William in Virginia - 1

Saturday July 5 - We arrived from North Carolina at SarahPlusFamily's house. We had to say goodbye to Caleb and went to our house. William was asked to spend the night and would have loved to stay with his cousins but after just coming from a camp he really needed to settle for one night in "his" bed. 

Sunday morning we went to church of course. He said he likes our church. In the afternoon he packed the overnight bag and we went "over the river". Needless to say the 4 cousins disappeared fast to play somewhere. 

Monday morning Sarah brought the two oldest to her workplace for me to pick up. I think the twins had their baseball camp which had to be cancelled 2 (or 3?) weeks ago because of the weather. Of course we had to have a bagatelle tournament. 

I can't quite remember all the little details of each day (happens when you are not doing it in a timely matter) but Wade probably picked Caleb up. It was about 4 pm when William mentioned that he would like to go to the Science Museum.

This is his cousins' favorite: the "hamster wheel"!

Needless to say that there is a lot to see! Even just things on the walls.

Back home we decided that we needed to have a walk around the block. At daytime it is sooooo hot but quite nice at 7:30 pm.

But the day was not over yet. When I was prepping some food in the kitchen I remembered that I had found a sprouting seed in an envy apple just before we had left for NC. I had put it in a little clear plastic container between a moist paper towel. It was thriving with roots.

William wanted to plant it in a pot. I found what we needed in the garage.

It is now happy in his place in the sunroom.

A special time on Tuesday. I had arranged a disc golf lesson with Christian, the nice young son of our friend Martha. Unfortunately the twins Colin and Owen could not join William and Caleb, but Caleb's friends Pierce and (another) William were very keen to join in.

It started at 10 am at Dunncroft/Castle Point Park. There is an 18 hole Disc Golf Course not far from our house. James and I used to walk the trail there in years past.  With the car we had to drive about 9 minutes. 

The first lesson was about how to grip the disc, how to throw it and an intro to the different discs. Just at the other golf game there is a driver and a patter and everything inbetween.

At one point in the newest part of the course we were so close to our house that I was sure I would be able to see it through the trees if I would take 15 more steps in that direction. Of course the GPS showed me the direction. 

Christian's bag with some of his almost 600 discs.

After 3 hours (with a short pause for lunch) everybody was a little worn in that heat.

Wednesday

James and I had to go out early. When we opened the garage door, this little gay was very close to the door. We had to relocate him (or her) a little. The door coming down could crash him if not careful. Or the car wheels.

Yes, the daily card game continues. Now mostly with three playing. 

Look who won and look who lost!

A late lunch at our Korean restaurant. Not a fancy place but James and I like that japchae. William almost ordered it too but then he so the kimbap. I was surprised because they look like sushi and I know that is japanese. Well, Korea has something similar but there are distinct differences. He liked the kimbap.

At about 2:30 we were back at the Science Museum. We had to have a look at the special exhibition "Ultimate Dinosaurs". 

But every time we go we have to have a quick look at the bees in the second floor. William discovered from a window between building wings were the bees enter into that room from the outside. I should have taken a photo of that. 

We always find something to have fun with. I think they called this "virtual wallpaper". William and I designed it on the tablet and it appeared on the wall.

And what a coincidence that we had to drive past Bruster's Ice cream on the way home. Of course we could not "drive past" in this heat.

Yes, and that was the first half week.

NC - part 3 (4th of July)

It's Friday and the National Holiday! 

I now realize that it didn't need to be part 3 because there are not that many photos but here they are.

Helen and Caleb went to the 3 pm closing service to pick William up. The first two were actually videos. William got to participate in some nice singing (these are screenshots)

Oh, what grandma wouldn't love to see this? 

Back at the house and settled, Helen had planned to take the two boys to the Appalachian Pinball Museum on the Main Street. 

Here is what the internet says: Everone is a kid again at Appalachian Pinball Museum, where $12 allows you to play all day.  The museum features more than 70 games, including pinball classics as well arcade and video games. The oldest pinball machine dates to 1946. Enjoy soda, snacks or a beer while you play. 

(Note: the price seems to have changed by now)

We had agreed that they would text us when they are done in the Pinball Museum und James and I would then walk down to meet them for dinner. Strangely enough many of the eating places seemed to be closed this day but we finally found a very nice place and could sit outside. Before we walked to it Helen had called and was told that if we were arriving in the next 5 minutes that they would seat us. 

It was a balmy evening and a lovely atmosphere. We enjoyed our food and company. 

When the restaurant closed we decided to walk home. We had heard that there was going to be fireworks but we didn't know when and where. And we were truly tired. But when we heard it all we had to do was turn around and look. We were half-way to the house at the perfect place to see it. 

It was a bit too long. We thought the city could have saved some money but we felt lucky how all had worked out for us.

Next morning we hurried since we all had quite a drive home, Helen to Nashville and we to Richmond. We had the cars loaded and the house ready like we were supposed to before the deadline and left.

For lunch we found a Jersey Mike's and decided to take it along and find a park. Except I didn't know that the GPS would take us a different way since we were bringing Caleb to his house and not ours. No park! Finally I just turned into a quiet industrial area. 

The rest of the trip was not as I had hoped for. It was not a highway and even though it looked like flat land it kept dipping down and going up. It was strange and Caleb mentioned that it wasn't good for his tummy. The road changed and I thought that all was well. But it wasn't. We had to stop and clean up and the rest of this drive we rather forget.

The summery of this trip: we had a lovely time together and saw some beautiful country side. All safely home we thank the Lord!

NC - part 2

North Carolina is really pretty. But what about that first photo? Well, we had hardly started on trip when a stone hid the windshield while we were driving on the highway. It didn't take even 30 minutes and it was larger than a dollar bill, the criteria repair vs new windshield. Caleb kept monitoring it.

While Helen was teaching we volunteered to go shopping. We found Jackson Park to go for a little walk and Caleb found a tennis ball. First time I saw a map of a Disc Golf Course.

Shopping was succesful. Caleb loved the wraps we made. 

When Helen was done with her classes, she and Caleb backed brownies. Good timing because our friends Donna and Stefan (from times when we all lived in Paducah) came to visit. That was fun talking about "old times". They do live now in this area and Stefan shares his great wild life photos.

Yup, more soccer games.

Helen had one more evening class and we wanted to go to a restaurant advertised as German. But it was full and actually didn't look that great. We ended up in a "Biergarten" with a food truck. It was quite nice sitting outside.

Caleb asked to choose Papa's beer flight. The discriptions were very funny and his choices for Papa were all more on the shandy/radler side. Perfect!

Always finding something to do. When we arrived there was one heart on a middle stone laid out with pebbles. When I stepped out there were 4 ... like on the very right side. When I suggested it might be nicer to have the point of the hearts to point to the corner he was right away at it.

Friday 4th of July!

Helen didn't have to work and suggested to visit the waterfall in Piscah Forest. Helen had been there before and William went there with the camp people to go swimming. James and I were a bit reluctant whether the walk would be good for us but we managed both well and we were so happy that we could do it. It was quite steep down ... and up later. Of course Helen and I had fun photographing the laurel.

Fourth of July! There were a lot of people enjoying there day off. Caleb had not brought his swimming things but we it would have been mean not to let him have a dip. I think he appreciated it. 

He was dry very fast on the way back up and besides, I had a large towel in the car. 

And then back at the house Auntie Helen gave Caleb her favorite clarinet from the time when she was in highschool. They had a good talk about the parts and care and things like that. Caleb was very pleased. 

And then it was time for Helen and Caleb drive to the camp for the closing ceremony and come back with William. 

As soon as they had left, Helen called. A large branch had fallen down from a close tree and had blocked that entry into the street. James and I investigated. Luckily this was a short street and we can exit on the other end.

End, surprise, surprise, there needs to be a part 3.