We just got done with Thanksgiving, and it was pretty nice. We had a really good meal, although I was a bit upset we didn’t have more salad…(not really, I hate that stuff). Whitney got all dressed up and spent about a half hour on her hair and put a flower in it, and Mason changed into sweat pants about five minutes before we ate.
The next day we went to a movie, and today we decided to go to Luray Zoo. It is pretty small but there are a ton of animals. The snake area is pretty cool, and is filled with poisonous snakes. The best part is that they are crawling all over the place, (in their cages) and not just curled up in balls like at the regular zoo.
The rest of the animals were neat as well, since you could get right up close to them. The tiger growled a couple times and we got the see a few of the animals get fed. Pictures after the break. (more…)
Its that time of year for the school awards, and both Mason and Whitney did all right. They each got a couple of awards, for “Outstanding Effort/Honor Roll” and for perfect attendance. I wondered if Whitney was working on the perfect attendance award because she hasn’t wanted to miss much school lately, and, in fact, when given the choice to miss school for some family trips she hasn’t wanted to…so it paid off.
One of the things we did while Nancy was out here for Mason’s birthday was go to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home. We also went out on Skyline Drive and had a good time there. We had a little BBQ in a secluded parking area, and in one of the pictures you can see the kids trying to knock apples out of an apple tree.
The weather was great for both days, and we were able to spend a lot of time walking around Monticello. It is on the top of a mountain and there is a lot of neat things to see there. Pictures after the break. (more…)
We went to Great Falls, which is a park run by the National Park Service, a while ago and had a pretty good time. There are some fun trails and neat rocks to climb on. Plus the waterfalls are pretty. We went back last weekend and enjoyed what may be our last nice weekend of the year.
There were a ton of people there. The park is only 15 miles or so from DC, so it can get crowded. In fact, it took almost an entire hour to drive the last two miles to the gate. They say that seven people die per year there due to drowning in the rapids. After seeing all the people there, and how close they get to the edge of cliffs I’m actually surprised it isn’t a higher number.
We had fun though and were safe. Both kids had a good time running and playing on the trails and climbing the rocks and cliffs. Pictures after the break. (more…)
We had a pretty good Halloween. I reprised my role as Buckethead and once again scared little kids with my appearance. For the first time in recorded history, Mason did not go as a lion and instead went as the Grim Reaper. Whitney went as a princess, and they both looked very nice.
The weather was pretty mellow also, so we didn’t have to wear coats over our costumes, which was always one of my pet peeves growing up in Idaho. As far as the candy haul went, we’ve probably had better years. I don’t know if it was just that with Halloween on a Friday that a lot of people were at parties or what, but the street we went down had a lot of lights out.
