Today

I dropped Hannah and Rachel off at school at 7:30. Came home, exercised, and walked a quick 3 miles around the neighborhood. When I got home from the walk, Chloe was up and Lance left for work. Chloe and I ate breakfast. She rode her tricycle to the neighborhood playground with me. There she climbed, slid, and swung "sky high". She rode the tricycle back home. We had a snack, and then finger painted for about an hour. We cleaned up from that and ate lunch. Next she took a long bath. After that we read some books, and she climbed into bed for a nap. Hannah and Rachel will be home from school in less than two hours. I have emails to write and phone calls to make for work. Tonight I'll go to "Back to School Night" at Friendship Valley.

First Day

School

Tomorrow Hannah and Rachel start back to school. They will be in 5th and 3rd grade this year. We all went to the open house at Friendship Valley Friday afternoon and met their teachers and found their lockers. It looks like it will be another great year. This will be Hannah's final year of Elementary school. She plans to continue playing clarinet in the school band and singing in the 4th and 5th grade chorus again this year. Her favorite subjects are reading and writing. She also loves acting and art. Rachel's favorite classes are PE, art and recess! She is very interested in animals (especially dogs and horses). She dreams of having her own veterinary practice and ranch one day. We did 5 out of 6 things on this summer's list (see "List" below). The school supplies have been purchased, labeled, and are sitting by the front door. The new lunch boxes are in the kitchen waiting to be filled. We're ready!

Devil's Den

We went to Gettysburg, PA yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and, as always, a beautiful drive. After a stop at the outlet stores and a little shopping we headed into the park. We have been through the park several times, and even done the audio driving tour, well almost. This tour takes about 4 hours to complete, if you want to see it all. There is a shorter version that takes about 2 hours. Anyway, we have completed most of the 4 hour tour, but by the last little bit of the tour our kids, and us, always need to get to a restroom and we are tired so we quit. Our favorite spots in the park are Big Round Top and Little Round Top, from there you have great views of the surrounding area. We always enjoy stopping here, and it is right after these stops that we quit the tour and head into town. By quitting the tour there, we have always missed out on the next stop along the way, Devil's Den. This is a rocky area where the Confederate soldiers hid out and set up snipers to take out Union troops up on Little Round Top. Yesterday we went to Devil's Den for the first time. It is more impressive up close than when viewed from up on Little Round Top. The girls enjoyed climbing all over the rocks and exploring some caves. Lance and I enjoyed the beauty of the area and reading and learning a little more about what took place at Devil's Den.

B & A Trail

Rachel arrived at our house Saturday morning to spend the day with Hannah and Little Rach, and Lance and I headed off with Chloe to meet some other families for a bike ride down the B & A trail. This is a 13 mile paved trail that runs from BWI airport in Baltimore to Annapolis. Lance mountain bikes with these guys (and one of the girls) on Tuesdays. They are all great people. I know a few of them that go to our church, and enjoyed meeting the others and their wives and kids. It was a large group, with several trailers for kids in tow. The trail ride was great, but the ride was tough for me once we came to the end of the trail and headed out on the roads through Annapolis. I was challenged by some of the hills and a pretty steep bridge that we crossed. After lunch in Annapolis, we headed back. Again, I toughed it out and made it back over that bridge. I did struggle some, but was proud that I hung in there with everyone. I never quit or walked my bike, I wasn't about to do that. These people, with the exception of one of the wives, ride often, unlike me. We rode a total of 36 miles. I really enjoyed the ride and the challenge. I'm looking forward to trying some other trails soon.

Hiking

Went to lunch yesterday at Legend's Cafe with the girls and Big Rachel. She was right, "My Big Fat Greek Sandwich" is great! So was the crab pretzel appetizer and the "Big Bopper Salad". I think I am liking Legends more after yesterday's lunch experience. Sometimes you just have to try a few things on a menu before you come across something really good. After lunch we headed off to Thurmont, MD for some hiking at Cunningham Falls and a little letterboxing along the way. We took the lower trail up to the falls. It was a great hike and we easily found Lavender's Woodstock Box just off the trail. There are three other boxes hidden off the trails leading to the falls. We will go back for them another time. The area is beautiful. The hike is only a mile long on that trail, and when we got to the falls, we had a fun climb up the rocks all the way to the top. It got a little steep in places, but Chloe hung in there. We started back down the trail at dusk and saw two deer. A great way to end a fun day.

Hershey

We had a fun day yesterday in Hershey, PA. Hershey Park is beautiful. The roller coasters are great. There are tons of rides for all ages. And, some free chocolate was nice, too. Hannah and Rachel are so much fun. They have always ridden any ride that they were tall enough to ride since they were little. Yesterday was no exception. They loved the Comet and the Sooperdooperlooper and everything else they rode. It is strange, now that they are getting older (10 and 8) to see them go off with their friends, without Lance or me, to ride some huge looping roller coaster. Of course, Jason or Rachel were nearby when Lance and I weren't. We're just beginning to enter another new phase of life as they are getting older and are becoming more and more independent. It looks like Chloe is a lot like them when it comes to thrill rides. Of course, she is too small to ride the big coasters, but she enjoyed the Flying Falcons and the Trailblazer more than any of the kiddie rides. She rode the Trailblazer with us three times and held her little hands in the air the whole time! Every time a ride ended, she begged to ride it again. We ended the day with a trip to Chocolate World and the chocolate making tour ride. After the ride, we were given a Take 5 bar. The Take 5 consists of pretzel, caramel, peanut butter, peanuts, all covered in chocolate. It was really good, I recommend it. We returned home at about 12:15 am and crashed.

Fifteen

Thursday, August 10 was our 15th wedding anniversary! After Lance returned home from Leadership Summit that night our family went out to the Olive Garden for a celebration dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed getting out our wedding videos and photo albums and looking at them with the girls. The girls also made us a very special anniversary card and surprised us by shouting "happy anniversary" when we came downstairs. 15 years sounds like a long time, but it has flown by. We have some incredible memories to look back on. And, I'm looking forward to what's to come. When I reflect back on our life together, it is amazing to see God's changing and growing us personally and in our relationship with each other. We have come a long way. I love you, Lance, now more than ever.

Box

While in Dallas we were able to track down another letterbox. We first went to the aboretum but struck out there. I guess a grounds keeper found that one and removed it, because it wasn't there for us. After a walk through the gardens and the incredible display of ultimate tree houses done by local architects, we were off to White Rock Lake to try again. This time we were successful and found the "Lady of the Lake" box fairly easily. We said farewell to our hitchhiker, "Woody the Butterfly" and left him there with the "Lady". All in all it was a fun find and cool to be able to take "Woody" so far from where we found him.

Home

We arrived back home Monday afternoon. We had fun and enjoyed spending time with everyone. It is always hard to say goodbye, knowing it will be months before we see family again, but it is so good to be home. I am glad to be back to cooler weather and a lot less humidity. I love Maryland, and I realize that more each time I travel away from here. Much more than that, I love my husband, and I missed him terribly for the two weeks we were apart. Life is getting back to normal after being away for so long. Lance makes things easy on me by taking such good care of the house, laundry, dog, etc. (He even washed and changed the sheets before I returned.) I spent yesterday and most of today catching up with friends, things around the house, and work. Our new church building is amazing and I was ready to get back here and continue setting up those beautiful infant and toddler rooms. The latest is that we should be completely on the new campus by November 12. That still gives us plenty of time to finish projects and be ready for our first Sunday at the new place. Exciting, to say the least!

End

Our trip is quickly coming to an end. It has been an eventful couple of weeks. My cousin died last week, so I was able to be here for his funeral. The circumstances were sad, but it was good to see some family members that I haven't seen in a long time. We went to a wedding rehearsal dinner for another one of my cousins last night, and will attend her wedding and reception tonight. In between the vistis with family and such, we rented and watched about 8 movies, went to see The Ant Bully (pretty good), went to Party Central (like Chuck E. Cheese, only much bigger and cleaner), and did some shopping. We also drove over to Longview Wednesday morning and spent a fun day with Glynn and Dee. Greg, Tempa, and Tina and their families joined us that evening for dinner. Chad arrived in Shreveport yesterday for the wedding, and we will head back to Dallas with him tomorrow. I will miss my Mom and the girls will, too. We have enjoyed spending time with her so much. We fly out Monday morning. Yeah! I am ready to be home and can't wait to see Lance!