First Day of School 2012

Ok, so really it was the first afternoon but who is keeping track?  We started with horse lessons at a new farm which took the entire morning, then we had lunch and then got down to business.  Spring Ridge Farm is a wonderful farm just north of Charlottesville.  I don't know what happy horses look like but I know what happy kids look like and I had 2 today.

(These are actually a couple years old but the smile hasn't changed.)

Maggie has been steady at school for a week!  Catie's response was I have 1 week left, I am living it up!  Kendall just wants to get through it so he can go play.  I snatched this great idea from a friend of mine, Julie ( she has a blog as well) to take a pic every year...so I bought the poster board and let them go to town.

(Genny is along for the ride)

Raise your glass to a great year.  I hope you have a great one, I know I will with God's grace raining down, no other way to get through.

Perfect Mornings

My perfect morning was getting up and running before the rest of the gang was awake. My sister's house is about 4 miles away, mostly dirt roads.  I would put on my shoes, start my running playlist on my iPhone and start my running app.  It was bliss to be out in the cool mornings with myself and the deer flies for company.  It was so nice I didn't mind giving the flies a lift until they started biting.

This tractor I saw on the side of the road.  I was tempted to start it and use to get to my destination but it looked like it hadn't been used in years.

This was the last few hills of my 4 mile jaunt, the first mile is downhill, then a mile of flat road then 2 miles uphill.  Boy was I was done after the last hill!

The best part was getting to have a cup of coffee and visit with my sister and her family. My dad goes to the Eaton Village Store every morning for a cup of coffee and to catch up on local gossip.  He then swings by my sister's house drops off the local paper and collects me and brings me back to the homestead.

Did I say it was perfect?  Here is the proof, the view out the back of my parents house with Mt Washington as the tallest mountain and Conway Lake below.