Last Morning in WV and a Visit to Lexington

Monday morning, we knew our trip had come to end. We had breakfast, packed everything up, and gave the house a cleaning. Despite the 10 of us invading the space, it was like we had never been there. The kids were all sad to see it come to an end. I was thankful for the great time we had. It could not have gone any better. Everyone got along perfectly and enjoyed the outdoor activities our weekend in the mountains offered.

When I asked people their favorite part of the trip, Jack said making s'mores, Anna said walking along the rocks of the Cranberry River, Luke said throwing rocks, Kara said the waterfall hike, Thomas said swimming in the river, and for me it was the relaxing moments of playing games on the lawn with our friends. If we go back, I want to do everything all over again!

We left the house just before 10 and drove straight to Lexington, VA. It was on the way home and I didn't want to pass through without stopping to say hello to our old stomping grounds. Thomas and I graduated from W&L in 2004. We spent the night in 2010 on our drive to Maryland and I have been itching to go back ever since. The kids were happy to humor us. We stopped for lunch at Dairy Queen and then headed to Lee Chapel. We did the Chapel tour and then went to the museum. I enjoyed seeing General Lee's office, which has been preserved just as he left it at the time of his death in 1870. We learned some things I either didn't know, or had forgotten. For example, when the North came through during the Civil War, they burned VMI and some of Washington College (it wasn't named Washington and Lee until after Lee's death). They didn't burn the entire university and it is rumored that they didn't want to destroy the statute of General Washington that looks down on the University. It was fun to revisit and remind ourselves of the cool history of the school. 

The only picture we took in the beautiful Lee Chapel, right as we sat down in General Lee's family pew, they called us for our tour.

The Colonnade of the undergraduate campus looked exactly the same. We walked from Lee Chapel across my favorite footbridge in the world to the Law School. The outside looked the same, but there were some major changes inside, mainly to the library. Since school is out for the summer, there weren't many students around and we were able to take the kids into the classrooms. We showed them where Thomas and I had our first small section together and told them about some of our history with the school. They were very patient listeners.

Seeing the colonnade is what made Anna decide she wants to be a future General.

On my favorite bridge, built in 1927.

Kara took this one of Thomas and me

There were other significant changes, the University has built beautiful student housing behind the law school and a new student center that houses an indoor pool. After seeing all it had to offer, Anna is now committed to go there for her undergraduate years, Jack and Kara said they want to attend the law school just like we did. Of course, it is the only college campus they have toured. Luke just looked for rocks to throw ;) 

We had so many great memories. I was feeling super excited and positive and just enjoying being a tour guide to the kids as we walked the campus. We showed them the student apartments and the field where Thomas hit about a million home runs during Dean's Cup. Then, as we got to the doors of Lewis Hall, I had a bit of a sinking feeling. It brought back the memories of going to difficult classes and taking finals; those memories weren't the happy, bubbly ones that the rest of the campus elicited. Of course, they were the whole reason for being there and you can't get a law degree without going through some misery. Overall, it was an amazing experience. I am not sure I will encourage our kids to be lawyers, but if they choose that career path, I would be thrilled to have them at W&L!

Taken just before the sinking feeling reminded me that it wasn't all flag football and scenic hikes.

Unfortunately, we were a bit worn out from our West Virginia trip, so we didn't do as much as I had planned. I really wanted to walk the Woods Creek trail and show the kids the first place we lived as a married couple (Eleanor's mountain basement). But, we settled for our time in Lee Chapel, the walk across campus and the drive around town. Speaking of which, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there were also some major changes at VMI. All the buildings have been painted and it no longer looks like an old insane asylum (what I legitimately thought it was the first time I saw it). They have also added at least one large building. On our next visit, I hope we can go to the Marshall Museum and spend a bit of time at VMI as well. So much I want to do!

The rest of the drive home was uneventful and despite the amazing weekend, we were all happy to sleep in our own beds.

Postnote: So, I just looked up W&L law tuition--$47,165!!! When we were there, it was $20,000, with inflation, that is the equivalent of today's $26,000, so that added 20k is a huge increase! My kids better hope for full tuition like their smart dad had (or at least 75% like their almost as smart mom). Undergrad is $49,0000! We better take the kids on a tour of the University of Maryland soon...

West Virginia, Days 2 & 3

The first night in a new place is always rough, so everyone was up early on Saturday morning. We had breakfast together, packed a picnic lunch and headed out to hike some waterfalls. It was amazing! The hike took us past three waterfalls. I can't remember how big the largest one was, but I do remember that we had to walk down (and, then up of course) 380 stairs. The kids loved walking in the streams and Luke probably threw about 100 rocks in the water. It was seriously all he wanted to do. He was annoyed when we left each area and just wanted to get to the next place where he could throw. To his credit, he walked most of the way on his own and was in a great mood.

Anna was always willing to humor me and pose for a picture.

Luke wasn't the only one who liked throwing rocks.

The biggest of the waterfalls in the background.

Luke climbed every one of those stairs (and many, many more)

In fact, all of the kids were great. They enjoyed being outside, got along well, and didn't complain. As is our custom, we promised them ice cream if they could do the hike without complaint, so I am sure that helped.

We had our picnic lunch and then headed back to town for ice cream. There isn't much to the town and the floods last year have made things even worse, however, there was a cute little place that had amazing ice cream. I had banana split flavored and it definitely ranked among the best ice cream I've ever had.

We got "home" and played lots of fun lawn games while the kids just ran around. They did not miss technology at all. Luke occasionally asked for his Kindle (which he had played in the car during the drive up), but the others never even mentioned t.v or Kindles. They just played outside from morning until night.

Trevor grilled hamburgers for dinner and I believe we had the kids in bed a bit earlier, but it was still close to 10. It was another nice day. I was exhausted and went to bed right after the kids.

Everyone slept a bit later the next day. We had a relaxed morning with more outdoor games. We played a kickball game that got a little heated thanks to a few people being poor sports (all of whom had the last name Wilson, one of whom may or may not be writing this blog...). It was still fun. Kayce and I played several rounds of bocce ball, which I had never played before, but really enjoyed. At one point, Trevor got out his guitar and we sang Wagon Wheel and Country Roads. I felt like I was living in an old storybook, it was all so picture perfect!

"War" was a weekend favorite.

Checkers was a close second.

After the littlest ones napped (or in Luke's case, attempted to nap), we went swimming in the Cranberry River. The only rivers I have swum in have been murky and mildly unpleasant. Not this one! The water was astonishingly clear. There was a slight current that let the kids "slide" down the tiny hills and a rock that you could jump from. Jack, Anna, Thomas, Kayce and Trevor all jumped. I didn't want to, but I kind of wish I had. We climbed around the rocks (which were really slippery!) and had a great time. It was very beautiful.

Hanging out in the shallow area

Once again, Luke was happiest when we allowed him to just throw rocks.

This was another of my favorites. I love the stairstep legs and the beautiful backdrop.

We made campfires for dinner, roasted more s'smores, and let the kids finish off the sparklers. We put the kids in bed around 9:30 and the adults stayed up chatting for a while after that. It was the perfect ending to another fabulous day!

The days up in the mountains were long. This one was probably taken around 8:30. It didn't get really dark until 10 and the sun was up around 5:30.

West Virginia Vacation, Day 1

Our good friends, Kayce and Trevor, have access to a family cabin in West Virginia. When the weather is nice, they go up fairly regularly to take advantage of the mountain air and relaxing pace. A few months ago, Kayce asked if my family would be interested in joining them for a visit. We readily agreed and picked a date that happened to coincide with the last weekend of school. We made our packing and shopping lists and my family excitedly looked forward to the date.

The home is about 7 hours away, so we picked up the kids early from school on Friday. They didn't even mind missing out on last day fun--they were so anxious to get on the road. The drive went very smoothly, right up until the end, when our navigation stranded us in the middle of a mountain on a one-lane gravel/dirt road. Thanks to a slight cell signal and the ability to share locations, we were able to navigate our way to the home. The good thing about the detour/alternate path was that it took us right next to some giant windmills. We have seen giant windmills on top of mountains before, most recently on a drive to Pennsylvania, but on this drive we were literally right beneath them. They are as massive as they look!

Eventually, we made it to the cabin.  However, "cabin" is not the right word. Massive historic home would be more accurate. At one point, we sent Kara off to do a survey and count the bedrooms. She determined that there were enough beds to comfortably sleep 13, and that isn't counting the "new house" addition, which was built in the early 1900s and had another 4 bedrooms. The first part was built (they think) in the 1870s. It was filled with antiques and original artifacts. We loved talking to the relatives who stopped in to say hi to Kayce and Trevor and were able to fill us in on a bit of the history.

Thomas and I took a lower level bedroom and set Luke up with us. The rest of the kids camped together on air mattresses in one of the living rooms. We explored a bit and then roasted hot dogs for dinner. The house sits on a large property and we had fun walking around the meadows and looking animal tracks. When it got dark, we made s'mores and the kids ran around with sparklers. They didn't make it to bed until 10! Our vacation was off to a great start!

I LOVE this picture of Anna. She was humming to the snail, trying to entice him out of his shell. 

The girls were enjoying a peaceful walk when suddenly we were ambushed by these ruffians!

The girls loved finding walking sticks

Everyone enjoyed the sparklers

End of Another School Year

The kids wrapped up another successful school year. They all had outstanding teachers who made learning fun (or at least not unpleasant) and each one enjoyed going to school. Oddly enough, for Kara, it was often the specials that dictated how happy she was to go in the morning. She didn't like PE, I think because she had to wear sneakers).

They did great grades wise. Jack almost made it the whole year with straight A's, but on his last report card, he brought home a single B. It was in writing and unfortunately, they didn't do a lot of writing in the last quarter, so a few low grades had a huge effect on the overall grade. Anna had one B on each of her report cards, and it bounced between subjects. Second grade has a weird grading system, but Kara met or exceeded all benchmarks. All three are outstanding readers who are well-above grade level. So, academic wise, we were very pleased.

Behavior wise, they also had a good year. Jack had one minor incident early in the school year, but his teacher was really great about keeping him out of trouble. He sometimes gets frustrated with classmates who are too loud or slow or whatever rubs him the wrong way. His second grade teacher allowed him to separate himself from the group when he felt himself getting annoyed and his third grade teacher continued the practice. She was also great with positive reinforcement. He came home many days clipped to the top of the behavior chart and always felt so proud.

Kara only clipped down on her behavior chart once all year and that was by a sub who apparently didn't understand usual classroom practices. Kara was devastated! She didn't even want to go to school the next day. We had to write her regular teacher a note explaining what happened and her teacher kindly reassured her that she still thought Kara was wonderful and would excuse the clip down. Anna clipped down a couple of times, generally for talking out of turn, but overall, she was also excellent. We really could not have asked for a better group of teachers. I pray that the trend continues!

Now, here is what this post is all about: the last day photos, complete with comparison shots! The girls found the clothes they wore on the first day, but Jack has no interest in that ridiculousness :)

We didn't tell them how to hold their hands, but Kara and Anna did similar poses naturally.

A week (or two) in Pictures

Jack and Anna had their final violin concert. The concert was good enough, but overall I was disappointed that Jack and Anna showed very little initiative when it came to practicing at home.

We went to the park a couple of times to practice baseball. Luke insists on being in the thick of things. Jack is wrapping up his first season of kid-pitch. He's made good progress and we are glad he enjoys it so much.

Girls aren't the only ones who can have cute matching clothes.

Kara had her final soccer game Saturday. She spent 3/4 quarters as goalie. She does a good job and enjoys soccer, but thinks she might want to try something different in the fall.

We had an eventful Memorial Day weekend. We (of course) checked out a battlefield--Chancellorsville. And, also managed to go to a baseball game. We went to see the Nationals "A" league team. We had lots of fun, watched the entire game and even stayed for fireworks.

The kids had field day, fortunately, scheduled on the only non-rainy day that week. The ground was muddy, but they had so much fun!

Luke doesn't mind the rain, he likes his "brella" and rain boots.

This picture makes me laugh. The girls were playing Guardians of the Galaxy (which they haven't seen). Kara was Rocket the raccoon and Anna was Groot.

Kara being awarded her medal and joining the "100 Book Club" at Hollywood. It wasn't just any 100 books, she had to read chapter books and lots of nonfiction and other special requirements. 

Anna officially enrolling in the STEM academy. I'm not thrilled to be having my kids at two different schools next year, but I am hopeful she will enjoy the curriculum and extra opportunities.

Anna getting her face painted during the third grade picnic. We had a great time!

Follow That Rabbit!

Anna, Jack and Kara recently performed in the school play, "Follow That Rabbit!" (Alice in Wonderland). The auditions were held back in December and the casting made shortly thereafter. As a second grader, Kara was only eligible for the chorus type roles of either a card soldier or a flower. She thought the card soldier sounded like more fun and happily took on the part of the 3 of Hearts.

As third-graders, Jack and Anna had the entire play open to them. Shortly after they auditioned, the director e-mailed me to see if they would be willing to play Tweedledee and Tweedledum. She liked the idea of having twins in the role and thought they would be perfect. Jack hadn't sung at his audition and the role involved a song, so she wanted to make sure he'd be willing to sing and that they were both willing to work together. They were excited about the idea, although there was some fighting about who had to be Tweedledum.  Jack lost.

Like most of Alice and Wonderland, their part was a lot of nonsensical nonsense. They had a very long song (4:30) with speaking parts before and after the song. In total, it was about a 7-minute performance. It was a difficult role and it took a lot of practice. Essentially, the song involves telling Alice the story of the Curious Oysters as the Walrus (Jack) and the Carpenter (Anna), so it was almost like a part within a part. The Walrus and Carpenter lure some oysters out of their oyster bed with the promise of adventure and then the Walrus eats them all and the Carpenter gets mad. The moral being that curiosity can lead to trouble (and, the oysters should have listened to their mother!).

Rehearsals at school started in January. Initially, they all had practice once a week, and then the frequency increased for Jack and Anna's group. About a month before the play, we started really working on it at home. The song has a lot of instrumental sections and the cues for them to sing weren't always obvious. Plus, they had to figure out what to do during those instrumental moments. In the movie, there is a cartoon interlude showing all the action of the walrus, carpenter and oysters. But, they had to find a way to communicate it to the audience. I'm not going to lie--it was a mess in the beginning. I was worried. But, like everything else, lots of practice turned the tide. By the day of the show, they were awesome!!!

Meanwhile, Kara had perfected the soldier's march and song and was ready to go. I also had a role in the play--on the scenery committee. It was a committee of three. We met once or twice a week and took projects home in the interim. The head of the committee (who happened to be Alice's mom) was a true artist. Honestly, she did about three times as much as I did. But, it was still a major time commitment on my part. It was also a commitment for Thomas, since it meant many nights he came home from work, got dinner ready, fed all four kids and then had to drag everyone out to Jack's baseball or Kara's soccer. My biggest project was probably making giant paper flowers. I did it at home and it probably took me about 5-6 hours to make 16 flowers (that includes watching many YouTube tutorials).

Some of my giant flowers. These decorated the flower garden risers.

A few more flowers

The benefit of being on the scenery committee was that we were the only parents allowed to come to the school day performance. We also had reserved front row seats for the evening show. That was pretty nice. In the morning show, Anna was very nervous and more reserved than she had been in practice. They were still really good and multiple teachers made a point of telling me how much they enjoyed their performance. But by that night they had worked all the jitters out and they were amazing! Jack is just a natural performer. He was never nervous and really enjoyed being on stage and hamming it up. Anna had to work a bit harder, but she was willing to put forth the effort and in the end, she was awesome! Most of the cast was fantastic (there were a couple who were impossible to hear, even in the front row), but in my biased opinion, Jack and Anna were among the best. If I were giving out the Tony, they would have been definite contenders!

Two stars are born!

Anna's favorite part was probably hitting Jack with her carpenter's hammer :)

Kara also performed perfectly. She sang and painted the roses red and did the card soldiers march with aplomb. We were very proud parents!

Card soldiers shouldn't smile!

Painting the roses red (those boxes were another scenery project).

Everyone woke up a bit sad Saturday morning, knowing it was over. After months and months of rehearsals, it was all over with 2 performances. Since they enjoyed it so much, I am hoping they will all continue with school plays.

Dutch Wonderland Trip, Day 2

We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites, which is right across the street from Dutch Wonderland. It is our hotel of choice when we visit, the price is good, the hotel is clean, there's an indoor pool and a nice breakfast. What more could one want?

Unfortunately, no one slept very well (except Luke, he was wiped out!). The first night in a new place is always tough. I woke at 5 and stayed in bed for a while trying to fall back asleep before deciding to go the exercise room. I set a goal to exercise 100 days in a row and it was day 56. so I didn't want to ruin my streak. Unfortunately, I have only lost like 5 pounds, but that's a whole other blog.

So, after my workout, I returned to the room to the kids just waking up. Everyone loves a hotel breakfast, so they were happy to get dressed and go to the lobby. We enjoyed our waffles, eggs, and muffins. The kids really wanted to go back to the pool and we had some time before the park opened, so Thomas and I were happy to oblige. The pool was surprisingly crowded, but we still had fun. The kids swam for about an hour. We staggered our return to the room, so we weren't all trying to get changed at once.

Everyone loves a breakfast buffet, even a small hotel one.

Hanging out poolside

We checked out, and went across the street to Dutch Wonderland. We walked in the park at exactly 10AM. Perfect timing!

We went through the park and rode all the rides again. Kara decided she was ready to try out the roller coasters. Back story time! When Kara was 3, she was fearless. She loved all rides, but I pushed her too far too fast on our first trip to Disney World. After that, she became much more timid on amusement park rides. However, during our trip to Universal Studios this year, she decided to try new, more exciting rides and was surprised to find she actually enjoyed them. However, she wasn't tall enough for their roller coasters, which were probably too intense anyway. So, today was her day. She started off on the little kid one, before she decided she was ready for the Kingdom Coaster, which is a good-sized wooden roller coaster. She loved it! She went on it twice in a row and would have gone on more, if we had let her. We have our 5th Wilson coaster aficionado! 

No good photo on the big coaster, but here she is rocking it in the front row of the smaller one!

Pressing our luck, we brought Luke onto the log flume. He did not like it. After we got off, he ran to the ride attendant to tell her, "that was scary, I did not like it!" So, it looks like we might have another long road ahead of us. All I want is a photo of the six of us on Splash Mountain, with everyone looking happy. Is that too much to ask???

Luke insisted I hold him tight throughout the whole ride

But, I digress. The park wasn't as crowded as the previous day, we did all the rides again, some of them multiple times. We walked through the dinosaur area and saw the diving show. We have always enjoyed the diving show and make sure to catch it on each visit. Thomas and I were ready to call it a day by 3. It is never as much fun to make the drive home and we had it looming in front of us. The kids were agreeable, so we rode a few more rides and then left the park. Luke napped for most of the drive and we made it home in time for everyone to shower and relax for a bit before bed (and, for me to write these blogs!).

We lost a drink taking this shadowy shot, so it's not for nothing, it gains a spot in the blog

It was another successful trip to Lancaster and our favorite little amusement park!