Virginia in September

For my birthday G and I went up to stay at Mother in law's house with Shannon. The first afternoon we went to get apples at a mountaintop orchard near Monticello.

This was along the route at an overlook. Gordon is in the picture somewhere...which pumpkin is he? Finding "the perfect pumpkin"

The panorama was amazing, my pictures do not do it justice.

Trying to get a picture of the three of us...it never quite works out!

Thanks to my incorrect exposure setting we look pretty ghostly!

Crispy & fresh!

The next day we went to Montpelier, James & Dolley Madison's estate. It was warm, but beautiful. Gordon lasted through "most" of the inside tour...my thrill was standing in the room where he drafted the United States Constitution (James Madison, not Gordon)! Impressive. The whole place was pretty grand. This view is from the front entrance.Gordon relaxing against one of the massive pillars. An archaeological dig is seen in the background.Reflecting on what kind of trouble he could get into I'm sure.must have thought of something devious!I love the architecture.Basement windows. We have to go back someday, that is the part of the tour we missed - Gordon had been very patient but the tour guide was very very descriptive (ie. long winded)...and we didn't press our luck!View from the back yard.My favorite part, aside from the room where the constitution was drafted: the formal gardens. Just magical.The view through that archway just beckons you.And the boxwood lined paths are like a maze, lots of fun for a boy who just spent an hour hearing "be still" in the mansion.The other side, another archway, another fabulous view to entice you through it. The formal gardens were between the brick walls and archways, on the other side of the arch below there were pastures of wildflowers and sloping mountains as far as you could see. Idyllic.I promise, I'm not hanging on to him by the ear.It was a perfect place to catch the cooler breeze. Relief from the heat.The yellow flowers in the fields don't really show up too well. Trust me, gorgeous.Picking dandelions and blowing them all over.

Fire in the Backyard

I bought a little fire pit on sale - my parents were visiting and helped us "break it in", complete with marshmellows.

I think he loved toasting marshmellows...and once he ate a few...the sugar kicked in...

After that wore off he settled down to contemplate the meaning of life while staring at the flickering flames

I think we'll be getting lots of use out of the fire pit this year!

First Day of School 2009

yeah so he went to the same school half of the summer and thanks to my unemployment, his last day was this same week...but we had to start the first day of school picture tradition somewhere... I have to admit, I do love having him at home - most days. I just wish the school had room in the 3 hour per day program for him, that would have been ideal. But we're keeping busy with fun stuff and he's hopefully learning a bit from it too.

A Summer Visitor

I have been neglecting my blog and have tons of pictures to upload again...going back to August when this little critter decided our porch rail was the perfect place for a little summertime R&R...

Later...new location on railing...maybe he's hoping I'll bring him out a cool cocktail with a tiny beach umbrella in it?

Got an itch...

...and, back to relaxing...he'd better watch out for our other frequent visitor that would like to have him for lunch.