Here is the family, except for Paula.  She took the picture.

 Toms Cove has a great beach and a nice visitor center.

 The ponies grazing in marshland.

After we spent a few days with Matt's family at their home in Richmond, VA, we drove over to Chincoteague Island, VA which is on the eastern shore of Virginia.  We often visit Virginia Beach while we are visiting in the summer but we decided to try something different this year.  We drove about 3 hours or so to get to Chincoteague.  We had heard that it was really neat to see the wild ponies.  The girls were so glad to get just a little beach time.  There are only about 4000 people who live on the island but once a year, they have the Pony Penning there which is a big deal.  It's at the end of July.  We were there about a week before that took place.  The local people told us that about 50,000 people come to the island each year to see the Pony Penning.  Local firemen and other guys ride around on Assateague Island (just across from Chincoteague and herd up all of the wild horses.  They put them in a corral for a few days and then they have them swim across the channel.  After they do this, they auction off the wild ponies that have been born.  However, each year, several of the ponies that are auctioned off are donated back to the wild so that they can maintain a wild herd of horses on the island.

The weather was wonderful while we were there!  It was not really that warm at all.  We were even a little chilly.  Matt, Paula and the girls took a boat tour one morning around the island but ironically enough, we couldn't see the wild ponies very well while we were in the tour.  We actually got some nice views of them just driving around Assateague Island.  We also enjoyed visiting the lighthouse with Aunt Leia.  Our legs were definitely sore for a couple of days after walking up all of the stairs in the lighthouse!  We enjoyed seeing some new things and spending time with family.

More from Richmond

 On Saturday, July 20, we went to downtown Richmond.  The weather was awesome for being outside.  We bought tickets for a canal boat tour, and we walked around for a bit before our tour.

Sophie and Abbie in Shockoe Bottom

 Captain Cotton was the tour guide for the canal cruise.  He was awesome because of his passion for history.  The cruise route is probably only 2 miles long with an enthusiastic story teller as tour guide.  Captain Cotton threw in some corny jokes that reminded me of a typical ride on the Jungle Cruise at Disney World.

At night, we went to a minor league baseball game in Richmond.  It was 80s night, so the Ghostbusters were there for photo ops.  Matt wore his Walley World shirt which was quite appropriate for the 80s theme.  We all enjoyed 80s prices at the snack bar: $1 sodas and $1 popcorn.

Richmond Visit; Henricus

 We went to visit Matt's parents in the Richmond, VA, area this summer.

 We flew to Washington DC, and rented a car to drive to Richmond on Thursday, July 17.   The plane was only half full, and we had the whole back half to ourselves.

On Friday, we visited Henricus Historical Park.  Henricus was the second permanent English settlement in North America; Jamestown was the first.  The park features a reproduction of the village from 1611, and it is an attraction similar to Jamestown settlement, but smaller in size.  We thought the kids would enjoy a lower-key history experience than visiting Jamestown Settlement or Colonial Williamsburg.

 Everyone tried some of the herbs and spices growing in the garden.  Abbie tries some spearmint in this picture.

 Abbie loved to help clean the house.

 Abbie loves goats.

We visited a reproduction of Rev. Alexander Whitaker's house in Henricus.  Pocahontas was abducted by English settlers and was converted to Christianity under Whitaker's direction probably at Henricus. Pocahontas had grown up in the area, and her tribe traded with the English settlers at Henricus and Jamestown.

 Abbie tried on some armor.

Sophie visited a reproduction of an Indian village at the park.  It was interesting to us that Pocahantas was not actually a princess.  Pocahantas' father, Chief Powhatan, was the chief of the Powhatan confederacy. However, the royal secession ran through women.  Powhatan's oldest sister's oldest son was the next in line for the chiefdom.

All in all, we had a great day.  The weather was nice, and Henricus Park had just enough fun things to do for Abbie and Sophie.