Skyline Drive

Today we headed out early to the Shenandoah Valley and the beautiful Skyline Drive. The road winds along the Blue Ridge Mountains, with spectacular overlooks off into the hazy distance.

Because of the drought here, the fall colors were late, and the trees were still breathtaking. We saw a bald eagle, too, but I couldn't get a picture that looked like anything besides a black smudge!

Cleo came along, and we did a little hiking- not too much.

For lunch we stopped at the Skyland Lodge, built in the 20's and right into the side of the mountains. Cleo had to stay in the car, but she got the doggy bag!

The girls had a great time looking out the window, and I think maybe a few of the pictures I took will end up on a Christmas card. Come visit us and we'll take you out there, too!

A happy little photo to share

Rowan reading to her best friend, Ben. How cute is that?

The Center of the Earth

We are doing Earth science and astronomy this year, and yesterday we studied what the center of the earth is like via pizza! Then today it was off to the Natural History Museum to see their fabulous geology exhibit, where we made earthquakes and learned about tectonic plates and volcanoes. Fun was had by all :)Gryphon has a swim meet this weekend, so check back for swim meet photos soon. And Rowan's turn is coming, a dad of a girl on her gymnastic's team took some gorgeous photos of Rowan in her competition leotard, all pretzel-y. Just waiting for them to get done!

Halloweenies

Its that time of year again- time for pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating!

Rowan is going as an evil dead cat. With wings. Don't you dare call her a "cute little kitty", by the way.

Gryphon is...wait for it...HARRY POTTER! I'm betting no one saw that coming, right? Its only, what, the 3rd year she's been Harry? We sprung for a new deluxe robe this year though, and a broom to ride on.

Mark is making sloppy joes, then its off to trick or treat we go!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

This is what Swim Team is all about:

See that smile? THAT is what swim team is all about. That is Gryphon's post-race smile. It's a mile wide, and a 1,000 volts. She hops out fo the pool, talks animatedly to her coaches (who think she's a riot), and trots over to give me a hug at my lane-end photo taking spot. All smiles.

See, that smile is unique, I'm finding out. I saw a girl get out of the pool, storm over to her mother, and burst into tears, after placing badly in the same heat Gryphon was in. Want to know what place Gryphon got, to warrant that smile? Dead last. First or last, same smile. Same enthusiasm. Same hopping trot to her coach to give a high-five. That smile, that attitude, will carry Gryphon so much farther than coming in first ever will!

She swam an IM (individual medley) today for the first time, at 100 metres her longest race ever. She also swam a 50 free, 50 back, and 50 butterfly. Here are some photos of her making the turn to backstroke in the IM, waaayyyy down the lane in the sunpatch doing butterfly, and swimming breast stroke.

What a fun day!

Jeanine and Shelby visit

My cousin Jeanine and her wife, Shelby stopped by on Sunday for a few days. They are doing a huge road trip in their new super-cute Volkswagen bug- a baby blue convertible! The girls really, really liked that car!

The girls talked their ears off, and Shelby got roped into playing Polly Pockets quite a bit. We also went to the Natural History museum with them, where Jeanine got food poisoning from a concession stand.

Despite all that, they swear they had a good visit!!

Growing up

Since we have had fall weather (only in the 60's, woo hoo!) Gryphon got to break out her fall clothes for co-op today. She picked them out herself this year, and they are all animal print. No more "I don't care as long as its soft" clothes, its all about the style (or not) now for her. I am just amazed at what a grown up girl she looks like- the braces, the clothes, the hair. Wow. Our little girl is transforming before our eyes.

Fall (?) Fun

Yes, it was a sweltering 92 degrees today- hardly puts you in the mood for pumpkins and cider! Still, it was pumpkin patch time, and we headed out to Northern Virginia's biggest, Cox Farms.

They have a hay ride, and lots of fun stuff to do, like dress up and pretend to sing on a stage.

The goats were big hit, too. I think a pet goat would be so much fun...Mark doesn't seem to agree with me.

Gryphon on the rope swing.

Rowan on one of the many slides- they have a big slide you go down on gunny sacks, too, but I wanted to ride so no pictures.

Even though the weather said "summer" Cox Farm just makes you feel like fall!

New House!

We moved 6 townhouses up in the same court, to a larger place this weekend. We *love* it-much better! Here is a virtual tour, starting with the entry way:This is the school room, we have a kitchen table and are using the dining room for school.Living room, including Pretzel Girl. Don't miss the cruddy carpet in the old place at ALL.
The girls bathroom, above, and Gryphon's room, below. They both like having their own rooms to decorate!

Rowan's blue room. I need to find her a canopy like her sisters!

The office in the basement- still need to put some stuff up (note the piles o crap). Plenty of room for a *bigger* scrapbook table (yeah me!) and the orange towers I keep paper and stuff on. Mark calls those orange towers "Isengard"!

The best part- the basement playroom. No toys underfoot, they can all stay down here. And the neighborhood kids can all come over, lots of room!

We haven't doen a thing in our room yet, like curtains and whatnot, but its a huge improvement because the carpet is not purple. Ahhhhhhh....so much better!

Shhhh!!!

Rowan is getting this for Christmas- I can't wait to see her face when she opens it!

Don't tell!!

Art class at the National Gallery

This morning we took of to the National Gallery to do an art lesson from our art book- Artistic Pursuits. The lesson referenced several paintings hanging in the National Gallery, so what better place to go do art? Today's lesson was about orienting your paper/canvas/surface to accommodate your art, and using space.

The girls first decided to draw this portrait-orientated painting, "White Poodle on a Punt."

Then Rowan picked this landscape painting, "Lake Lucerne". Gryphon decided it was uninspiring and drew a daisy with her charcoal pencil instead.

Here are Rowan's "Lake Lucerne" and Gryphon's "Happy Daisy."

It was a great day for the gallery-very quiet, almost empty. Ahhhh, school is back in session! I know its selfish of me, but going to the museums when they are crowded is so annoying! Before we left we stopped off to see our favorite statue, Degas' "Little Dancer", and the Fra Angelico "Adoration" that is circular. That's the only non-rectangle painting I could think of that I knew we could see there, and it made sense to see it because we studied orientation of your art (horizontal/landscape vs vertical/portrait) today.

A very good day!

Fun field trip!

On Wednesday Mark was off from school, so we all drove south to Henricus State Historical Park. Because we have been studying Native Americans and early colonial life, it sounded like a great place to visit. Boy was that an understatement! They have a full size recreated Powhatan village, and as we had the entire place to ourselves, the girls got to work on a dugout canoe, scrape a deer hide, and pound corn to their hearts content. We also went inside a longhouse, and the guide was fantastic-we learned so much!





Henricus is the sight of the Citie of Henricus, named after James I son, Henry. It was on higher ground than the swampy Jamestown, and the surrounding plantations grew tobacco until the Indians attacked in 16?? and the city was abandoned. At the park, they have a replica of the fort, the walls, a soldier's herb garden, and barracks buildings. Gryphon cleaned out the straker cannon, and Rowan got to load it.

The English soldier was a fantastic guide, too- we saw armor, learned about pikes and punishment, and English soldiers lives at that time.

Though Mark thought the rapier was cool, living in 15th century America as a soldier sounded pretty bad to him. He'll take the 21st century, I think.

All in all, a wonderful day and a great field trip! It so neat to live here in Virginia, where there is so much to go and do. We are looking forward to the rest of our studies of American History!