Tucahoe State Park

We spent this past weekend camping and exploring

 near Tucahoe State Park in Maryland with Jared's parents - 

Paul and Melodie Stanley.

There were thunderstorms in the forecast for the evening,

but Jared constructed a very comfortable, dry setup. 

S'MORES!

The kids had fun looking for creatures at camp...

These two moths were their favorites

And Caleb caught a frog!  These little guys were everywhere ^_^

By Saturday morning, the rain had cleared, 

so we went to the playground.

It was made of recycled tires -

The kids were so excited!

The playground was right next to the lake-

It was such a lovely day,

 that Jared took the kids out in shifts explore.

They saw tons of turtles, fish, and flowers-

and a beaver house!

They even went under a bridge

After all that excitement, we had a picnic in a pine grove.

It was so pretty ^_^

That evening, there was a hot air balloon festival 

only a few minutes down the road. 

Melodie loves hot air balloons, and it was the reason we'd 

gotten together for the weekend.

But, because the venue was at a winery, and we don't drink

(and the ticket prices reflected the free alcohol being offered)

we decided to just drive in that direction

and find our own vantage point to enjoy the mass balloon lift scheduled.

We saw them inflating when we drove past the vineyard,

and found a perfect spot a few miles down the road

We watched each balloon float up above the trees, and right overhead!

We had a clear view of them as the flew out over the farms & fields.

We got back in the van, and followed them to see if we could watch some land.

Melodie recognized one as a balloon from Bridgeton, NJ,

 where she had lived for many years.

In fact, she knew some of the crew.

**They invited us to follow them**

They finally landed at Willow Hill Farm,

in the kind owner, Florence's, yard.  

She was taking pictures alongside us,

and said she'd only ever had one other balloon land there,

about 25 years before.

Jared, Melodie, and Paul helped with walking the balloon to a safe place,

and the initial deflation.

Timber!

Then they invited all of the kids to join and help them wrap and pack it up.

The sun went down as we drove back to camp, 

and we packed up on Sunday morning.

We all agreed that we were happy we didn't go to the festival,

because we would've missed such a unique and fun opportunity.

Here a Year

Summer is here again!

Now that we've been in this area a full year, 

we're able to go back and do some of our favorite things from last summer.

The local splash pad "Our Special Harbor" was on our bucket list.

A 40,000 dollar donation received last year allowed for the addition 

of even more spray structures and water games.

All of our children enjoy their time here, and we can stay for hours!

It's right next door to an amazing playground called "Chessie's Big Backyard".

Again, fun for all ages, with some really impressive equipment.

There are a few pavilions and tables for picnic as well.

Our kids love to play here to dry off before we head home.

2017

2018 (my, they've grown!)

I'm thankful for such a nice, free facility 

which gives me the freedom to take all four kids 

to play and cool off without worrying about safety.

Produce, a Playground and a Pond

We've lived here in Alexandria for over a year now, 

but we hadn't been to a farmers market until this past week.

Just to the west of us, they hold a small Farmers Market,

Thursday from 8-12 at a local park.

I told the kids my plans for spending our morning,

and they were skeptical about it being worth their while.

But, their attitudes changed the minute we arrived.

A veterans group had brought a huge truck to display- 

They had to get a picture with those big tires ^_^

We took our time going from one tent to the next,

seeing what was available to purchase.

Everything was so fresh and pretty to look at and smell.

It was tough to choose, but in the end,

we decided on strawberries, raspberries, some hot house tomatoes, 

and a half gallon of apple cider.

After the shopping, we took a short walk over to play!

I love the instrument section

Toby was a fearless climber

Marigold stuck to the swings - you can see her in the background

The last stop was the lovely pond habitat situated next to the park.

The children were amazed at all the unique plants, animals, and insects

that were out on such a nice warm day.

The viewing deck was the perfect vantage point

We saw box turtles, fish, damsel flies, dragon flies, birds, and...

A HUGE snapping turtle!

It began to swim under the deck before I could get a better shot.

It really was impressive.

The kids said they had such a good time on our adventure,

that they hope to make it a regular day trip.