Our Long Weekend

Amy and the kids spent the weekend with us at the WV place. Klondike, their very large, white German Shepherd came along, too.

This post is probably WAY too long for most readers, but I have lots of pics to share. If nothing else, just scroll through and look at the images. Be sure to click on each if you’d like to see a better (larger) picture.

The only big plan for the weekend was for all of us to do a bike ride on the C & O Canal. So one of the first things Hubby had to do on Saturday was install the bike seat on Amy’s bike. He put one on his bike, too, so they could trade off if necessary.

Brianna and Gaige can ride their own bikes. But Joey is too little to be able to keep up with all of us, hence the bike seat.

Saturday was pretty hot, and we needed to do some shopping, so we decided to wait until Sunday for the bike ride.

We all sort of just goofed around on Saturday morning. The kids spent most of that time outside playing. The dogs did, too. Our girls were a bad influence on Klondike.

Amy and I walked Joey down the driveway. I asked him to pose on the little bridge Hubby made for me years ago for my pond. Since I no longer have a pond, I was quite happy to put the bride to use at the WV place.

Joey thinks the new gate is lots of fun. It was Amy’s idea to have him climb behind the sign. Check out the dirt on his legs!

Brianna and Gaige were off “having an adventure.” They were exploring the woods around the house. When I told them not to touch any dead stuff they might find laying around, I think they thought I was kidding. Thank goodness they listened because they found the source of all the bones the girls have been finding over the last few months.

Joey, being a boy, loves seeing Pop and G’s motorcycles. Pop started his up, sat Joey on the seat and let him rev the engines. That’s no “cheese” grin in the picture below. That’s a “look-I’m-riding-Pop’s-motorcycle” smile.

Gaige and Brianna were having a blast exploring our woods. I don’t know how many times they went down the very steep hill behind our house, which they then had to climb back up. Far too many times to count, that’s for sure.

That’s one of the reasons I have far more shots of Joey. Brianna and Gaige just didn’t sit still long enough. And remember that bike ride we were planning? It didn’t happen. Not for Joey and I anyway. He woke up with a fever that had him feeling really crappy. Once he had medication in him, he felt much better, but as soon as the medication started to wear off he’d feel bad again. So he and I stayed at the cabin while Hubby and Amy took the older kids for a ride. Hubby took my point-and-shoot camera along, too, and did manage to capture a few good shots for me.

After the ride Brianna and I had back in April, the kids were REALLY looking forward to this trip. Amy was, too. They aren’t able to get out riding much at home.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin… with a fresh dose of medication in his system, Joey was ready to roll.

After riding for a little while, we took a cookie break then Joey got to play in some water. That’s an activity Amy thought he’d enjoy. She was so right, as usual. He sat there for about an hour and a half, happy as could be, making soup. What kind of soup? When I asked him, he thought about it a bit, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Regular soup.”

Soup making is messy business. I had to hang Joey’s shorts outside to dry while he napped.

Speaking of naptime, look what showed up outside our kitchen window while Joey was sleeping and everyone else was still away.

The Pileated Woodpecker, which is about as big as a Crow, is the largest woodpecker in almost all of North America.

Pileated Woodpeckers are extremely skittish/bashful, so this is the first time I have ever gotten a decent shot of one after five years of our living in the woods.

After the bike ride, Gaige and Brianna were more than happy to take over the water play. Joey was back in the house. His fever kicked back in while he was napping, but Amy returned literally just as he was waking up and gave him some more medicine.

After they tired of that activity, they tossed the football around for a while.

I’m not saying this because Gaige is my grandson. I’m saying this because it’s a fact. Gaige, at age 6, throws the football amazingly well. See his fingers perfectly aligned on the stitches? You should see the spiral this kid lays on the ball. And he throws it in a very purposeful, practiced arc right to his target. I was quite impressed. Really. I have never seen a six-year-old throw a football with such precision.

I could barely throw a Nerf football at his age. Granted, the ball he was using isn’t full size, but it is definitely larger and harder to manage than a Nerf ball would have been.

I have no idea how well he catches because Brianna can’t throw a football very well at all and I was too busy cooking dinner at the time to play with him.

By the end of the day, even the dogs were exhausted.

Sunday was a long day, but we still managed to squeeze in a campfire. I don’t have any pictures of that, you’ll just have to trust me. As warm as it was, I didn’t really want a campfire, but the kids would have been so disappointed had we not had one. During Brianna’s last visit, there was a statewide burn ban on, so we couldn’t have a fire.

By Monday afternoon, it was time for Amy and the kids to pack up and head back to civilization. It really was a great weekend. But it went by FAR too fast. Hubby and I are already looking forward to their next visit.

I actually have quite a few more pictures of Brianna that I took while she didn’t know I was watching. While Gaige and Joey were playing, she was dancing. It was hysterical. I’ll try to get those pics into a slideshow and posted tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. 🙂