Time to Go Home

Our last day in Waynesboro (Virginia) was Saturday, June 27. We stopped by the hospital to visit Betty and say good bye. It was upsetting to leave her, but we were there for two weeks and it was time to return home. It's during times like this when I wish we didn't live so far away. Below is a picture of Regina and her Mom.

We also stopped by the nursing home to say good bye to Alex, Regina's Dad. He has Alzheimer's disease and isn't able to hold a conversation anymore. So, we brought things to do with him - a few 24-piece puzzles and a toy. These things are good for keeping his hands and mind busy. The kids enjoyed playing too, so it was a good way to get Grandpa to interact with his grandkids at a time in his life when his social skills are deterioriating.



Later in the afternoon, about 4pm or so, we drove up to Northern Virginia and checked into the Marriott by Dulles Airport. We did this because our flight home the next day was at 7am. Fortunately, we were able to have dinner with my brother's wife, Peggy and their two kids, Justin (12) and Josh (9). We met them at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Anita's in Chantilly. Here is a picture of Katie with her cousins, Justin and Josh.



And finally, here is a 7-minute video of some footage I shot during our impromptu visit. Hope you enjoy it!

Luray Caverns - June 20, 2009

On Saturday, June 20, Regina and I decided to take all the kids to Luray Caverns located in the northern Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. It's no longer a guided tour, but rather, each visitor gets headphones to listen to an audio tour. There is an adult version of the tour and a children's version. Regina, Katie (5) and Matthew (6) were totally entertained by the kids audio tour and they zipped through it a bit more quickly than Katelyn (10), Paige (12) and I did. We three girls had our cameras and needed some extra time to take photographs. When I get home, I'll take a look at the video footage I got and if it's any good, I'll post a short movie of us taking the tour. Here are a few of the pictures I got, though:

PreK Car Wash

For these last couple of weeks at school, Katie's PreK class has gotten to do some pretty fun activities. Today they got to paint and then wash their teachers' cars!

Photos by Regina!

Yogurt Hair and Marshmallow Nose

Katie woke up this morning and knew exactly what she wanted for breakfast. She didn't want cereal or even a yummy english muffin with peanut butter and honey. She wanted a pancake with a face on it. If you've ever been to IHop, you probably know what she's talking about. So, here's what we came up with:

We used a strawberry yogurt tube squeezed, squiggled and topped with sprinkles to make the hair. The eyes and mouth are made out of fresh, cut strawberries. And Katie's special request was to use a pink mini-marshmallow as the nose.