Circadian Rhythms, September 2014

OK, so it's almost all the way through October and I'm just getting to this post. I might be a little behind, do you think? Here's the random items from September:

It wasn't even Crazy Hair Day

Homemade paper earrings

Showing off their CSI swag

Cotton candy sunrise

Showing off the leaf she found

My neighbor group girls enjoying grape pie

Telling Great-Grandpa's secret story

A rare moment of quiet in the woods

Foggy farm beauty

Belated Birthday Weekend Getaway

Upon learning of Hannah's disappointment about not being able to go to the cabin on her birthday (as we did last year), I hastily made plans with one of her oldest friends to have a cabin getaway the last weekend of September. Hannah and Riley have been friends since before birth when we met Kenny and Michelle in birthing class. From their 2nd year of life through age 4 they stayed at the same babysitter during the day and have always been close friends. Sadly, we don't get to visit together very often anymore since they still live over the mountain in Fluvanna County.

So we had a great weekend together, getting caught up and celebrating both girls' milestone 10-year-old birthdays. Here are photos from what is hopefully the first of a new annual tradition.

Planning the menus for the weekend. Peanut butter pie was the non-negotiable!

Selfies while waiting to meet in the parking lot

As usual, the 4-wheeler was a hit.

Reese and Riley

The Dry River was bone dry, no rain in two months.

The trees were starting to change, as you can see in this photo

Even the old folks caught a ride!

Birthday singing and treats

The long awaited peanut butter pie and a strawberry cake

Then we made a fire as it began to cool down

And enjoyed even more sweets with smores

Michelle, Kenny and Reagan by the fire

The girls laid out under the clear sky to admire the stars

Flashlights were a must among all the kids

Early morning walk with steam rising off the lake

The sun beginning to peek over the mountains

Look how it lights up the mountainside!

Kenny eventually got comfortable on the 4-wheeler

My cuties

Mountain beauty

We took a hike to see the Indian graves

Reagan did pretty good but sometimes caught a ride

Sophie enjoyed posing in this tree stump that looks like a toilet

All five girls, friends forever!

More posing on tree stumps

Look at this little blond sweetie!

Charles got good at driving five girls at once

And what is fall without a pumpkin activity?

The pumpkins came from our garden

Everyone enjoyed making their own creations

The men hanging out on the porch

Family portrait time on the way out

Walking all the way to the far end of the dam

One last voyage for a few more river rocks

What a fantastic weekend! We definitely want to make this an annual tradition.

Our First Church Retreat

Hannah was devastated to learn back in August that I signed us up for the church retreat campout on her birthday. We spent the night at the camp on Saturday and her birthday was on Sunday.

We had time in small groups, time for hiking and playing in corn hole tournaments, enjoyed lots of good food and watched a church variety show on Saturday evening.

Sophie enjoyed a puzzle full of pictures of church folks

Homemade ice cream churned by bike power

Sophie and Hannah each had a turn on the smaller kids' ice cream bike

Some impromptu bluegrass picking, including "Rocky Top"

Much time was spent playing Foosball over the course of the weekend

Hannah and Sophie both ended up having fun, and we even surprised Hannah with a birthday cake and singing at the noon meal after the church service Sunday morning.

Hannah's buddy for the weekend joined the photo

The entire church sang Happy Birthday. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Happy birthday, Hannah!!