Family Vacation Part 1: Friends and Shenandoah National Park

WARNING: The next few blogs posts will contain a lot of pictures! 

Before we move overseas, in less than a couple of weeks (wow)!,  it was important that we took a family vacation. We wanted to go somewhere quiet where we could spend time as a family, and not be distracted by day-to-day life. We wanted to go somewhere we could enjoy being outside and let Caleb explore and be a kid, we wanted to be somewhere green, since we will be seeing a lot of brown the next few years living in the Middle East. We wanted to go somewhere close and stress-free. That is exactly what we did and it was perfect. We spent the first night in Shenandoah National Park, and the next 3 nights in Rockbridge Bath, VA at the Mountain Pond House. We hiked, spent much of our days outside, drove through beautiful scenery, went out on a boat, tractor, and a safari. Caleb had lots of open space to run and explore, and Ben enjoyed looking around and being with us.  

Before headed out of town we saw a couple of good friends. We first had breakfast with my good friend Christy, who was in town visiting from Florida. It was her first time meeting Ben, and she last saw Caleb when we was a few months old. Their son Max is a few months younger than Caleb, and they will have fun playing together in a couple of years when we are home. We ate and talked for a while, then said our goodbyes. We were glad for the visit, and look forward to seeing them soon. 

Next, we met up with the Kerns family at a park where Zoey had a soccer game. The entire family was there, and we had a nice visit. Caleb had fun running around the soccer field with the girls, and Ben had plenty of cuddle time with the adults. We plan to see them before we head out, so we did not have to say goodbye yet. It is crazy to think when we return their girls will be graduating elementary school, and the older 2 will be in high school. Then on our way to Shenandoah, we stopped for lunch at our favorite local coffee shop, Cupacke Heaven, and did a drive-by of our home for old times sake.

It was a dreary and very foggy day as we drove up the mountain to get to Shenandoah. Even in the fog, the park is beautiful and we love seeing it at all times of the year. We look forward to making trips to Shenandoah a family tradition, and we hope our boys love being there as much as we do. We spent time at our wedding spot, played around the cabin and at the playground.

The next morning we loaded the boys up in backpack carriers and hiked Stony Man Trail. This is one of our favorite short hikes in the park with beautiful views from the top. Nathan and I hiked this trail together the day before our wedding, so it is special to us. It was another foggy morning, but the views were still amazing from the top. Caleb was 10 months old when we took him hiking in Smokey Mountain National Park, and he loved it then. Almost one year later he was talking throughout the hike, saying backpack, hiking, mountain, dirt road, bear, and he enjoyed pointing out the birds and squirrels. As usual, Ben enjoyed the ride and looking around outside.

 

 After the hike, we drove through the southern part of the park, and then to the Mountain Pond House. We had a great time in Shenandoah National Park and will look forward to our next visit! Stay tuned for the next part of our vacation...

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you God for giving me Nathan as a husband  and for choosing me to be Caleb and Benjamin's mom.

 

Visit with Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura

Nathan's Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura came to visit us from Mississippi, to spend time with us before moving overseas in a few weeks. We really appreciated them coming to see us, and we enjoyed spending the weekend with them.We had a lot of time to talk which was a real treat since, we only see them during Christmas. Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura are very special to our family, and we had a fun time showing them around Maryland this weekend. The day they arrived, we went to their hotel and the boys warmed up to them right away. Caleb learned how to say Uncle and Aunt Laura, and he said it a lot this weekend:)

On Friday we went to the Baltimore and Ohio train museum. It was a gorgeous day in the 80's, and we got to enjoy the inside and outside exhibits. 

The museum is filled with history, dating back to the beginning of the railroad. It was fascinating to hear Ed and Laura's stories and knowledge about the railroad industry. For example, the train car below is a restored Pullman Locomotive, which was a popular passenger train from the 1920s. It was very sturdily built and the seats were made of mahogany wood and beautifully upholstered. Ed said in the 1930's this was one of the top trading companies on the stock market. Times sure have changed!

Train engineers back then really had to understand how the trains worked. This was only 1/4 of the valves, buttons, and gages needed to operate the train. I bet it is very different than how trains are operated today!

Ben enjoyed looking at all the trains, and Caleb yelled 'choo choo' every time he saw a train...which was everywhere he turned:)

 

Both boys especially liked riding the carousel with Ed and Laura

Snuggling with daddy and mommy

And playing outside.

We spent a good couple of hours exploring and touring the museum. Ben was pooped at the end of the day and he fell asleep in Uncle Ed's arms.

Afterwards, we went out for Mexican food. Here is Caleb sampling a lime...for the 3rd time, haha!

We stuffed ourselves and decided we should walk around the mall for a while to walk off our meal, and then find ice cream for dessert :).

The next morning we had a nice long brunch at Bob Evans, and got to talk and hear more stories about Ed and Laura's life. We had such a wonderful visit with them, and we really appreciated that they flew up to spend the weekend with us. When we get back in a few years, we plan to make the next v trip to Mississippi to visit them. Thank you Ed and Laura for the great weekend together. We love you!

After they left, the boys went out for a run with daddy in the double stroller. It was raining off and on during the day, but nothing too heavy.

When they were at the furthest point away from home, the sky opened up and it poured! The boys were very brave in the storm and we wrapped them in big towels and warm clothes when they got home, and they watched a movie :). The stroller pockets were a big puddle by the time they got home, so if you are trying to get a hold of Nathan, his phone drowned!