Feels like Fall....

On Tuesday, October 18th, Katy and I took the three dogs and drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway to take in the gorgeous Fall scenery and to do some hiking. On our way we stopped at a little country store called Greenwood Grocery and got some lunch. We then drove to one of the many lookouts on the Parkway, parked our car, and ate lunch admiring the view before us. After lunch we took the dogs hiking to White Rock Falls. Once we reached the waterfall we let the dogs off the lease and spent over an hour relaxing and enjoying watching the dogs running around and swimming.

After our hike we decided to head down to Blue Mountain Brewery to sit outside and grab a beer since we were not quite ready for our day to be over. At first I was not thrilled with Katy's work schedule since on Mondays and Wednesdays she works 10 hour days, but after just a couple weeks  I grew to love the fact that she is able to get off early on Tuesday and Thursday because of days like these. 

On Wednesday it was Kylie and I hanging out together all day and so we headed down to Fort Defiance to visit Uncle Josh at his school. 

On Thursday Katy, Seth, Brittany, and I spent over six hours making 30 pints (1 bushel of apples) of homemade apple butter. It was a cool experience, but labor intensive since it involves a lot of stirring and initially you have to cut up all of the apples.

Friday was a wonderful day because when both Katy and I got home from work we did nothing. Seth went out with some friends in Staunton, Brittany had to work, and so Katy and I took Kylie and got some food, and then we came back home and laid in front of the tv and hit the sack early. It was great!



The next day we took Kylie to her first tailgate party. Seth and Brittany were going to the UVA football game, but since the weather was supposed to get into the upper 30s, we decided it would be smart for Katy and I to take Kylie with us down to Staunton to celebrate Sherry's birthday with all of Katy's family. It was a fun evening and Kylie was definitely the hit of the party!

On Sunday we met up with some friends at Blue Mountain Brewery for lunch and then headed back over the mountain to Staunton to go to Katy's old high school, Robert E. Lee, as she was getting inducted into their second Hall of Fame class as the youngest member. It was a great honor for Katy and well deserved. She did a great job giving her acceptance speech and what made it such a nice evening was the all of Katy's family (minus the kids) were there to celebrate. 

On Monday it was back to being festive as we sat around after work carving pumpkins, drinking cider, and watching football. Then Tuesday we went down to Fishersville and met up with Mom, Dad, Josh, and two of our favorite teachers from high school, Diana Beam and Sandy Kirtley, whom we still keep up with. It was wonderful to be able to spend the evening with them laughing and catching up with one another. 

Enjoying the weather!

Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather!

 Over the past two weeks we have continued to stay busy while still thoroughly enjoying our time back in Virginia close to friends and family. One of the best parts about being home during this time is how gorgeous Falls in Virginia can be. The weather has been wonderful and we have tried to be outside as much as possible.

On Thursday, October 6th we headed down to North Carolina for a long weekend. We stayed Thursday in Chapel Hill and went to one of our favorite spots, Top of the Hill, for dinner. Friday was my open house for graduate school at the School of Public Health and Nutrition. That evening we hung out with our good friends (and next door neighbors) Paul and Sam and their son, Henrik. On Saturday we went and watched UNC beat Louisville in football with Helen and Rawley, and then spent the rest of the evening with our close friend, Kathy. It was another quick trip to NC, but a lot of fun.

That Sunday we babysat Kylie since Seth and Brittany were both working. We took her  and the three dogs out to Chris Greene Lake to do some hiking. When we got back home we walked over to the church to say hello to Seth and his youth group as they were busy making homemade apple butter. Later that evening we went back over to the church for dinner with the youth and then helped Seth can two bushels worth of the apple butter that was made earlier in the day!

The next week I substitute taught on Monday and Tuesday and then babysat Wednesday and Thursday...seems like these things should be pretty easy gigs but they wear me out! On Tuesday when Katy and I got home from work we took off for Carter Mountain Orchards with Seth, Brittany, and Kylie. It was another gorgeous fall day and so was great to be outside. We bought a bushel of apples so that we could make our own batch of apple butter, and then we walked through the orchards enjoying the amazing views that Carter Mountain offers. Before we left we enjoyed some apple cider slushies, which sound weird but were actually very tasty, and then we also got some apple cider doughnuts...also delicious!

On Wednesday I took Kylie to visit her Aunt Katy at work and then on Thursday drove her to visit her grandparents at their work and then to see her mother at the emergency room where she works. 

Kylie with her Aunt Katy 

Kylie with her Nana at Wilson Memorial High School

Kylie with her Grandfather at Wilson Middle School

Kylie with her Mom at the E.R. at Augusta Health

On Thursday night we picked up Aunt Cyndi from the airport  who was visiting for a long weekend. Friday the rest of Mom's siblings drove down from New Jersey. Uncle Lyle and Aunt Judy arrived in time to join us for dinner while Uncle Kevin and Aunt Charity arrived late that night. Along with all of Mom's family Matt Tomado, a close friend of our's from high school and college, was in town and so came by for dinner and to catch up. 

On Saturday Katy and I drove to Bridgewater and watched our niece, Maddie, cheer at a local youth football game, and then we went and spent several hours visiting with people at the Bridgewater College homecoming game. That night we did a big family dinner at Mom and Dad's to complete our full day of visiting with various friends and family. 

Sunday was another full day. Katy, Seth, Brittany, and I left the house around 10 in the morning and drove to Baltimore to meet up with Josh, who had run in the Baltimore Marathon on Saturday. Once we met up with Josh we headed to M & T Bank Stadium where we watched the Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans. It was a blast being at the game, but honestly one of the most entertaining aspects was the fact that there were Texans fans sitting two rows in front of us...this caused some of the home team fans to act pretty obscenely, which we understand is just a part of the NFL culture. The Texans were good sports about it all and seemed to expect it. It was a late night getting home that night and Mom and Dad were troopers as they had babysat Kylie all day and were waiting up at the house for us when we got home at midnight!

The Great Wolf Lodge!

On Saturday, October 1st, we met up with Dave and Sherry in Charlottesville and took off for Williamsburg for the weekend. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the campus of William & Mary called Paul's Deli, and then headed for the Great Wolf Lodge to meet up with Sam, Ron, and their crews to enjoy the rest of our time romping around the indoor water park!

It did not take long until we were all in our swim suits and getting wet. The four kids, Maddie, Charlie, Ty, and Cody, were all pumped to be there and seeing the giant smiles on their faces made it that much more enjoyable for the adults.

We played in the water park for over four and a half hours before calling it a day. We then went back to our rooms, changed out of our wet clothes, and ordered pizza for dinner. After dinner we had birthday cake and celebrated the birthdays of Ron and Jessica. After the busy day we had it was wonderful to collapse into the beds and hit the sack.

Sunday was another day of playing in the water. We got up that morning and after grabbing some coffee and packing up we headed back to the park where we played and swam for several more hours. We all headed home around one o'clock after a very fun, yet tiring, weekend. Katy and I got into bed extra early Sunday night so we would be fresh to start another week in Virginia.