Cadance and I have been Vacationing

A week and a half ago Cadance and I set out on a little trip.  With a bag full of snacks and hours worth of toddler entertainment thanks to our local library we hit the road.  "This is a long drive," Cadance pointed out a time or two, but luckily that was about the extent of the complaining!

Our first stop was Morgantown, WV.  Home of WVU, the #1 party school in the US, also my super fabulous old roommate, whom I hadn't seen since Cadance was born. 

We visited Cooper's Rock and this great view

 

Ate ice cream in a gun shop!

Went swimming. 

 

And ate dinner at the Polky Dot, voted #1 breakfast place in WV by Food Network magazine

 



Basically there was no was I could resist taking a picture on this bench

Thank you Katie for giving up your bed to your old roommate and your floor to her slightly crazy toddler

Next up PA.  Luckily the next leg of our journey was slightly shorter.  Too bad Cadance didn't fall asleep until the last 5 minutes of the trip.  But, she was happy to be woken up at her cousins house!

Among other fun things we went to Chocolate World in Hershey.  Steve and I went a few years ago, but we thought it would be fun to take Cadance.  It definitely solidified in her mind that she likes chocolate. 

Here are the three cuties waiting to go inside

And here they are again enjoying a post tour treat

 

Although Autumn seems to be in the air we had a couple of hot 95+ days and couldn't resist the sprinkler.

 



The morning we left we took the cousins to a place called Let's Pretend.  Cadance is still talking about it. 

They did some painting

Here is Cadance's cousin taking our order at the diner

Cadance taking care of her baby.

And the day wouldn't be complete without a concert

I couldn't decide if Cadance was more hilarious in pink hair

Or a brown crop with pink hat

And here is a video of Cadance and the first time she's ever gotten a hold of a microphone

Thanks to my awesome brother and sister in law for letting us crash at their place.  It was such a fun week!

Richmond Culture

Richmond is this weird mix between historical and new age culture.  If you want some great civil war history, this is the place to be.  But, Virginia is old, like John Smith and Pocahantas old.  We go back to the beginning here.

In contrast, there are local artists everywhere.  The city is a huge supporter of the arts.  We enjoyed one of them this past weekend.  Richmond, along with other generous people, commission artists from around the world to come and paint murals around the downtown area. 

It's a way to reduce graffiti, etc.  But, it's also just really cool.  We took a tour of the news murals that were put up this summer. 

Here is a small sampling

This mural was lots of writing like this with bright geometric shapes all around it

These guys kept popping up on our tour.  I kind of got a kick out of them.  The fish one was my favorite.  I made Steve turn around and go back so I could get a picture

This is a monument over looking the James River.  I didn't get a good look, but I'm assuming it's John Smith.  Mostly I loved the blues. 

So let's be honest, a lot of the murals were just a little weird.  But, he's fun I guess

Our favorite was this bear.  He looks so happy.  I'm pretty sure it was the only one Cadance understood. 

Toddlers, Flamingos, and Youtube

Well, only one toddler to be exact, my toddler.

 

She has this thing with flamingos. 

 

 

And here he is

 

He's been a part of the family for a little over a year.  It's amazing how a free party favor can become so much of a ... friend, obsession, favorite thing. 

At first he was just there.  A part of the mass of toys that she would play with on occasion, but with an imagination came lots of interaction.  He often puts on a tutu and is a princess.  She puts him down for a nap and feeds him on a regular basis.  Today he had oatmeal and strawberries for breakfast.  He also has a hole, which makes him sad, so I blow him up on a daily basis, which then makes him happy.

We also have questions. 

Enter youtube.  For a long time I didn't do youtube.  It mostly seemed like this complete waste of time that had way too many conversations start with "have you seen this movie  on youtube?"  But then we bought a house and I needed to fix things and yay youtube.  It's also great at answering toddlers questions, like "what do moose say?"

I can't remember what question sparked the flamingo youtube adventure, but this video is amazing.  She asks to watch it regularly.  There really isn't any way to describe it, you just have to watch.  

 

Visitor

It's been exciting this summer to receive visitors.  We think Richmond is fabulous and we love sharing it and exploring it with those we love.  This time is was Steve's mom, Cindy. 

Cadance had an absolute blast with her "Grammie." I had an absolute blast not having to bear the whole burden of entertaining Cadance.  Steve had an absolute blast because he didn't have to work on Saturday at all and could play with us all day. 

Our adventures started at Chiles Peach Orchard, just west of Charlottesville.  The hour and a half drive was equalized because of the gorgeous pastures and farm land we saw along the way.  And, of course, the wonderful company.

 

 

And here we are at the orchard.  This is the third time Cadance has gone to pick fruit since we've lived in Virginia.  She loves it.  Although I'm pretty sure she enjoyed strawberries more, simply because they easier to see, pick, and eat.  

 

 

But, she was able to get to some of them, and luckily the peaches were easy enough to pluck from the tree.  Here she is with Cindy.  

 

And here she is enjoying the fruit of here labor. 

Seriously, they had amazing peaches.  Just look at this guy.

Afterwards we couldn't resist the peach ice cream.  We may have also brought home peach donuts and peach syrup. 

Instead of driving straight home we explored a little bit and found Greenwood's Gourmet Grocery.  Seriously, super fun.  I think I ate the best chicken salad sandwich I've ever had in my life.  If you are headed to the Charlottesville area look them up.  It's amazing. 

We finished the evening by freezing about 15 lbs of peaches.  I can now live through winter :)

Saturday we drove south to Pocahontas State Park.  Seriously pretty.  Here's a couple of the gorgeous things we saw. 

I'm pretty sure he was posing for us.

 

 

 

We went for a hike around a small lake they have.  

 

Before we left we went inside a nature center and checked out a junior ranger pack.  Mostly it seemed like the stuff was for someone older than her, but they had a pair of binoculars.  Check out this explorer.

 

Although I'm pretty sure the thing we got the biggest kick out of was looking at us.  

Also on this hike we were introduced to the coolest looking mushrooms I have ever seem, like neon orange.  Probably would have made me sick if I ate it, but it was cool to look at. 

After a long walk we thought it best to cool off in the water.  Cadance agreed.

 

 

Too bad floaties weren't allowed at the state park pool and we had to put them away.  But, we had a really fun time.  There was a kids water playground and Cadance really liked going down the slide. 

 

Even though exhausted we made it to the Hogshead Café and enjoyed some fabulous BBQ.  Deep fried hot dogs wrapped in bacon.  Hamburgers on pretzel rolls.  Sweet potato fries dipped in a honey butter sauce.  Meat so tender it fell off rib bones.  Yes please. 

 

Some great adventures added to our list. 



Some Garden Excitement!

We have been super excited about our garden this year, and although I was hoping to do more of a play by play in the season, not having a computer for a month, etc got in the way.  So, here's a little excitement in the back yard

First up, lettuce!  This is the last head of lettuce.  It will be gone soon.  It was so thrilling eating salads made out of lettuce from our garden. 

Then there's this little guy.  It looks like other peppers are about to come, but so far only this one has started to grow.  We received 4 pepper plants for free from a farmer's market so I figure anything we get is good. 

Our bean plant is about 6 feet tall.  It's out of control.  Any advice anyone has about controlling those little vines would be fabulous. Hopefully we'll see more beans and less flowers soon. 

And last but not least...our tomato.  Well, we have 7 tomatoes growing, but only one is turning red.  Granted, I'm hoping we get more than 7 tomatoes (I paid $10 for 2 plants), but seeing that it's actually working is so exciting. I look out of the kitchen window basically every time I'm in there to check on him.  Steve and I are both chomping at the bit to eat him. 

Sorry there's no picture, but Cadance's favorite part of the garden is the pink flower she picked out from Home Depot.  I'm honestly surprised it's still alive.  But, it's growing well.  And, now that Cadance has a small pool in the backyard she pours buckets of water on them because, "they are hungry and need to eat."

On the not so good side we planted 6 watermelon seeds and 8 cucumber seeds and nothing even sprouted.  We have almost an entire 4x4 foot square empty because it was meant for a watermelon plant.  Oh well, we'll try again next year!

When My Parents Came to Visit

Recently my parents came to visit.  One fun day after another.  Cadance was a trooper.  She loved every minute of it.  And, she still ends every day with, "another fun day," repeating what my mom would say to her every night. 

Here are some highlights. 

The Zoo          

Cadance with the flamingos, which I would say is her favorite bird

This orangutan started chewing the plastic coating off of the fence and then spit it at us.  I'm pretty sure she was bored more than mean, and it was pretty funny

Notice the brown pellets of animal food.  Cadance loved throwing "rocks" at all the animals and in the water.

My dad trying to get the peacock to open his feathers, too bad it didn't work.  Cadance called them pecans.

Notice the red cheeks and sweaty hair.  She loved every minute though

So excited to ride the giraffe on the carousel.

   Belle Isle      

Gorgeous view of the James River

Cadance so excited because she knows what's coming

Going for a walk with Grandma

 

Enjoying the current of the water

 The Greek Festival

Loving the dancing

Not so much loving the food

Cheesing it for the camera in the cathedral

Maymont Park

Bubble fun!

 

Always love the flowers

Looking at the waterfall

Enjoying time with Grandma

Thanks for the week mom and dad!  Good food, good adventures, good conversation!