Community...the power

Friends this will be a quick post and without the typical pictorial elaboration but this weekend we have enjoyed "Community" here in our new neighborhood this weekend.  Much credit goes to Walter Henegar of Atlanta Westside for helping us understand and embrace the concept of Community.  We have only been in the car twice which is a lovely change of pace vs a former life in a state south of here :)

Friday night we witnessed some local football action walking to our neighbor Patrick Henry High for the game.  The kids enjoyed it and despite the two point loss we had a fun time remembering what the Friday night game is like. 

Saturday morning we biked down to "The Village" for the weekly farmers market and to the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op to pick up some local goodness(don't get me wrong I still had to make our weekly Kroger run for the preservative laden non-local foods).  Saturday evening we were able to walk to dinner with some lovely neighbors at Local Roots and enjoy adult time developing new friendships.

Sunday is always a nice time with our church family and we are excited to see the band growing: Ed is 1 of 6 guys on stage vs 3 now!  This evening we were able to bike to our home group gathering via the Roanoke Greenway in about 5 minutes time.  Ed has been getting a workout pulling the kids in the trailer and they are getting used to "weekend commute" via bike!  We are excited to see what our week brings as Ed is planning a mountain bike ride, a guys brewing group(aka Monday Night Brewing for those that know that story) and a potential date night potluck Thursday. 

So we are moving on....moving deeper into home here in the Roanoke Valley.  I trust you have had a moment or two of such joys this weekend yourself. 

Fall is Here!

Its been cool here this weekend and we have been meaning to give camping a try.  Given the age of little brother and that we haven't ever taken C camping we decided to test drive our adventure in our backyard.  The backyard is one of the main reasons we bought our house so why not utilize it right? Oh yes and I have mentioned Ed's love of fire and his firepit acquired in July(everyone needs a campfire then right?)  So after about 45 mins of locating where our camping equipment had landed in the course of the move we headed outside. 

C was mainly excited about marshmallows but once we cut them off from the sugar high they got excited about the tent and we decided to give sleeping a try.  Something about being inside a tent hyped up little brother; after we read a long story and all tried laying down he started rolling around the tent causing a ruckus; pulling hair, biting, annoying little brother stuff!  So we kicked him out of the tent and back to his crib.  If we didn't have to be in the tent together there is no need to right?? 



Keeping this guy out of the fire was a job for an octopus....needed a few more hands.

Given we had 1 kid inside 1 adult had to sleep inside; so that left C and Mama to do a little girl bonding.  I was exhausted from the week so C and I were snug in our sleeping bags snoozing in the cool VA air by 9:30pm.  It was actually nice but I was missing my memory foam so when C awoke at 1am asking for a kleenex I used the opportunity to ask her if she wanted to go inside to her bed.  She agreed with me and off we went. 

Conclusion:  we could do this in "real time" but we may need to get little brother his own tent !!

On some other news we are updating some other overused equipment at our home.  Ed's gas grill has been faithfully serving us for the past 11 years.  We have even replaced some of the critical parts about half way through its life but the spare parts have been end of life'd(spare parts industry speak) so we knew we would have to upgrade soon.  We are a heavy grilling family and Ed is really good at it: we grill at least 2x per week year round.

Old grill guts...its a wonder we haven't gotten sick

New grill guts

Recall our post about Ed not wanting to spend money? The Lawnmower Well we are doing it again; we bought a new floormodel grill(3 burner with a side burner) on end of clearance discount($100) at Wal-Mart last night.  Ed brought it home today and we haven't given it a go yet. Wish us luck!

Our final fall fun look of the weekend is our littlest Hokie...he yells "Go, Go, Go" at the TV when football is on.

Let the Memories Begin

So I have to admit I was very skeptical of Disney before we went.  I thought it would be crazy crowded, mediocre, over priced and under-whelming for the adults.  Boy was I surprised.  Not only did the kids have fun but Ed and I did too.  I was very very impressed with the entire Disney operation.  Every single employee(called cast-members) were totally engaged in their jobs and were genuinely interested in you having an incredible experience.  When I say every employee I mean that; even the food service people were over the top interested in your vacation.  You would think it would get annoying but for the $ you pay to get into their parks I at least felt I was getting some value for my dollar.  I guess my Disney park expectations were of some apathetic teen-agers running rides and a few characters walking around who let you hug them...aka King's Island or Six Flags.  Like I said I was impressed. 

Autographs....we took our copy of "Beauty and the Beast"

When we first walked in the door at Magic Kingdom it began raining so we headed straight to get our "Mouse Ears" on.  B actually wore his for quite a while and C wouldn't take hers off the entire day....I am serious.  Even when it got steamy hot out in the afternoon C was still sporting her Disney spirit.

After we were decorated and sugar'd up we went to meet the Princesses and Mickey Mouse.  Now this is the big moment C was excited about.  If you know C you know that she is shy at first but once she comes out of her shell she is not a shy kid at all. She was tentative with Sleeping Beauty(Princess Aurora) then by the time we met the third princess Cinderella she was exuberant about the experience.  Brother got into the scene too; he knows a pretty lady when he sees one!

Mickey Mouse was another story for our family.  Our kids are big Mickey Mouse fans, especially B.  One of his favorite phrases is from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Oh Toodles".  We thought B would make a beeline to Mickey but he started screaming the minute he saw Mickey and barely warmed up by the time we left to give Mickey a "high five".  C liked Mickey as much as the princesses and almost knocked him over giving him a hug.

There was lots more we enjoyed at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom; C dressed up as a character each day and the cast members treated her in character the entire time.  Two days was enough of the intense pace and stimulation of the parks and we were glad to head to the beach to relax a little.  While at the beach we got to celebrate my birthday, unfortunately it included a trip to Urgent Care for B due to swimmers ear.  Our hotel in Orlando had a sweet pool that we thoroughly enjoyed our first night in Orlando but apparently B took some of the pool along with him!

Sunset on our first night in Clear water.

Playing in the sand despite feeling bad :(

Disney is exhausting for a little mouseketeer!

The Beauty of Virginia

Friends, the Gloria family opinion on US states is that Virginia is God's country and Oregon is a close second. We are constantly reminded of the beauty and wonder of God's creation living here in Roanoke. Last night Ed and I had the chance to re- visit one of our favorite places we hadn't gotten to yet since we've been back; Valhalla Wines.

Not only does this vineyard grow their grapes on site, they have a really cool wine cave AND gorgeous views of the Roanoke Valley from their tasting room. Oh I guess I should comment on the wine, it is awesome as well; they are going for quality vs having a tourist destination(which seems common around here but fun!) The key here is this lovely place is 10 maybe 15 minutes from our house!  Come and visit we'll take you there.

Last night I tried to capture the beauty of the location on my camera of choice....the iPhone camera...not exactly high quality equipment but it is always at hand and that is enough for me!

This morning we were greeted by some lovely water lilies in our unintentionally thriving water garden. Honestly all we do is feed the fish. I am sure if we actually try to maintain this awesome pond we will kill the lilies and the fish.   Note the trimmed boxwoods, new mulch and fresh pea gravel in this pic, we had to hire someone to help us get this landscape under control.  We were told there are somwhere between 100-110 boxwoods on this property.  That is more than Ed and I can keep up with in addition to our two kids, 1 dog, 11 goldfish and 2 careers :)

 

It's a wonder we go boating anymore....

Watch out squirrels here come B and G-Dad...note the safety glasses.

Friends, this past weekend reminded me of the past boating adventures I have had with my Dad in our nearly 34 years together.  Some of them are laughable and some of them are down right dangerous but most of all they are memorable.  Each individual story could take up an entire post of which I wish to do but do not have the time for. 

Disclaimer: this post has been approved for release by G-Dad !

The activity that sparked my memory is we took the kids out on a first motor boat ride with G-Dad during our visit home this past weekend.  After you read to the end of this blog you may wonder why we did such a thing, but something in my family just keeps us coming back to rivers and lakes. 

In my childhood we had a boat for most of my memorable years.  My parents had one when they were expecting me even. Now I realize our boats were not lavish by any means; they were mostly a recreational vehicle for my Dad to go bass fishing in and occasionally we would use the boat for family fun on the weekends.  Our first boat I remember wasn't much; it was a fishing only boat but it did go fast enough that my mom and I both learned to water ski on it(my mom did this to impress my Dad I am sure of it).  I think it only seated 4 people max and you were in trouble if the wake got too big on the lake.  But at that time in my life I realized none of this; I was just happy to be on the water and having some summer fun.

After 3 or 4 years my Dad realized he needed to upsize the boat and he found a fish and ski that gave us some additional space and made us a little more legit for skiing.  Boats were so much in my blood from these formative years that Ed and I owned a boat for about a year during our first years in VA.  We learned they were a lot of work and not nearly as much fun to own as they are to visit; so we sold it pretty quickly.  Honestly once the kids are older we will probably be back in the game....keep reading.

The boats themselves are not the memories; the experiences are.  Among some of the minor  "situations" we encountered were many batteries not being charged(if you aren't aware that means you get stuck when you try to start the engine), multiple thunderstorms weathered under bridges while still in the water, oh and don't forget "ALWAYS put the plug in the boat!"

Some of the more major incidents were boating in our "original" boat on 4th of July on the Ohio River to watch Billy Ray Cyrus(during his early hit "Achy Breaky Heart" years).  Getting there wasn't much of a problem but boating back up the Ohio in the dark with barge traffic after the show was a little scary.  The Ohio isn't known for a debris free waterway. And for some reason we decided to do that again the next year and put my partially paralyzed grandfather on the boat with us....life jackets don't discriminate your physical handicaps right?  Needless to say we are all here today to tell the story(my late grandfather being the exception for other reasons than our boating adventures, RIP Papaw).

My mother reminded me this weekend of one particular Saturday morning fishing trip I took with my Dad.  That typically involved getting up at about 5am and freezing on the lake until the sun comes up; then standing and casting a fishing rod for hours on end, just what every teenager wants to do right?  That particular Saturday it rained the entire trip.  Now to my Dad this wasn't a problem as long as you have your rain gear, but to me as a 14 or 15 year old it was a major problem.  I kept asking if we could leave and was told time after time "Just one more cast".  Apparently when we got home I laid down and kissed the floor I was so happy to be home. 

The best and most dangerous of the boating stories is when we all ventured into the world of non-motorized craft.  Ed got the bug for whitewater and it spread in my family.  We didn't do anything over the top but enjoyed(and still enjoy) some Class II whitewater via canoe.  One Saturday on the Greenbrier River in WV we were having a great trip until the 100 yr flood waters came.  Ed and I were in one canoe and my Dad and his partner(my mom was smart enough to stay home) were on opposite sides of the river from each other.  The water started rising fast and Dad tried to ferry across the river solo to get Derek but in the course of doing so flipped his canoe.  The water kept rising and Ed and I tried to follow my Dad down river.  He must have swam at least a mile or more holding on to his borrowed canoe before we were able to reach him.  If he had stayed in the water any longer he would have been in some rather serious rapids and taken some tough hits.

So I tell you all this to share the experience of my children going on their first boat ride with G-Dad.  I know you are shocked we were brave enough to do it but it was uneventful; unless you count Ed's Atlanta Braves hat flying off in the wind to expose his "I work from home full time hair" :) as an incident.  We went slow at first but we did test out the speed and both the kids were scared at first but then began to love it.  C did ask at one point "Mommy can I have the iPad so I can watch a movie?"  Are you serious kid????  We have some work to do on C's love of the outdoors apparently.

After all the boating was said and done we had some cutie pie cousins over to my parents house to play.  They had a blast and somehow held their own parade complete with flutes, marching band and an American Flag.

The impromtu parade.....



with little brother pulling up the rear.  They had dropped Baby D by this point.





The crew ...


All said and done I wouldn't trade my childhood boating memories for anything my friends.  I hope you enjoy and laugh over similar stories in your family as much as we have.  I love you Dad!

Peaceful Easy Feeling

This blog post is quite overdue; after a peaceful mostly relaxing weekend this week has been quite full. 

Friday night I had a great time going out with a few ladies from my street.  It is really good to get to know our neighbors better because we had such a great neighborhood in Atlanta we are hoping for the same here.  What we did forget is that takes time and effort to build.  I know this sounds obvious; but making friends is work! 

Ed let B and I sleep in a bit on Saturday while he and C watched TV then we took probably our last trip to the pool for the season.  I don't know if I ever mentioned that our neighborhood pool is at the "Elks Club" and now Ed is a Elk.  Yep you read that right....most folks join for the pool as we did.  It has been a blast and finally C is getting used to the water and actually loves it.  By the time we left Saturday they both were sliding down the slide to Ed catching them in the water.  It was lots of fun to watch.

B enjoying his first "Push Up" shortly after this photo the whole thing fell out of the container onto the groud.  Not a good scene!

C's favorite food: Mexican!

Monday night we kept the fun rolling with a trip to see our local baseball team "The Salem Red Sox".  Some friends of ours had a box seat for the evening so we had fun adding to the numbers there and obviously enjoying some cotton candy....note the blue tongues.

In parting news....we have babies!!!  Baby koi that is.  The funny thing about this koi pond is #1 I would have never asked for a koi pond; who wants another danger in your yard with two little ones and #2 I don't really like fish and #3 the second week we lived in our house Abbie dog made this her swimming pool and we were all convinced the fish were dead.  So these fish have 3 strikes against them and yet they have reproduced.  We have gone from having 3 koi to now having 12!!!!  This picture isn't the greatest but it does give you an idea of our other pets' habitat!

Musings on Princes and Princesses

So my friends we are preparing for our first trip to Disney.  It isn't something we were really seeking out but I happened to win a silent auction stay for 2 nights at the Hitlon Bonnet Creek in Orlando for a steal of $100 last fall and it is going to expire in Oct if we don't get on with using it.  Remember last fall we lived within driving distance of Orlando and a quick trip down there for any reason for 2 nights seemed possible but all that changed this past Janurary. Secondly,  C is head over heals about princesses right now  so we have little excuse(thank you SkyMiles from China) not to take our 2011 family vacation at Magic Kingdom. 

Now Ed and I dig the beach; he actually gets antsy if he doesn't hit a beach at least once a year.  We have our own theory that Ed's draw to water is due to some distant lineage of sailing blood in Ed's Spanish ancestors combined with the Phillipine island culture.  So we were planning to hit a beach somewhere anyway once I got through the busy August season at work.  2 days at Disney and 3 days at the beach, including a day to celebrate my birthday(honestly now I don't really need any more of those); we are excited.

We have been prepping our princess: reading all the classic Disney stories we can, talking about who may or may not be at Magic Kingdom and she has been doing a bit more princess dress up than usual.  Now the downside of this comes for B.  She wants to play dress up and part of that fun includes dressing up Brother as a princess.  He has been complying with this "torture".

Now we aren't honestly concerned about this; but would prefer if he has some other sort of more masculine heros or at least dress up clothes.  He sometimes goes around the house wearing beads(provided by an older influence) and he wants his toe nails painted when I do C's.  Does anyone else with very close sister/brothers have similar issues?  Can anyone tell me don't worry about this just paint the kids toes and he'll come out fine??

Well today it hit us that we do in fact have some other dress up options for B but we will be buying him some sort of pirate get-up as soon as we can find it.  So we went back through the Halloween costumes and found C's costume from last year.   Ladies and Gentlemen introducing Prince Octopus, accompanied by Princess Fairy(Ma B she is still wearing this!).

The headgear didn't last too long but the cape of arms did....and he quickly realized he could torture his sister with at least 1 of the 8 arms....



On other news; we finally unpacked the last remaining group of boxes this weekend in the basement.  This missing Armour All tire shine, bike fork(Ed's stuff) and hot glue gun had gotten too much for some of us to bear....read Ed.  So we found some fun stuff we had been missing including our Play-Doh Cake Maker set which entertained the two little muchkins for at least an hour yesterday.  On the downside it did make a huge mess but that is why I am falling in love with my really old lineoleum flooring in our kitchen...who cares what happens to that stuff!!! Actually is it a love hate relationship, lets not lie.

The other home excitement this week is that our backyard fencing project is complete.  It is very comforting to be outside and know that no one can escape.  It doesn't look half-bad either.

All we need now is some cooler weather(which we have been getting..lovely!) to kill the mosquitoes so we can go outside without 3 layers of OFF.