fall break

We headed back up to the Virginia Creeper bike trail for the first part of fall break.  We brought along Carter's good friend, Matthew.  Which ended up being a very good thing or Carter would have rode the trail by himself.  Here is the story:  It all started great our first night; we played games and ate junk food.  But the next morning Jared wasn't feeling good.  He said, "I feel like my stomach is being stabbed by a ton of knives".  Not good.  By time we needed to go, he felt a little better and decided to try.  We were riding the 17 miles that connect Damascus to Abingdon, which is flat and so you have to work instead of coast like White Top to Damascus.  About a mile in Jared stopped for the third time and so Allen decided to wait with him.  The four of us went on.  Carter and Matthew would ride for awhile at their fast pace, then stop and explore/climb until Claire and I caught up.  This was Claire's first ride on her own=slow.  Ended up Allen decided that there was no way Jared was going to be able to make it, so he headed back to the car in Damascus so he could drive Jared back to our rental house in Abingdon.  Good plan except for one thing.  I had the car keys and house with me, now several miles away.  Luckily a man gave them ride back to the house.  Allen left poor Jared on the back porch and then took off down the trail hoping to find me as I was coming his way.  And praying that I didn't decide to turn around.  So, instead of enjoying the ride and the beauty around him, Allen had a great work out biking as fast as he could to me and then right back to Jared.  Carter and Matthew road back with Allen.  And about an hour or so later, Claire and I made it back.  Did I mention she was SLOW?  Oh, and it rained on us for about 30 minutes, but that really wasn't bad.  Thankfully Jared felt much better that night and was able to make it to dinner ( a fun 50's soda fountain place) and to the play we went to.  So, not the best trip ever, but one we will not soon forget.

rv

We finally made up the trip to the Virginia Creeper that we had to cancel when we lost our dog Max last fall.  We tried something new, something our kids have wanted to do for a few years.  We traveled and stayed in a RV (rented an old one).  Our trip was 4 nights/5 days.  We spent a day/night at Warriors State Park and the rest in Damascus, VA. We loved it.  We all loved it.  It was such a fun, different vacation for us.  The traveling was the best.  We played games, I laid on my bed and read, the kids hung out in that cool space above the driver.  The driver, Allen, was the only one who didn't think this was the best way to travel.

Virginia was awesome.  The first day we hiked part of the Appalachian trail.  The next day we did what we have done before; we rode down the 17 miles from Whitetop to Damascus, which is mainly coasting the whole way.  This time we stopped a lot more and enjoyed what the trail has to offer-river with rocks, little caves, beautiful scenery, rocks to climb up.  The last day we did something new and rode the 17 miles from Damascus to Abingdon.  This is all flat and much more of a real bike ride.  We loved it.  Believe it or not I think its scenery is better than the first trip.  We went through beautiful farms, the kind that make you want to live on a farm.  One bridge was gone due to a tornado so we had to ride down and up a steep embankment.  Boys loved it, I thought I was going to die.

At night we would play games in our little RV.  Monopoly was the game of choice for this trip as we had a lot of time at night.  We also played cards and even watched the movie RV one night!  It was so fun.  I laughed so hard every night that I would cry and my cheeks would hurt.  Those times are what I loved about this trip.  Our little family in a small RV laughing until we cried.  It just doesn't get any better than that.  We made such wonderful memories and have some good inside jokes from this trip.

Here are just a few of the pics we took:

driving in style

Monopoly

bed time

skipping rocks

bride to Abingdon

The "Virginia Creeper" engine in Abingdon

reunion

 The Barber clan gathered in San Francisco for a reunion.  I had been trying to get my family out there to see Troy and Dan for a while now, so it was the perfect place for us to go!

 We enjoyed eating and shopping in China town

 We got to see them make fortune cookies

 We all played at Golden Gate Park

 The Piers, Ghiradelli Square, the Farmers Market and Alcatraz were a hit

with Jared this time

 I got to go with Jared and the 5th grade on their 5 day trip to Williamsburg, VA.  Like my trip with Carter, it was great.  I loved this time to spend with Jared and watch him with his friends.  Jared's favorite thing was going on the USS Wisconsin.  Here he is in front of it with his best friend.

 In Jamestown Jared was picked to scrape fur off the hide and he took the job seriously.  When he had to stop he told me, "man, I just figured out the best way to get it off".  If they would let him, I'm sure he would have happily done all the jobs in camp.

People have asked me if I will go on this same trip with Claire.  I say of course.  I can't pass up time to be with my kids.  Plus, I would worry too much if I wasn't there.  Plus, Claire would never forgive me if I didn't go with her.  Plus, time is going too fast.  Memories, it's all about making memories.

NYC with kids

After going twice without them, we felt the time was right to take our kids to NYC. What a great idea! They were perfect...even Claire, who I expected a little whining from with all the walking, was an angel. They loved NYC as much as we do. It was one of our best vacations to date. Here are a few of the things we did....

Central Park

F. A. Schwartz

Dylan's Candy Bar had Carter's name!! (only second time, he was very happy)

9/11 memorial

We got lucky that Carlo's Bakery didn't have a 2 hour wait when we went over....

so Jared got to try the famous cannoli and lobster tail he had been dreaming about. He found out he doesn't like Italian cream. Oh well, we ate plenty of sweets elsewhere.

Empire State Building (our hotel was a few blocks from it)

Time Square

Thanks to Yelp, we didn't miss trying all the hot spots for treats, burgers, ice cream and fries. They even have cup cake carts now! I still like Magnolia's cupcakes the best. Jared liked Butter Lane the best.

We got the subway thing down pat. We are ready to buy a place here. If only we had won that lottery.

traveling

We did some traveling in November. We first surprised the kids with a trip to Louisville, KY. We went to the famous Churchill Downs and got to watch some of the Breeder's Cup. The above picture is us walking to the race...just wanted to update you on the boys catching up to me. I am 5'4, Carter is 5'3 and Jared is 5'2. You can see our nice little stair step here.

We all loved our "cheap seats". We loved being so close to the horses-this is just them getting ready for the next race. I was surprised just how fast the horses move-much faster in person. We gave everyone a few dollars to bet on some horses for our "entertainment-not betting". This made watching the race even more fun. Claire had the best record. All the kids won at least one race; Allen and I didn't win any.

That night we headed downtown and saw The Cake Boss in person. It was a fun show and Jared even got a high five from Buddy as he came down the isle!

After Thanksgiving we headed to Chattanooga, TN and took Grammy and Grandpa with us. We saw Ruby Falls, Rock City and Lookout Mountain. After lunch we saw a very steep hill with people sledding down the grass on cardboard boxes. We joined in the fun for a bit before heading home. I love little weekend get-aways with my family. Such fun.