Good-bye Virginia

We had a great time cooling off before we left the oppressive humidity of Virginia, at Bull Run Park.

I wish I could still control my Dad with my eyes and pout like Ems has mastered.

I wish I could still control Dave with my eyes and my pout, like Ems has mastered.

Atta girl!

We had such a great time on our vacation. It was awesome to see the kids again, but priceless for them to get to spend some quality time with Nana and Grampa Ranny. Can't wait til next year!

Happy 4th of July

We started out our Independence Day with a long hike through the Turkey Trail.

Emma loves to stop and take pictures.....unless the rest of the family are in them too. This bridge was built by my little brother Will as an Eagle Project. It is nice and sturdy.

My Dad helped a lot with the project too.

Dave and I found this wilderness annomaly and took it as a sign of our love.

We separated from Dyl and my Dad, and when we met back up, Dyl had met with a terrible fate. He had scratched his twiggy little leg, and wasn't able to walk very well, until my Dad poured some special "healing" water over the wound.

It still didn't do the trick though, and Dyl hike the rest of the trail with the help of some crutches. His little calves had to be on fire from hopping for miles, but he wasn't giving up the schtick.

We were all pretty sympathetic for awhile....

But then it just got fricken' annoying.

As we were walking I said to Dave, "Check out that squirrel on the trail ahead of us." He replied, "Holy &%#$, look at that snake in front of the squirrel!" I don't know how I had missed it, because it was enormous. I sprinted way ahead to get Dawson who had lost patience with his crippled brother and brought him and Gramps back to check it out.

All the Hoodlums thought it was cool, and everyone was having fun until Dave "borrowed" Dyl's crutch to nudge the snake a bit. Dyl saw him do it and immediately went into hysterics. He wouldn't touch the crutch after that, and really let Dave have it, everything from "I needed that to walk" and "You don't care about my diabetes." It was very theatrical and entertaining.

Eventually Dave found a suitable replacement, which was actually the original snake stick just thrown up the path aways and then "discovered" as we passed by.

Happy kids! Em, really just being herself, and Dyl extra tired from all the limping.

That night we went into Manassas for the fireworks and celebration. There was a country band playing, and by some Independence Day miracle, Dyl's scrape was healed and he danced the night away with Em. They were hilarious, especially when he was dipping her and trying to throw her around.

Watching fireworks from the cannons.

My little drama queen. Wonder where he gets it?

Virginia, Day 2

Back at the Pond

My Mom

Dawson tried to step in front of Emma for this picture. He won't do it again, she had him down on the picnic table begging for mercy.

Hunting for frogs.

Success! They caught a turtle

And released it.

But not without thoroughly inspecting it first.

Time To Be Parents Again.

Oh the time flew by, but it was great to see the kids again. Dave and I flew out to Virginia to retrieve them, but not without a week long vacation at my parents house before we headed home!

Dawson's favorite food is fish. My Dad finds and frequents the best places to eat wherever he goes. He decided that Daws just had to try  Horace and Dickies in D.C. The only thing my Dad ever tells us about a restraurant is about the food, so when we pulled up to this garage in the projects and everyone got out but my mom, I asked her what she was doing, and she said, "Oh Honey, you don't park in a place like this."
O.k., but should I let my outspoken children out in a place like this? We stood in a long, hot line, waiting to cram ourselves into this take-out only establishment. The other people in line were not friendly and not happy to see us there. Once we got to the doorway though, my dad hollered out, "Hey Big Momma!" to the mammoth women running the counter. She asked him for his order in front of all the people and then he paid and we got out of there. The boys were laughing because she kept calling them sugar. Dave and I were laughing because we were so glad we all made it out alive.
This place doesn't have any prices listed, they just decide how much you pay when you get to the cashier. Thankfully we were with my Dad, because we got about 8 pieces of fish, the size of dinner plates, fries, some white bread and hot sauce for $6. I'm thinking, if Dave and I had happened upon this place by ourselves, it would have cost more, if they gave us any at all.
My dad can fit in anywhere.

You might have thought we would be happy with all our fish, but that was mostly for Daws. The rest of us were holding out for Ben's Chili Bowl. We have been coming here since my parents moved East, 14 years ago. Once again, my dad is a favorite here and we love their half-smokes covered in onions and chili. This can be a very scary part of town to visit, especially if your dad picks you up at the airport after a red eye and decides you need a half-smoke at 3AM. Scary for sure, but always delicious.

Ems had really grown up while away from us, she couldn't wait to show us how she had mastered the monkey bars.

We went on a crazy amount of hikes while in Virginia. There is no shortage of awesome trails!

My Dad!

Em and Dave trying to catch a frog, or a turtle

Catching fireflies.