oh shenandoah

Andy sneaks into Caroline's room at night so they can have a little singing time together. One of her favorites is "Oh Shenandoah", which is fun because we just spent a week there! My aunt and uncle have just moved into a beautiful new house with a view of Signal Knob. The house is minutes from the top of Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park. Do I even need to tell you that everyone involved had a wonderful time? Talk about a great way to combine family visiting and family vacation. We went hiking, the boys went canoeing, we enjoyed the views... everything was fabulous. I think Michael found a kindred spirit in my uncle, who is an avid hiker. One day we hiked the lower part of the White Oak Canyon trail (I may have the name slightly wrong), which was only about three miles (we didn't think the girls would do anything longer) and Michael basically ran the entire trail, with Uncle John right behind. I think the two of them would have been happy with a hike every day!

Although Michael and I are done with kindergarten, I am busy looking at curriculum for first grade. I am excited--many of the things we will be studying together are things he already loves. Ancient history: think Romans, Greeks, and the Bible (which he has a great knowledge of already). Lately Michael has been really excited about Greek and Roman mythology anyway; we have been reading books which tell the stories in brief overview and I'm looking forward to getting more in depth this fall!

We are slowly gearing up for the cross country trek... we are putting a hitch on our van and have rented a trailer to take everything with us. Now we just have to figure out what we can fit in it! Michael has already learned that he will have to sacrifice his beloved (but huge) wooden T-Rex skeleton (sorry, Uncle David and Aunt Rabia!). Happily we settled on a friend for Michael to give his model to so that he will know it's in good hands. Speaking of T-Rex, I have to run deal with a minor crisis involving his construction.