Panther Falls

After our horseback riding adventure, we decided to cool off at Panther Falls. It was a short drive from Grandma and Grandpa's house and then a little walk down the trail. This is a popular swimming hole for the college kids in Buena Vista.

Here is Parker taking the plunge! He could hardly get out of the water fast enough and climb back up to jump again!

Chris, Carter and Tanner look for fish just below the falls.

Carter jumps.....
Tanner jumps......
Parker jumps!
The boys also found some rocks to slide down....

The boys jumped off the smaller rock forever. However, there was a MUCH bigger rock to jump from. We challenged Parker to jump....here he is getting ready!
He did it!!!!! He thought it was so fun he climbed up and did it again. These pictures are deceiving....the jump was quite high. I am taking the picture from about the same level so you can't really see how far the drop is. Parker never ceases to amaze me. He is a very quiet young man....but he really has a spirit of adventure and is willing to do lots of new things!

Sliding down the bigger water slide.
Tanner and Grandpa hang out and wait for the boys to finish. What a fun afternoon!

Horseback Riding

One of the fun activities that we had planned was taking the boys to a horseback riding lesson. Tanner has always loved horses and Grandpa and Grandma found someone that teaches children.
Before the lesson, the boys learned how to take care of their horse.

Besides brushing their horse, they had to learn how to clean out their hooves. Tanner really enjoyed this part!
Tanner gives this horse a little snack while he was waiting to be saddled up.

Parker is riding "Oakey."
Tanner's horse is "Pearl."
Parker and Carter "walking the rail."
The lesson is over. Tanner leads Pearl out of the riding ring.
Carter got to ride "Stretch."

The boys had a GREAT time! We weren't even in the car 5 minutes when they asked when they could come back. So, we scheduled another lesson for the next Monday. More to come on that....

Crabtree Falls

On Monday, June 30, we went for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway on our way to Crabtree Falls. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed our hike. All the Jorgensen boys....ready to go. This picture is a little dark, but if you look closely in the middle there is a snake! It was just hanging out on this rock.
This hike was so beautiful.
Parker and I finally made it to the top. This picture is out of order....but Carter and Tanner had had enough of "hiking" so Chris and Grandpa took them back down. Parker and I were up for more adventure, so we kept on going! It was quite the hike....lots of switchbacks. But, the trails was very good and we enjoyed some time together.

A cave we found on the way up.
The falls kept cascading down the side of the mountain. So, at every stop, you got a different view.
Parker, Tanner and Carter take a rest on this big rock. This is where we split up and Parker and I kept going up.

My fabulous "hiking" shoes. I actually call these my "Chris Skousen Hiking Shoes!" My sister in-law lives in flip-flops and two years ago we took a hike to some falls in Grand Teton National Park. She hiked the entire way in a pair of flip-flops! I debated whether or not to bring my tennis shoes. My suitcase was way too full so I ditched them at the last minute. I had no idea we would be doing a 4 mile hike in Virginia. But, fortunately, the trail was really good....so these worked just fine....(not a recommendation for other hikes though!)

Summer Harvest

One of the fun things that Parker found to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house was pick fruits and vegetables. Since we live in the desert, having a garden is a struggle because it is soooo hot! But, in Virginia, he was able to see how a garden can flourish. Every morning he would get a bowl and go out and check to see if there were any new raspberries to pick. Then he made the rounds to the different plants to see what was ready. These raspberries were delicious! These plants are straight from Logan, Utah. Grandpa transplanted the raspberry plants from Grandpa Lee Jorgensens garden and they have thrived in Virginia.

Another find.....a blueberry!
Zucchini
Peppers. These are only a few of the fun things Grandma and Grandpa were growing.

Southern Virginia

There is no doubt, that southern Virginia is absolutely beautiful. This is the view from Chris' parents deck! It is AMAZING! We spent the next few days of our trip with them in Buena Vista, Virginia, which is about 3 hours south of Washington, DC in the Shenandoah Valley. It was so fun to drive through the country and see all the beautiful farms with old barns and grains silos. Buena Vista is home to Southern Virgina University, which is a small, private LDS university (not owned by the church). Chris' parents have lived in Buena Vista for the last 8 years and work at the school. We got to see many great projects (new dorms, student union in progress, etc.) that they have been able to take part in of the last few years.
Part of the highlight of Grandpa's house is riding his lawn mower! It took Chris and the boys 2 days to get the whole thing mowed! They have such a beautiful piece of property.
This is the view from their front yard! WOW! I love being in the country. It was so nice to sit outside in the evening and feel the cool breeze and look at the "lightning bugs!" This was my first experience seeing "lightning bugs" and I thought they were totally cool! The kids had a great time catching them in the yard. I thought they looked like little twinkle lights in the grass and trees. We were extremely blessed to have fabulous weather while we were there. I had prepared for the worst since I hate the humidity, but we had very mild days and cool evenings which made everything very enjoyable.
Here is the front of Grandma and Grandpa's house. I can't believe how big these trees have grown since our last visit.

Washington DC - Day 2

We posed for a family photo after attending church at the Annandale Ward, where Chris grew up. It was fun to see many people he knew. After church Grandpa and Grandma took Tanner and headed south to their home in Buena Vista, Virginia. We had a few more things to see and then headed down later in the evening.
We visited Mount Vernon for the afternoon. The weather wasn't too oppressive and the lines weren't too long. Sheli waited in line for the tour of the mansion while the boys looked around at the grounds and outer buildings. By the time they returned it was almost our turn to walk through the mansion.
Our next stop was the "International Spy Museum!" The boys were very excited to go to this museum. There were lots of gadgets and real "spy stuff" to look at. Here the boys are crawling through an air duct that was set up so they could see how some spys do their work. It was amazing to see everything they had. I was very impressed. They even had a "James Bond" car that showed guns coming out the front and spikes coming out of hubcaps to puncture tires, etc. It was very a very interactive museum. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the DC area.
Next stop....Grandma's house!

Washington, DC - Day 1

We arrived in DC at our hotel around midnight Friday night. The next morning, Chris' parents drove up from their home in Buena Vista, VA to meet us for the weekend. Parker and Carter are having our "7-11" breakfast! We didn't have a car and the hotel only provided a grab and go type breakfast, so Chris walked to 7-11 to pick up some staples. We had a full kitchen in the hotel which was nice.
Tanner was so excited about his new DS, that he slept with it! He wasn't moving very quickly Saturday morning either.
Once we got up and at 'em, our first stop was the Naval Museum at the old Navy yard. The boys had a lot of fun looking at all the guns and cannons and ships.
Carter with Grandma and Grandpa Jorgensen.

All of us in front of this big anchor!
Parker was able to look through a periscope which they had set up so you could see outside the building. It was pretty cool.
Tanner looks pretty small compared to this real torpedo.
Out on the Navy ship that is docked on the river by the museum.
Carter tries his hand at some of the real guns used on the ships.

Here are the boys climbing on the sculpture of Albert Einstein in downtown Washington, DC. Parking spots are hard to come by in the city. This guy had the right idea! Buy a "Smart Car" that is half the size of a regular car. This looked so funny I had to take a picture.
This was my biggest find of the day. These little knit finger puppets are made in Bolivia where my parents are serving their mission. My mom sent us a whole box full of these puppets exactly like the ones here. However, she did NOT pay $4.00 each for them!!!! Amazing. I found these at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum gift shop. I could not believe the markup!

The last two pictures are taken from the Old Post Office tower looking out at the Washington Monument. It was a great view from the tower. We could see all over the city.

Some of the other places we went that day were the National Geographic Museum and the Natural History Museum to see the bugs and rocks. It was very crowded though and we were getting pretty tired. We took a break that evening and took Grandma over to Virginia for a wedding reception. After we had dinner and she was done with the reception, we went back over to DC to see all the memorials at night -- one of our favorite things to do. Unfortunately, there was a huge thunderstorm with the heaviest rain I have seen in a long time. In addition to the rain, most of the parking lots have been closed around the memorials....so we basically drove around. Oh well, it was a great day!