IN THE WINK OF AN EYE

IN THE WINK OF AN EYE

IN THE WINK OF AN EYE: Virginia Beach with Amy and Chace

IN THE WINK OF AN EYE: Virginia Beach with Amy and Chace

Snow Days

Parker got the camera and had to document how happy he was there was no school!

I loved the snowflakes in the camera...doesn't get more real than that!

Doing whatever they can to stay warm these days...aren't they cute brothers?

Parker calls his sculpture "the Candle" he created with all his spare time.

I haven't gone crazy yet, but it's slowly feeling more and more

like summer vacation without the pool!

Virginia Beach with Amy and Chace

I know it looks like he' being studly...but it was a bit chilly that day.

(Enough to make anyone's lips pucker!)

Amy and Chace had a bike for two...but you'd never know it. I had to take this pic from my bike with the camera behind my head (random shot) turned out pretty well, huh?

The boardwalk was a BLAST!

Some take the plunge...others just take off.

Can you tell who needs the shave?

A Newborn Butterfly

This summer we had the chance to hatch 10 crysallis' in our front yard when a friend went out of town and wasn't going to be here to do it herself. What a fun job that was! Better than taking care of a dog any old day! Braden got to help it dry off it's wings just after it came out before it flew away....it was BEAUTIFUL!

We're Back!

Well, after a very fun 3.5 week vacation we have finally come home to what should seem like normal life. I wish I could say I was feeling normal, however, after waking up at 10:30 a.m. and not even realizing how late it was until I looked at the clock, I realized that it's going to take a day or two to get back on a regular time schedule.

We had such a good time while we were away! I can't think of anything that I wish I'd done that we didn't. I hope that those we stayed with are able to get back to "normal" quicker than we are. We want to say thanks to everyone that took us places, entertained and fed us. Yes, it sounds like I'm a mooch...but I'd do the same for them if they ever came out EAST! We'll keep working on that.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Watch out Myrtle Beach...Here We Come!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Braden Tree Climbing (or descending)

Okay, so there was a little "wait time" to also play in the sand.
Do a close up on this picture and you'll see a great smile...just hoping the teeth will work themselves out!

Don't worry, he doesn't hit her in the head...it does look fun though, doesn't it?

From Boy to Bobcat

Braden was pretty excited to get his first Cub Scout badge....he has made it to Bobcat. He was kindof embarassed up there in front of everyone, but there is a good group of boys in our den and it was pretty fun for him.

I didn't know they gave pins to the moms. Boy is there a lot to learn about this stuff! I am liking this program more and more. I know it doesn't look like much, but one day I will look back at this and just wish he'd want to pin something on me!

This was his first pack meeting and he got to be the "announcer" that did the flag ceremony ....with help... and he did great! I just wish I could find someone that would sew on these badges for me! It ALMOST makes me want to move to Utah where they have the lady that does a dollar a badge!

The Seven Year Snow!

WHAT A FUN SNOW WEEK!

So here in Virginia we don't get much snow....it's been seven years since the last big snowfall and last Sunday was our big chance! It was GREAT! There was beautiful white packing snow to the tune of 8 inches. The kids have been out of school for 3 days and are finally going back tomorrow, albeit 2 hours late...what is that all about? All the trees do help to make it more beautiful. But my Azalea bushes that were weighted down to the ground didn't like it much, and we'll see how the dogwood and tulips do...there were due to come out soon.

This is Crackers. He was bigger than Parker, but not quite as tall as Braden. When I told Braden to put a banana on for a mouth I didn't think he'd PEEL it first! Boy did that make it easy for the neighborhood animals to enjoy! **Items of note would be the strawberry Nesquick that we sprinkled on his top to give him the tie-dyed t-shirt effect.

Other items of note could be the "cup of Joe" that he has on the end of his stick. That's what Parker called it. You might also notice the beautiful green hair coming out the top, that too was Parker's portion.

Don't ask me how I got this flipped around, but I guess this is how our house would look if it was backwards. You'll note that we took the banana out and put in peppercorns for the teeth...we tried raisins, but they were gone too fast. I think the peppercorns weren't much of a hit with the neighborhood animals....indigestion city! Maybe we should have done Tums for eyes.

HE DID IT!!!

Braden finally got baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! What a great day it was! He was very excited. I think it may have been too much excitement in the build-up for Parker because as soon as Braden came out of the water Parker was right there on the edge and he says in his very loudest voice, "That was it??" Oh, if he only understood the truly eternal decision that was! It was really fun to have George and Addie there as well. We had a good time as ususal with them.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU BRADEN! GOOD CHOICE!

THE WATER PARK AT MASSANUTTEN...COASTAL OR NOT??

Yes, this is our little Parker coming down the wave. He was very brave to try it...didn't hesitate a bit! This wasn't the only thing to do there...there are actually 8 water slides, lazy river and all kinds of things to climb on. I have to say this is one of the most fun indoor waterparks I've ever been to....and one of the cleanest!
Mark would go only after Braden did it first, but he soon got the trick. If you fall off of your board the water pushes you right back to the top...hold onto your swimming suit for sure!

Mark did actually get up on his knees...maybe next year we'll try standing. Or....maybe he was just trying to impress the instructor....

Braden was the first one to try it and did really good when he didn't get washed back up over the top. He could actually go from side to side even!

This was just a funny shot, so I threw it in.

ENDLESS CAVERNS

These are the hibernating baby bats. They were so cute there hanging on the ceiling. There was only one that we saw flying around trying to get out, but otherwise it was SNOOZE TIME!
This was like a little mini world cavern all in itself. It was only about three feet from top to bottom. It looked like a little elf or fairy town.

They actually held gown balls down in this area....okay, it was back in the day of prohibition, so they had parties down in this area, but they called them balls. It was very interesting. They've even had weddings there as recently as 1996.
These caverns were found in the 1800's by two 10 year-old boys that were rabbit hunting and chased a rabbit behind a boulder, moved the rocks and found this huge hole. There is no end that has been found to these caverns as yet. It was very interesting even to my kids!

Do you think Braden will ever give us a good face? What a goof! These hats were great until you look up. Parker looked up at one point and his hat came crashing to the ground. Even the tour guide jumped out of her skin. I swear we all thought the caves were coming in the way it vibrated around the room. It is funny now luckily.

MASSANUTTEN...not Mass of Nothin'

SWIMMING AT THE POOL

And it took a Dentist to get that tooth out! The googles might have been a little snug (note the red marks around the eyes)

It was a fun trip, but not so fun to pack for because we had to take winter stuff for the sledding hill and summer stuff for the pool!

I never said I was an expert at action shots...and it shows!

The CRAZY Train!

Parker The Tree Climber

One of the classes we are offering at the Elementary school this year is a tree climbing class. Let me tell you, it's been a HIT with all the kids. They do walking on ropes and ladders and climbing up ropes to the treetops and sliding down and they are going to be doing the zip line very soon. Parker has LOVED this class, which is a surprise to me because he's not comfortable in heights. He has gotten higher each week and says can I go up one more step each time he's up there. I am very impressed how his confidence in this has grown and it always makes me happy when I can say that I have spent $65.00 well!

A day in the orchard

Well, we've started yet another Winkel Family tradition...apple picking. We had such a good time at Grave's Mountain pikcing our own apples one day. You should have seen the kids when we actually got to pick them from the tree! They were having a festival and we had fried apples (they were like applesauce in a fried shell) and apple butter doughnuts...they were yummy! We did sand art and walked through the farm (place to visit but not live) and did the hay maze and haystack mountain. So what was not to like? Well, the apples were not as flavorful as if we had bought them in the store, but I guess you don't get a hay maze in a store (depending on the cleanliness of the store...okay, maybe you could call Costco that) and the fresh air! But we took our friend Madeline and she had a ball! It was a two hour drive, but totally worth it! Here are some of our fun times. I tried to do a slideshow, and well, now I have no hair. This will be a job for my techie-friend Janine.


Okay, the apples were a little bigger than this, really.

Braden was just as giddy as can be...but don't those apples look good?

These hills were a little difficult to walk on with all the apples on the ground...I can't count how many times Parker fell.

Parker, do you think those apples are really going to hide you?

Madeline was soooo happy to be in the mountains and on top to boot!

Does this look like something out of a magazine or what?

Yes, that is a lake and there was 1 sailboat on it!

Can you tell who "Daddy's boy" is?

It wasn't peak quite yet, but still beautiful!

This cliff was a little scarry, but leave it to the boys to test the edge...

What a great day it was!