August Adventures

We’ve been at home all of August, but we’ve tried to stay busy with some local adventures that have been fun.  One of the great finds was an area on Goose Creek with a rope swing into a deep water hole that kept the girls and Nina’s two friends occupied for hours.  They had so much fun swinging off into the water, swimming in the creek, and running and jumping into the water.  It was definitely a super fun spot, and they are anxious to go back!

 

  

After that, we got hooked on taking some fun bike trips around the area.  Of the first trips I did with the girls when they were little was biking to Dairy Queen in Herndon.  At the time, it was quite an accomplishment for them to bike there and back, but now it was so easy (too easy, in fact), but they were more than happy to bike their and “earn” their Dairy Queen in Herndon before biking back.

   

On the way back from Dairy Queen, we spotted some Lamborghinis in the parking lot of a car dealership that backed up to the bike trail.  Nina and Lyla wanted to stop and take a look at the cars from the fence, but I convinced them we could “sneak” into the back of the parking lot to get a closer look.  We oogled at the four Lamborghinis we saw, took some pics with our favorites, and were pretty certain that somewhere on a security camera, someone was laughing at us.  Either way, it was a fun little bonus to the trip!  :)

  

The next week we were back on the trail - this time biking to Fireworks Pizza and bringing Uncle Bo.  He drove out to our place, then we parked at the trail and rode out to get pizza lunch and biked back.  It’s one of our favorite spots to stop on the trail and really fun to bring Bo with us.

 

August also thankfully brought back sports!  I didn’t realize how much I missed them until they were gone.  It has been great for the girls to get back to regular practices during the week, seeing their teammates, and keeping active.  Nina doesn’t have any meets on the calendar yet for the fall, but the team is training.  Lyla had two scrimmages in August before her first regular season games this weekend.  It was fun to have a game on the weekends again to watch.  I realized I missed it, and I’m so glad that at least soccer teams in VA are going to get to play this fall!

 

Our next biking adventure was a new one. We drove to Belle Haven Park in Alexandria, had a picnic lunch on the water and fed some ducks, then we hopped on the trail with our bikes and rode to Mount Vernon. The ride was really nice!  A large portion of it was along the river, so the scenery was great, and the path was mostly shady, so it was a nice 15 mile round trip there and back to the park.

 

   

 

 

 I figured the girls earned themselves a stop at the Custard Shack after the ride, so we got ice cream then made our way home.

 

Our biking adventures continued this week as our summer is on a bit of an extension.  The school year was supposed to start this week, but with the switch to 100% distance learning, the county pushed back the first day of school until 9/8.  So, with some extra time on our hands, we got to try out another new ride - this time driving to Bo and Brittany’s apartment in Ballston and biking from their place to the Custis Trail, connecting to the W&OD trail, and riding that into Falls Church for lunch at Liberty Barbecue.  

 

The four of us had a great lunch then biked back to their place for delicious cold brews at Bo’s favorite coffee shop, Compass Coffee. We met up with Brittany at the coffee shop and took a little tour of their super cute neighborhood, then they showed us around their building.  It was the first time that Nina and Lyla had been there, and they loved it!  They’re now convinced they want to live in a city apartment! :) After hanging awhile with Bo and Brittany at their place, we packed our bikes back up on the car and made our way home.  We had such a fun time, and I’m glad for this little extension to our summer before school starts to get in a few more fun adventures while we can.

  

 

Back at Hartfield - Part 2

**I guess my original post was too large, and it wouldn’t let me upload it all at once, so here is the rest of the post. 

 

Day three were were right back on the water again for another day at Hole in the Wall. We were fortunate to have such great weather while we were there.  It was hot and sunny but I love summer, so I’d take days like this anytime!

This time we met up with the Eastwoods, good friends of Shen and G (who Mark and I know as well), and we all had a awesome time hanging out for the day.  The 7 kids (but they’re really not kids anymore) played and swam all day together, we adults enjoyed hanging out and chatting while staying cool in the water. It was another beautiful day to enjoy some of the best of the summer life on the river, or as it’s called down there “rivah life”.  

 

  

 

 

  

After three long, fun days it was time to head back home. Mark had to report back to work, and I had to report back to teaching.  Even though this was just a quick trip, we really enjoyed getting a break from the scenery at home and I always love making some fun memories with family and friends.  

We were actually supposed to be spending our first day in Florida today, so while we’re disappointed that we aren’t there to enjoy time with Mark’s family, we’re very hopeful that the spread of the virus will eventually start to slow down and we can travel down there soon!  I feel sad for some of the things we’ve missed out on, and I feel sad that the kids won’t be offered in-person learning in the fall, but we continue to feel so grateful for the health of our family and friends.  Small inconveniences in vacation plans are well worth the health and safety of our loved ones, so I look forward to making up for lost time when things settle down with the spread of the virus.  Until then, we’ll keep having fun in Virginia as long as we’re able!

Back at Hartfield - Part 1

Last week we took a few days and went back to Hartfield for a long weekend.  With some of the disappointment of canceling our week at the beach and our trip to Florida, it’s been a bummer that we haven’t been able to get away for a family vacation this summer, however being able to spend some summer days down at Hartfield has been great for fun away from the routine of home.  We were able to spend three long days on the water with beautiful weather, great food, family time, and more summer memories.

On Friday afternoon we piled in the Williams’ boat, and just as we arrived to our swimming spot, a little rain storm looked like it was going to blow up.  The cool thing was that, looking at the shore, the scene looked black and white (with exception of the sky peeking through the clouds).  The picture doesn’t convey it as well but it isnt edited at all. It was cool how the distance seemed to look colorless for a few minutes.

  

After a minute, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and some rain fell for a few minutes while the sun was shining, but that didn’t stop the girls from swimming.  The rain passed as quickly as it came, and the blue sky, sun, and a rainbow came out and it was a beautiful afternoon/evening to swim.  The key for swimming during this time of year is finding areas in the river where the jellyfish AREN’T right now.  In the main parts of the river, they’re quite thick this year, but Garland was able to take the girls to several spots where they could enjoy swimming without seeing a single jellyfish.

   

   

  

 

  

 

Back at the house, the dogs are living their best life.  Poppy, the dog whisperer, feeds them peanut butter pretzels, they get walks, they swim in the river, and they get all the sleeping time on the couches that they want.  Not a bad life!

  

The next day we were back out on the water, this time going to a little spot called Hole in the Wall.  It’s a little island right at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where sand bars surround the island to make it shallow enough to stand and play in.  Boats carefully wind their way in through the deeper channels and anchor just off the island.  It’s a great place to spend the day becuase there are no jellyfish, you can walk and play on the island, or you can swim and hang out in the water.  We stayed there for most of the day then the girls got to go tubing closer back to the house.  

 

Even as they’ve gotten older, tubing is still a huge highlight!  They love the speed, getting tossed around, catching all kind of air in the waves, and occasionally getting tossed out of the tube!  The younger ones might have the photos with the funniest hair, but...

  

 

 

 

  

 …I think the older girls take the cake with the funniest faces!

   

 

 

 

 

Everyone got their fair share of tubing then all five girls got to ride together back to the house.  At ages 16,14,13,12, and 9  it’s amazing that they all still fit! We got off the boat tired, hot, and hungry, and Mouse and Pops had appetizers and a great dinner waiting for us.  Not a bad way to finish off the day!