Saturday, November 25, 2017

Amity in the Tent

We had big plans for a night of camping over Thanksgiving break, but weather and some minor illnesses conspired against us. However, thanks to a suggestion from our good friend Peggy, we still managed to pitch a tent (in the basement). Amity tried to go to sleep in it, but in the end decided she'd be more comfy upstairs in her bed.

Come somewhat warmer weather we'll need to give this another go. We are absolute slackers in this area as Amity has never spent a night outdoors in a tent and she's going to be 8 soon. Unacceptable. Must fix!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Ice Cream Faces

I'm pretty sure this is self-explanatory. Kids love ice cream. In their bellies and all over their faces, too.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Izzie!

One of the many pluses of my time at STAB was getting plugged into an awesome set of colleagues who pretty much all own dogs. This makes finding a dog sitter a lot easier than it might otherwise be. One of our favorite households to dog sit swap with is the Colombos, who have the sweetest and most gigantic St. Bernard, Izzie. As can be seen here, Izzie is a good sport when subject to much kiddo love. Also pictured, Zelda (much smaller).

Friday, November 03, 2017

Carbon Leaf @ The Jeff

Carbon Leaf came to town. They were, as usual, awesome.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween


We've reached a new milestone here - the kiddos went with friends (also sisters) trick or treating, and Wes and I had a grown up evening?! While I was a bit sad to miss the halloween theatrics, it was nice for the kiddos to get to hang with their friends and perhaps we can reciprocate by inviting the friends to come with us next year. Which is a longer way to say, I didn't even take this picture! But here is Halloween 2k17 in all of its glory - Amity as scotch tape (dispenser) and Zara as a forest princess? nymph? dryad? something like that.

Sunday, September 03, 2017

Sophie Visits!

Sophie came down for a visit Labor Day weekend which was an awesome treat for all of us, seeing as we hadn't seen her in ages. Here's a few pics from our hike to... I think it was Turk Mountain. Somewhere in SNP not too far away. (Z not pictured because she was off galavanting with a friend.)

Z goes to DC

Zara was invited by her friend Isabel to spend the long weekend in DC. Here are a few pics!

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Sometimes they're sweet

I"m not entirely sure what possessed this children to get all snuggly with each other, but I'll tkae the adorableness where I can get it. Sister love? Love of posing for the camera? Maybe a little of both....

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Back to School: 2nd and 7th Grades

Apparently, we never went back to school in 2017. Well, I hopped into my time machine and fixed this gross oversight. Sorry about that, devoted fans!

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Intrepid travelers

Family selfie from a lovely vantage point at the Confederate Breastworks sign we have always seen but never stopped to visit, aka Fort Edward Johnson. Amity doesn't love twisty mountain passes, so we stopped to stretch our legs, restore our equilibrium and enjoy the .5 mile interpretive trail. And while it looks like this picture might have been taken on a sound stage with a wilderness backdrop, I assure you were there IRL.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

There and Back Again (Sleepaway Camp Edition)

Before and After shots of kiddos who spent 3 amazing weeks in the wilds of West Virginia at Camp Hidden Meadows.

Friday, July 14, 2017

Garden Haul

While I was away at work, Amity and Wes harvested this beautiful crop of cucumbers. One might posit there's no way we could possibly eat so many cucumbers (there were just as many to be picked a few days later) but one would be wrong. Our household is a bottomless pit of cucumber consumption! We're really enjoying our garden this summer - Amity's become a great helper. Looking forward to our first tomatoes and peppers nest week.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Dolphin Time!

Amity and swim team friends gearing up for our first home meet.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Silly Sister Shenanigans

Some silly shenanigans for Zara's last 11 year old day. I think they're being cats in the first one... and there ends my commentary.

Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Garden v2

Very long story short, the retaining wall between our house and the next door neighbors has been crumbling since we moved in nearly 11 years ago. The disrepair finally hit a critical level, and coupled with our privacy fence also literally falling to pieces, we've done a bit of renovation in the yard. As such, we now have some beautiful beds for gardening - the above scarlet rummer beans and Carmen peppers are new this year, but the blueberry has been a faithful produce for many years. It is actually a cluster of 4 bushes that need to be thinned and spread out, but that's work for later. For now, we enjoy watching our food grow, harvesting it, eating it and sharing it!

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Last Day of School

The traditional last day of school photo this year features only Amity, as Zara was on a plane to visit Marmee in Austin, and I didn't think to capture her actual last day. Ooops. That's ok. Imagine this photo contains a rising seventh grader as well, and know that Amity both had an amazingly magical first grade year is excited for second grade, too.

Monday, May 29, 2017

Split Banana

We spent the day at the Frontier Culture Museum, and then of course had to top it off with gelato at The Split Banana. Yum!

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Amity's 7th birthday (observed)

Amity turned 7, and then a few days later we had a party where the kiddos built crazy contraptions from recycling and then they decorated their own cupcakes. Finally, there was a glow stick dance party to burn off the sugar...

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Happy 7th Birthday, Amity!

Celebrating 7 years of having Amity in our lives, which is pretty awesome. Happy Birthday to this incredibly kind, sweet, clever, hilarious, caring, creative, assertive and wonderful kiddo! We love you!