Pre-school Road Trip

 I was inspired by a Facebook post to visit waterfalls in West Virginia. We decided to turn it into a long weekend roadtrip that ended in Blacksburg with a tour of VT for Max and Clair. Here's an overview of our journey. 

Day 1 was a visit to Black Water Falls. It was okay, but not near as awesome as Day 2. We stayed in Charleston, WV the first night. 

The driving was beautiful and mountainous. There were so many mountains in WV. The most interesting part of the drive was on day 2 when we followed the river in the valley and passed so many functioning factories along the river. We also so the most beautiful waterfall every - Cathedral Falls, WV. It's a cute cave right off the road. The waterfall is apparently 60 feet tall. We enjoyed the isolation and the beauty of it. 

On day 2 we also stopped to try a mountain roller coaster you get to drive/control. It was a lot of fun, though Clair said I drove too slow to be the leader. 

Fun photos from the photo cam

Mountain Coaster start

New River Bridge, WV

Cathedral Falls, WV

Blackwater falls state park

The evening of Day 2 we landed in Blacksburg. I hadn't been there for 16 years. It had been so long. Blacksburg had changed so much, I got lost on the roads coming into it. It took me about a day to get reoriented to some of the changes, but I did. 

We stopped at the drill field so Max could play some soccer and I could look around. We proceeded to tour the building side of campus and I looked to see what I could get into. The buildings were shut on Saturday night, but thankfully they were wide open on Monday. 

Walking around the campus and showing my family was nice. I was reminiscing and wishing my college friends were there too. We went to Macados for dinner on Sat night. It was, unfortunately, disappointing. Things were just not as nice as I remembered them. 

Sunday we attempted to hike the Cascades. That too was not as I remembered. It was much harder then I remembered - especially the lower path that goes along the rocks. We ended up turning back around mile 1.5 as the path was not maintained and so narrow, I got worried. Even David seemed a bit worried. Clair's knees were hurting and Max was content to turn around. So we returned to the parking lot, thankfully using the upper trail. 

We headed back to Blacksburg and went downtown to explore and get a late lunch. After some lunch, there was time for soccer and working out before hading out to the nicest dinner we had over the trip. That was at the formerly known - Bogens. It was delicious. They have a nice wine selection. I told everyone that I think it would still be our choice of places to hang out in the burg.

Monday was the day of the general admissions tour. There were so many people on the tour. This is the largest college tour I've been on with the kids. I enjoyed hearing from current students, the admissions counselor, and seeing all the new buildings. Max told me he had figured out how to tell which buildings were there when I was, and which were new based on the way the outside looks. Buildings from my time need to be power washed according to him. They show their age :-) 

After the tour, we ate lunch in Owen's foodcourt, until the fire alarm went off and we had to exit. Then we headed north on 81. 

This was truly an amazing trip and I'm so thankful we did it. I think everyone enjoyed it.  Here are some pictures from our time in Blacksburg - "Home" as the tour guide called it. 

2026-2027 School year begins

 This year is different as Ellie's officially a college Freshman (or Sophomore depending on how you look at it.)  This is just another example of how fast time marches on. 

I walked through the elementary school yard last night and saw the chalk welcoming the kids back for the year. Elementary school was easier in so many ways when I look back, but at the time it felt harder. I want to enjoy the moments where we are with the kids. 

Max started his junior year today. He's confident and active. I think he's making the most of school. I'd love to see him get involved in Mock Trial. 

Clair started 8th grade. She's ready and excited for her math and orchestra. The rest is just gravy.

I think both are open minded about returning to school after their summer. 

It's a big year for both of them! Wishing them luck and success. 

Max and his teeth

 Max has been in aligners for 2 years and his teeth are not moving. A decision has been made to move to braces. Here goes the next journey. 

They say anywhere from 13-18 months. I sure hope he takes the rules seriously.

Tournament Win

 This summer's All Star Team was a 12 u team. We had some returning girls and some new ones. Unfortunately we had half of our tournaments canceled due to rain. However, the one we did get to play in as a 12 u All Star - we emerged as champions! It was a wonderful weekend. We played with only 9 girls and they all did great!

Bryan and I were happy to finally see the girls get their medals too!

Summer nights

 Since putting in the pool now 6 years ago, our family time around the pool keeps becoming less and less. We are busy and it's hard to get all the kids moving in the same direction at the same time. However, tonight we managed to do it; at least 4 of us did. Ellie was lifeguarding at her job.

We enjoyed about 2 hours out back. Max and Clair hung out in the pool. Well, Max did for about half the time; then he suddenly remembered he didn't to go on a run. 

While they were playing I took a few pictures and we realized it looked like Max might be walking on the water, so then Clair had to try it too. 

We ended the evening watching a few episodes of Scorpion and enjoying some popcorn. It's nice when we get these chances. 

Spring Softball for Clair and Julie

 This spring's softball season became all encompassing. The team was undefeated throughout the regular season with high expectations heading into the championship game. 

Clair worked hard on her pitching over winter and started the season strong on the mound. At times, she started to look like she was ready to pitch at the travel level. She was working on placing her pitches and a change up. 

A late in the season injury, probably from too much pitching in a week, caused a pause on pitching. It was tough because Clair wanted to continue to contribute and be competitive, and I wanted her to continue growing as a pitcher. But we quickly learned that was not possible. 

Lila stepped up big time, pitching 2 full games on her own for wins! She has done great this season.

The team had to have the second playoff game without us as we were at Ellie's high school graduation. It was stressful for us, but the team pulled off a smashing win that ended under the mercy rule. 

The final game was a bit of a heartbreaker for us. We gave up 10 in the first two innings; it was the first time all season our defense had to sit down due to the offense scoring 5 on us. Every other game we got the outs. The team could not mentally recover from this and we lost big in the final game. It was heartbreaking but it didn't change the impressive season they had going 14-1. 

I'm proud of Clair and all the girls. 

Granddaddy really enjoyed watching Clair this season and cheering her on. I called him her biggest fan. 

All Star Game - we won that too and were able to partner with our friends to play this game. 

Clair tried an inning at shortstop and was ready!

Clair and her biggest fan!

Team after our first big win of the season against the most challenging team.

My girl pitching hard to start the season.

As we are a month into summer now, Clair is still doing PT and trying to return to pitching. We see glimpses of good things and then her knee hurts again. I'm not sure where we go from here, but we will figure it out.