Day 4 - Drive Home

The day we left Shenandoah, we opted for a long drive home, stopping first at the Route 11 potato chip factory (highlight: standing next to the potato chip man), then lunch in a very, very small town sandwich shop, and then stopping to visit Uncle George in the hospital. 

Even though we'd been spending every minute together for many days, there was still a lot of love to go around at lunch. See below! Also, we needed the hugs to protect us from the questionable food.

Long ride home! Sisters bugging each other.

And then, a nice bath at the end of a long day. Do these two look like cousins or what?!?

Shenandoah - Day 3

On our next day in our trek to Virginia, we visited Shenandoah National Park. It was so beautiful to drive up the mountains, stop for a little picnic, then go on a water fall hike. When we first arrived, the temperature dropped down in the low 60s, and we felt underdressed. Matching pink Shenandoah sweatshirts here we come! Even mommy got one. It was all they had. (note: Daddy was still nursing his foot back at the cabin, and so he was missed!)

Preparing for the hike.

Liora races ahead with Uncle Paul.

Liora is warning us: Bear ahead!

There he is, that black shape in the forest. He paid us no mind, just kept foraging for his food.

We were really close!

Aunt Gabi helped the kids search for salamanders under rocks near the water. As you can see, it warmed up quickly and we took off the sweatshirts. Great purchase...

Liora took the plunge and held one in her hand!

Even petting it!

Then we climbed on some rocks near a pool.

And paused near the bottom of the waterfall to cool off our feet and relax.

Kaya was not happy with the loud noise the falls made.

Sort of a group shot.

Exploring

Aaaah, feels good.

Getting ready to put those shoes on again.

I'm not sure what is happening here...

...or here.

DeeDee and Kaya posing near a lookout on our way down the mountain.

That hike sure tuckered us all out, even Kaya (who spent at least half of the hike on mommy's back).

Gabi Visits - Days 1+2, including Luray Caverns

It was August, so it was time for another Grasheim-Morey adventure. This time, the Coloradans came to us, and boy did we pack that week with a lot of stuff!

First up was a Yaunches (and some Erger, on Adam's side) family bagel breakfast, with close by relatives coming to Bethesda to welcome Gabi and family into town. We were neglectful on the photo front, and only came out of that great breakfast with the photo below.

I don't think you can even tell that our younger cousin Sarah is 7 months pregnant!

The next day, we loaded into the cars for the couple of hours drive to the Shenandoah National Park area, and specifically to Luray Caverns in Virginia.

We arrived to Luray around lunchtime, and so we stopped for a bite to eat.

The kids just loved being in the caverns, always saying how "awesome" they were. It truly was a great stop for them all. Adam sat outside resting his foot. Note: My camera did not do well in the dark. Lots of devil eyes.

I was carrying Kaya on my back for a lot of the trip, but she often wanted to get down.

After, we stopped for some ice cream!

Luray has lots of other "historical" attractions, including a car museum, an old toy museum, and a frontier museum. The girls and I went to the gemstone sluice to clean and gather some gems.  Then it was on to the house we rented in town and a rest.

Wrapping up July 2014

Before we head into vacation posts with Gabi and family visiting, we have some photos to share from the end of July.

What's this? It's Adam in the ER after a bad landing in his adult gymnastics class. A horrible sprain that today (August 20) is still healing. Poor guy. At least no breaks?

Dinner with Saba and DeeDee

The girls have their Halloween costumes! 

Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen, of course.

Sister bath.

Sister haircuts! Liora got her hair washed at the salon for the first time.

Kaya did much better this time (her second haircut), thanks to Frozen being on the TV.

This little hat was given to Liora at the hospital on the day she was born! I kept it in her drawer, and one day she came down with it on her head like this. Still fits! Hilarious.

Summer days after school are awesome!

With mommy's summer schedule at work, we had extra time after school to stop at the playground or sometimes the pool. I'll miss summer!

Kaya "eats" a string bean; don't have many photos from this meal, but MeMe was visiting from California and everyone had a yummy dinner together the night she got in.