ES Camping Trip

Spencer on the far right with Emma, heading for big Spencer and Jordan

ESers on the hydroelectric dam on the Little River

Kiri with her goat, Jasper, and Melissa

Yummy purple peep!

Homeless street urchins!

Last night we had our ES camping trip. At the peak there were probably close to 40 people, although only about 20 spent the night. We went to the Selu Conservancy in Radford - a beautiful preserve along the Little River, a New River tributary - and we had the group camping spot and canoe livery to ourselves. Another faculty member, Lisa, brought her 8 year-old son along so he, Spencer, and Grant made a nice little pack! They had a lot of freedom and a fantastic time. They roasted every possible food product, prowled the woods, canoed, and were drawn to the fire, obsessively poking and prodding. It was nice to have so many sets of eyes watching out for them and so they enjoyed tremendous freedom. I am proud of the kids, and proud of the ES students who each contributed to a day of memory-making. And huge thanks to Robert who set up and took down camp for me, and hauled kids and equipment to and from. Phew....no wonder I am wiped out!!

ACC Chess Tourney

Congrats to Spencer and Grant for coming in 3rd and 7th (respectively) out of 26 competitors in the K-3 division of the Roanoke City Schools ACC Championship! The Harding K-3 team came in first overall too. Great job!!

Photos of the day

Dog and cat are friends!

DS'ing on the window seat on a rainy morning.

The napping house on a rainy, dreary, dark Sunday morning

So much for THAT laptop! (it didn't work anyway)

The Owl and the Grasshopper

Spring Preview

We had another gorgeous and warm day here so the kids and I, along with friend William, headed to Wong Park to climb what I have dubbed "the Eiffel tower" of Blacksburg.


And as if we needed further proof of the good relationship between canine and feline in the home:

Spencer Bday Party...the final installment

A birthDAY is not enough in this family. Nope, you generally get a full week between the actual birthday, school celebration, party, etc! Saturday was Spencer's party with Cassidy, Walter, John, and Su, and Grant had friend William over. Here's a taste of what went down:

Battle of the stomp-rockets!

Dinner of choice for typical 9-year-olds: hot dogs, mac & cheese, fries, onion rings!

The ever-popular Wii

And of course, the fun of lighting your OWN candles!

Karate

Grant got his second stripe at Karate today! He is doing a terrific job and I love the seriousness and intensity in his approach! Here he is with his senseis Dax and Adam.