Day 3 Part 1: Manassas National Battle Field

In the summer of 1861, enthusiastic volunteers in colorful uniforms gathered to fight the first major land battle of the war. Confident that their foes would turn and run, neither side anticipated the smoke, din and death of battle. Nearly one year later, both sides met again on the same battlefield with the Confederates winning a solid victory bringing them to the height of their power. Many neighboring villagers came to take in a picnic and watch the battle, much like our own modern adaptation of dinner and a movie.

Only one civilian was killed during the battle of Bull Run. Judith Carter Henry, an 85 year old bed-ridden widow, was mortally wounded by Union artillery fire. She is buried in a small family cemetery located on Henry Hill.

Click here if you would like to read about the first or second battles.

We spent a very very pleasant afternoon here before we had to prepare for Lucy's big birthday bash. We took every opportunity of enjoying ourselves and had lots of fun discovering a great love for jumping pictures. It is said that some of the earliest documented jumping pictures occurred here on the Manassas National Battle Field. I know this because I took them!

We decided to break away from the tour group just outside the Henry home and had Anna read to us about the battles instead. This was infinitely better because we were then able to spend as much time taking pictures of each other as we wanted, which we did with no shame or hesitation!

Good 'ol Stonewall

So appropriate for the setting if you know your Yoga positions and their names.

I'm the one on the ground and Stonewall is the one on the horse... just in case you were wondering...

Heel jumps!

Courtney's shot of me and my self portrait. Can you find me?

Back to the visiting center for a little career advice

Junior ranger and confederate soldier? I mean, we do have degrees from Universities... It just make sense that this would be our life's ambition. Right?

Thanks for the great day and for being sick. You know who you are.

Virginia Day 2: Sky Meadows and The Plains

Anna will have to correct any errors I post in this particular blog relating to the name of the little town we stopped in to explore. In my mind I call it The Plains. If you use your imagination I'm sure you could come up with a cute name you like as well!

We were able to sleep in a bit and then Anna took me to one of her favorite spots. Just an hour’s drive from Washington, D.C., Sky Meadows State Park in Clarke and Fauquier (Pronounced fock-yer) counties, offers a peaceful getaway on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With rolling pastures and woodlands, the park boasts beautiful vistas of the foothills and access to the Appalachian Trail. Its rich history is shaped by the development of agriculture and the impact of the Civil War. Activities include hiking, fishing, picnicking, horseback riding, primitive camping, and nature and history programs. We of course only participated in the hiking and picnicking. No fishing, horses, or primitive camping for us.

Great tragedy struck when Clara, quite suddenly, couldn't walk anymore because she didn't know how! Can you imagine? There were many tears shed from all parties involved. We were able to take a break at the top of the hill to eat a home packed picnic of tuna sandwiches and clementines. It were DELISH! We continued the walk back down, fortunately Clara remembered how to walk once her blood sugar was back up and we were on a decline. It was a great overcast sort of day for a fine hike and the views were beautiful. Sky Meadows has a right to boast of its vistas!

The great tragedy struck and we all took a moment to ponder what it really means to be able to walk.

Oh Mah Heck! Aren't we so dang cute?!

After our hike we proceeded to take a tour about The Plains, a town in Fauquier (Pronounced fock-yer) County, Virginia, United States. The population was 266 at the 2000 census. It is centered around Virginia Route 55 (John Marshall Highway) and Virginia Route 245 (Old Tavern Road). The mayor of The Plains is Robert Gurtler. The Plains is home to Great Meadow, a large open-air and open-field facility that hosts several large events throughout the year, including the Virginia Gold Cupsteeplechase horse race, which attracts over 50,000 guests on the first Saturday of each May. A museum dedicated to the history of slavery in the area is located near the train tracks that go through town. Long Branch Baptist Church (est. 1786), the third oldest Baptist Church in Virginia, lies a little bit to the north, in the unincorporated area called 'Halfway.' The evangelist William Broaddus, founder of Southwestern Seminary in Louisville, was pastor there in the 1830s. His nephew, John Broadus is often called 'the father of homiletics (preaching)'. Wakefield School, a pre-school through grade 12 independent school, makes its home in The Plains, VA. Actor Robert Duvall once owned a restaurant in the Plains called "The Rail Stop." He still makes his residence north of town at his 360-acre (1.5 km²) Brindley Farm.

Such a postcard worthy little town.

Thence to Wegmans, the greatest grocery store that ever was. Have you been to Wegmans? I didn't think so... We enjoyed a yummy eclair and pain au chocolat there, or as the American's say "chocolate croissant" (pronounced cross-ont) from their bakery.

Thanks for the great day and all the fun Anska!

Virginia Day 1

Here begins the blog posts of my Virginia trip. Day one: I flew to Virginia on a Wednesday. I changed planes in Chicago where I met Barbara, a blind white trash woman in a normal persons disguise. I saw her wandering around the terminal waiting area looking a little lost. I offered to help her find a seat to wait for our plane, I ended up escorting her to the restroom, and then sitting with her while we waited. She asked me to help her onto the plane and so we ended up sitting next to each other on the flight. She liked to talk about her dead beat son, and all of her ex husbands, and how she doesn't drink or smoke but told me stories about when she was drunk and offered to buy me a drink on the plane. She told me all about her dysfunctional brothers and sisters. I helped her get her bags and escorted her to her sisters car. It was a long flight and all I really wanted was to listen to Harry Potter on audiobook. I don't know how I end up in these kinds of situations... oh well...

Anna picked me up at the airport with Carla Sue. We went to Target to get some wrapping paper for Lucy's birthday. While we were there Anna saw a darling little moo moo on sale for Clarabelle. When we got home, she wanted to put it on immediately and then asked that I take some pictures of her in her beautiful new dress. She donned her indian garb along with the moo moo and re-enacted her thankful Indian song and dance. The kids came home from school and we had a great dinner of Kung Pao Chicken. There was visiting, planning, laughing, and then bed. It was a great first day!

Oh lovely!

Anna wanted to show me some of her cute poses

Carla Sue eating her snack of pretzels from a bowl, with a spoon.

I'll never eat pretzels the same way again.

Triple Threat

Alison, Katie Whipple and I decided that we would like to start going on triple dates. This naturally led to us naming ourselves "The Triple Threat" with the hope that boys in the ward would figure out that we were going on lots of fun dates with them and that they would coin the phrase "Being hit up by the triple threat." (Or something equally as cool and awesome.) Our aims are to plan and execute amazing dates, to gain the reputation as an exclusive, non-exclusive good time while keeping it clean, and to find and marry the men of our dreams (I'm still holding out for Eomer, fingers crossed!) Its been a long time coming, and there has only been one triple threat date so far, but I'm sure there will be more to come.

Alison asked Cordell, I asked Keegan (Katie's brother), and Katie asked Mike from the Brays Bayou ward. We started off the evening by cutting up the fresh toppings and making our own pizza dough. While we were waiting for the dough to rise, we played a rousing game of croquet outside in the cold wet dark. I decided to live my life out in the service of others by wearing the head lamp to light the way for everyone as they hit their balls. (Titter titter)

Mike and Katie

Alison and Cordell

Keegan

It was a lot of fun and overall a great success as Katie and Mike started dating that night. Mission accomplished.

Haul Out The Holly...

Before I left for Virginia, we hauled out the Christmas decorations and went to town! (Not literally, Debby already had all of the decorations and so we didn't need to go to town to get any more. It was just a figure of speech.) Jason Sweeney was nice enough to come lend support and, much more important, his man power. We had a swell time and by the end we were all covered in glitter (the herpes of crafts.) Let the Christmas festivities begin!!!

Dewberry Farm

On November 6th some friends from the ward and I set out to visit Dewberry Farm. It is essentially the same as Cornbellys as it includes a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, hay rides, etc. They also grow Christmas trees where you are able to go in and cut down your own tree when the time is right. Dewberry Farm's main source of revenue however, comes from the production of honey. They are bee farmers. It was a lot of fun and made me think back to last year when we were all together at Cornbellys.

Hiding in the corn maze

Feeling peckish

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The hairstyle I hope to emulate next

Hanging out

Hog ridin'

Fun on the slide

Dressing up

A very happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas, from all of us at Dewberry Farm to all of you wherever you might be.

(Me, Cordell, Nikki, Eric, Boqueesha)

Happen Yalloweh!

Yes, its December and I am posting about Halloween. Get over it please. I was Mrs. White and Alison was Miss Piggy and together we were very fun tonight. As it turned out, the majority of people I came in contact with that evening hadn't seen Clue the movie and had only played the board-game, consequently, people thought I should have been dressed up like an old maid. C'est la vie. I like to think that Madeline Kahn was with me that night and together we hated Yvette so much that there were flames on the side of our faces, heaving, breathless....

Wendy, Katherine, and Julie

Soldiers from Toy Story (Hands down one of the best costumes I have ever seen!!)

Hehehe, us

Getting de costumeized

Apparently, if you wear a feather boa all night, you start growing feathers out your armpits. (Just a heads up for those of you considering bringing back the feather boa. )