Cavman Video

Every UVA football game begins with a short video, mostly animated, that involves the Virginia Cavalier defeating the mascot of the visiting team in some sort of battle.  Mark bid on and won the chance for our kids to play a role in that video for the first game of the year against USC.  On July 1st, we headed down to the University Grounds for the taping of our part in the video.  The children were supposed to be tossing a football happily when the dastardly Trojan leaps in and ruins their good time.   At the last minute, they told Mark and me to join in as well.  It was fun to listen to them plan how they were going to add the animation later.  We kept the plot under wraps until game day when all 64,000 people saw how it turned out!  Take a look...

First Game 2008

Wow!  What a big day!  It was our first home game of the year, and the USC Trojans came to town.  It was a huge game, and USC brought a ton of fans with them.  We had our brand new seats in the stadium and our brand new parking spot for tailgating.  We arrived early in the afternoon to set up and entertain, and boy was it hot!  We headed into the stadium nearly an hour before the game started for an extra-special visit to the field for pre-game activities.  We had won an auction earlier this spring (I'll put more about this in a separate blog) that included passes for the kids and Mark to go down on the field.  They were up close and personal as the players came out onto the field, the band played the National Anthem, and the latest Cavman video debuted.  Bailey was standing next to Chris Long and trying to work up the nerve to ask him if she could take a picture with him, and then the video started.  When it was over, she turned around to ask him, and he was gone.  She was disappointed about her lost opportunity, but overall, it was a great experience!  Too bad the Cavaliers were clobbered 52-7.

Camp Sally

No, Sydney did not get hair extensions.  I just forgot to leave room for a post to write about Camp Sally.  Our friends Sally and Phil have taken the kids on an overnight camping trip every summer for about 5 or 6 years now.  Mark and I love it because we get a mini vacation for about two days, and we don't have to go camping ourselves.  The kids love it because Sally and Phil always show them a great time and teach them something new.  In the past, they've watched a beekeeper, visited a dairy farm, and watched a friend make wool on her sheep farm.  Usually they just camp in Sally's backyard, but this year they went up to Big Meadows.  At dusk they had a tour through the meadow from one of the guides there.  This picture is from before they left for their adventure, but hopefully Phil will have some pictures to add.

Second Day of School

I think Mark's trying his best to embarrass the kids as long as he can still get away with it.  While children all over the country endure those "first day of school" photos, our kids get to enjoy "first WEEK of school" photos.  At the bus stop.  Every day.  With brute force if necessary.

First day of school

"It's the most... wonderful time... of the year!"  I've always thought that was a great office supply commercial.  The dad is skipping down the aisles, and the kids are trailing behind him looking all dejected.  

The kids here today didn't look too dejected - they had mixed feelings about going back to school.  Bailey was sad that summer was over but excited about the experience awaiting her at middle school.  AJ has been excited about school starting for a couple of weeks now.  Sydney forgot her homework already - I hope that's not a bad sign.

I'm ready to reclaim my house!

Family fun in PA

We took a one-day trip to Pennsylvania yesterday.  My cousin Matt and his wife Wanda were throwing a birthday party for two of their children, and my Michigan cousin, Mike, and his wife, Jayne, and their two kids were in town.  We hadn't been up there to see my Aunt Janet in quite a while (partly because she's been doing a good job of coming down here regularly), so it was a perfect chance to see a bunch of people in one place at one time.  I love that!  The kids all agreed that they would rather go to PA than the big summer picnic at church we'd been eagerly awaiting (how long do you think a family trip in the car for about 9 hours will be their idea of a good time?!)  It was a perfect day and a great trip.

Sydney's new 'do

Rachel squeezed the girls in for haircut appointments this evening.  I wasn't even paying attention when Rachel quickly left the room and came running back with a ruler.  Sydney had asked how short her hair would be if she donated it!  And here's the answer...

Busch Gardens

We went to Busch Gardens today to celebrate Bailey's birthday (just a little group of 17).  Our first ride was the Griffon, a horrible roller coaster that I would never go on again.  We came off the ride, and they had this bank of monitors with pictures available for sale.  When I finally found our photo and saw Sydney's face, I thought I was going to die.  Every time I look at it, I almost wet my pants.  And poor Cal!  His face WOULD HAVE BEEN hilarious, too, if Sydney didn't totally trump him.  I am very thankful to Mark for figuring out how to add this pic to the blog.  I  hope it makes your day.

A day at the pond

We may have saved the best for last on this trip.  Emily's folks have a summer house on a gigantic pond, and we visited them on our last day.  Ken, Emily's dad, took all of us out on his boat and pulled us around on inner tubes.  It was awesome!  It was a beautiful day, and a fun time was had by all.  It was good that we saved it for the last day because Ken and Michelle might not have enjoyed it when the kids insisted we return to the pond every day of our vacation!  Oh, and as if all that water fun wasn't enough, they also have a kitten...Harry!

RI fun with Jackson

I'll admit up front that I'm being completely unfair to Sue, Chris, Dave, Emily, my friend Keri and probably more, but the biggest draw in RI is by far our awesome nephew/cousin Jackson.  Not that we're biased or anything, but he's clearly the cutest kid for miles.  He's fourteen months old, just learned to walk, and he's just starting to talk, too.  He's even-tempered and sweet, and none of us could get enough of him.  We celebrated Bailey's birthday, too, but she's already had 10.  It's Jackson you want to see - take a look...