I was all ready to post about the debacle of a trip…how I forgot the blanket and the memory card for the camera…how I had to make a $100 trip to Wal-Mart the night that we got to the campground and all the improvisations (is that a word?) that we made throughout the weekend…like using unfolded hotdog buns for hamburger buns, etc…but I can’t get past the kids growing up…

This is the third year that we’ve visited this campground for the 4th of July…so that means that the first trip, Matthew was 7, Sam was 4 and Regan 3….

Wel…Matthew now just takes off on his bike…helping out where he can and just playing hard (and helping when he can…) this year, Matt and Tim went to the dirt track races…after they left the girls took off to go on (another) hay ride…and there I sat…just me and the dogs…and I began to think just all that had happened the 2 days that we were there…

the training wheels had come off both Regan and Sam’s bikes…they aren’t hanging around bugging us anymore…they are making their own friends and we never see them…they are going down the slide at the pool without me waiting at the bottom to catch them…Samara without floaties…she’s swimming underwater without holding her nose…and then Matthew…well, like I said…we didn’t see him all weekend…

so I could tell you all the stuff that went wrong, but right now…with the kids just leaving 2 hours ago with my parents, I won’t…I’ll just tell you that I feel like I blinked once and overnight, they grew up…

i wonder how many more summers we can get away with camping trips that EVERYONE wants to go on? My guess is not many…but that’s okay too…we have the memories of these (Which are currently being developed at WalGreen’s one hour photo lab…can I tell you how long it’s been since I’ve taken ACTAUL pictures on film and had to get them developed???????)

Until next time…

Heather

PS…everyone had some sort of BIG news this weekend…while the girls ditched their training wheels, and Matthew ditched the girls, I started a campfire all by myself and Tim won the 50/50 at the dirt track races….$924….

The weather was beautiful today (in the 60s — rare for southwest Virginia in January!) and so we decided to get together with another Great Dane owner. I shot a note out to the group and we had 5 families show up! 7 Great Danes, 2 other dogs, and 6 kids, and one baby! It was GREAT!

Here’s a video of Tim crawling with Harley…

and here is Tim and Spartacus…

Here’s Delta

and you can see the rest of the pictures by clicking here to go to our photo gallery…

Until next time…

Heather

We lucked out….Samara was up at midnight, but luckily Santa had already come and gone…

Matthew and I were up at 5am…so we watched some TV (well he watched TV, I went back to sleep) until 7…Matthew made us coffee, and as usual, we had to wake Sam up! Here’s a snapshot of the living room this morning!

Those aren’t all the presents…Sam’s and Regan’s aren’t in that picture! Where did all that stuff come from????? (more…)

A friend gave us free passes to the zoo, but they had to be used by the end of the year, so we bundled up and headed to the top of the mountain and went to see the animals.

There were 2 benefits to going in December…the first being we had the zoo to ourselves…the second being that we were able to see the animals that like the cold weather in action…like the red pandas (my favorite) and the snow leopards!

Here is a picture of the kids…

You can see more pictures in the gallery….

Until next time…

Heather

Last Saturday we took the kids for a drive on the Parkway to look at the leaves. They were beautiful and Tim had his father’s old 35 mm camera that he wanted to try out…(it’s a GREAT camera…nifty lenses and everything!)

So here are a few (ok, alot of pics that we took)…between Tim and I, we got quite a few…I think Tim stopped at every over look. We took a tour of Bent Mountain and then headed to the Peaks of Otter for a picnic lunch…and then rolled down the hill, yes, even me…

I love this time of year!

And here are Tim’s pictures taken with the “real” camera…lol

Until next time…

Heather

Took the kids to the annual fall carnival at the school and the book fair today. We had lots of fun! We went to the Haunted House and had lunch and bid on some items at the silent auction before heading over to the book fair. Here are a few pics I snapped.

Sam getting her nails painted for the fair price of one ticket!

Regan getting her nails painted…pink AND purple!

The Clown Toss

Regan at the clown toss

The kids decorating cookies…what a MESS!

Feasting on their creations!

Matthew at the Flower Pot Toss

Sam and I picked up curlers the other day at the drug store and did her hair for picture day. She loved it so the girls both wanted to do it tonight…

Talk about funny looking…

And then they said I had to take a picture of the back…

Of course, Matthew has to be in the middle of it all, but he’s happy because he has his new mechanical hand he got today at the book fair!

And Tim just plays pool….

Until next time…

Heather

I’m a little late posting most of these pictures…we’ve had SOOOO much going on! We took the kids to the Summer Blast at Greenhill Park and it was HOT! We didn’t stay too terribly long although they would’ve stayed longer had I let them. I just couldn’t stand the HEAT!

Until next time…

Heather

I took the latter part of this week off and attempted to make some day trips to various places, however my attempts were, well, they didn’t always work out. 

For example, the original plan was to pick Regan up Wednesday morning and then head over to Greensboro to the water park there.  Well, Sam came home from Nana’s with a mortorcycle burn on her leg and I was advised to keep her out of the water for a while.  So nix that plan.  So we took our time driving back to the Noke and stopped at McDonald’s and at a playground on the way and it was nice. 

I had decided after dinner that we would go to the playground and well, it started raining as we were clearing the dinner dishes…

Yesterday, we were going to go to the zoo.  We had our picnic lunch packed and we got in the car and were on our way when it started to pour.  We headed to KMart to kill some time and it was still raining when we came out.  So I told the kids that we would get up first thing to head to the zoo this morning before the rain started. 

I got them up, dressed, Sam’s dressing changed and we were at the zoo by 10:30.  It was just a dreary day and you knew it was going to rain at any moment.  But I snapped a few pictures before it did!

The kissing llama wasn’t there and this is about as friendly as this one would get!

I have the same expression on my face when I attempt to read a map!

The kids donating to the habitat!

This guy just looked so comfy!

That’s Roanoke from the Zoo…normally it’s pretty…well that still is pretty, but on a clear day, it’s breath taking!

There are normally tons of these little guys out and about, but today just these two…and they weren’t out very long.  Matthew says my flash scared them away.

The kids waiting for the Zoo Choo

A very nice woman came over and offered to take a picture of all of us!

One of my new favorites of Matthew and Samara…

They’re being silly…

Samara and Regan…

Miss Regan posing like a pro!

So we didn’t get to do all that we had planned to this week…we still had a great time!  I’ve enjoyed the time off and the time with the kids!  I finished Harry Potter and savored it.  After all, I’ve got another 2 years to wait for a new book, and have started on a new series by Janet Evanovich.  The first book was One for the Money and I had that finished in a day!  My nurse recommended them to me and they are a mystery with a humorous twist and I’m just loving them!  The library was out of Two For the Dough, so I went and bought it at Barnes and Noble the other night!  They are just WONDERFUL.  If I keep this pace though, I'’ll have all 11 of them done in 2 weeks!

Until next time…

 

Or is it? I always remember the camping trips I went on as a child and how much I really liked them. As soon as we got there, Dad would tell us to get lost and we pretty much stayed lost unless it was time to eat.

I was in search of boys and my brother just rode his bike around and found other little friends.

I’ve figured out that as an adult there’s alot more work involved in these trips and getting lost as soon as you get there really isn’t an option! However, depsite the work involved they are rather nice.

We went to the Wytheville KOA and were in the same site that we were in last year. What are the odds of that happening? Tim got there first and by the time the kids and I got there (there was an accident on the way down so the hour trip turned into two!) he had the tent and screen porch up. I had the bikes with me, so we got there, took the bikes off and told the kids to get lost while Tim and I finished setting up.

The first “I’m bored” came about 30 minutes later. How can these children possibly be bored? We were literally right across from the playground, game room, store and there are a gazillion other little heathens running around! And they have their bikes! We put a stop to that real quick, but the bottom line is that “I’m bored” translates into “I want to go to the pool and nothing else!”

Tim got our campsite set up really nice…

Like I said, it’s the exact same site we were at last year!

Friday night, we didn’t do much, the kids rode their bikes, and Tim and I relaxed a bit. Tim didn’t even get a fire going…but it was a long day…

Saturday morning the people next to us were up early…and so was Rhoda, so I got up with Rhoda and Matthew and putted around. Tim got a new camp stove for his birthday last week so I made coffee on that with our new coffee pot that we bought last camping trip.

The girls got up and since Tim was still sleeping, I took the kids down to play putt putt…thank goodness I didn’t play, I would never have been able to concentrate.

We got back and Tim was up so I took the kids to the pool. They were so excited. The slide wasn’t open yet, and it really wasn’t that hot, so we didn’t stay that long. We came back and had some lunch and then headed back to the pool to leave Tim to his horseshoe tournament.

This time the kids got on the big waterslide. Matthew just goes. He doesn’t care…face first, feet first, sitting up, on his back, on his belly…and he loves to make a splash. Most of the time I had to catch the girls. They did brave going down without their water wings as long as I promised to catch them. They would go down without being caught if they had their wings on. I attempted to teach them to doggie paddle, but that didn’t go over real well. There’s always next time.

We went back to the site to watch Tim finish up his tournament…

While watching Tim, the girls decided to pose for a few pictures…

What hams!

Tim won…he’s now the proud owner of a tee-shirt that says “I’m a winner at the KOA Wytheville”…i confiscated it for a sleep shirt since I forgot Sam’s pajamas and I had to give her my shirt…

Tim took me to play putt putt for my annual butt whooping…I only lost by 2, but I lost…and then Tim discovered the quarter game, where you stick quarters in the machine and try to get more out…I finally left the game room…I was out of money…

Back to play…Tim read and eventually we had dinner and headed down to Kareoke…well Sam, Regan and I did. Somehow I got swindled into singing “Dancing Queen” with the girls. I’m not sure how…but there we were…and then all of a sudden I see Matthew in front of the stage screaming “Tim said it was you!”

So, since I sang a song with Samara, I had to sing one with Matthew…well we all got up there and sang “When the sun goes down…” Yes, I do believe we won’t be able to show our faces in Whytheville anymore…

The girls were tired, so I got them bathed and into bed, and Tim and Matthew guarded the fire and made s’mores.

Sunday I slept in a little…not much..the people next door were loud. The girls didn’t get up until almost 10…and then they were off playing.

Tim took them up to the pool for a bit…and I snapped a few pics of them…

I got ready for my volleyball tournament…and yes, now I have my own “I’m a winner at the Wytheville KOA” tee-shirt!

Tim comes back and says that he needs to find an ATM since his money mysteiously dissappeared…I start freaking out, only to learn that the money mysteriously dissappeared into the quarter machine! So he goes and comes back and gets Matthew to go go cart riding.

We had dinner and then putted around waiting for the fire works to start…we went on a hay ride…

And Sam tried her hand at horseshoes…

And Tim relaxed…

Then the boys got the fire going and the s’mores set up…

Once it was time for the fireworks we all went up to the bon fire and the girls entertained us…

And then the kids and I had fun taking pictures of ourselves…

Then the owner thought we were off our rockers and took a picture of all of us…

I snapped one of Tim and Regan…

Then the fireworks started…and Rhoda took off…so did Tim…not voluntarily though. Poor thing was scared to death, so Matthew, Samara, and I stayed for the show…not too bad…but poor Rhoda…scared the pee right out of her…all over the tent…it’s funny…we’ve used that tent twice and twice she’s gone to the bathroom in it…

Matthew reached his limit and he went to bed and the girls and I sat around the fire…

Off to bed and up this morning to pack up and head home…

Happy 4th…

Until next time…

Heather and the gang…

Mark (my old boss at Newschannel 10) and his family were in town this weekend and we met up for dinner with Mike (the former GM) and his wife and Carol and Bob (still at the station)…it was so nice to see everyone.

Of course, I took pictures!

Carol and Sam. I have a picture of Carol holding Sam in the hospital when she was born…just like this!

Regan, Sam, and Josh (I can’t believe he’s going to be 2!)

Josh shoveling his spaghetti in his mouth…

Josh opening his birthday present…

It was so nice to see everyone and catch up…

Until next time…

The James H. Drew Expo rolls into Roanoke the Tuesday after Memorial Day every year. You can bank on it. They set up in the Civic Center parking lot, draw tons of people, and some other creatures that I’m not sure how to describe…and take all your money.

This year was no different…

On Monday, I told the kids that if they could be good all week, that we would have a suprise…well they were good and so we all got to go to the Expo.

Here are a few pictures of our night…