Every year we spend a week with my in-laws at their vacation home in Virginia. The kids always have so much fun. Some of their favorite things to do are ride on grandpa's boat and jet skiis, belly tube, and jump off the dock. However, there is always a competition to see which child will wake up first so they can eat bagels with grandpa on the deck. I'm not usually up that early, but I hear it is beautiful sitting outside watching the boats go by on the water. This year we celebrated Jake's 8th birthday. He was very excited to use his new snorkeling set. Jason's brother, Ryan, also spent a few days with us. Jason and Ryan took the kids on an all day jet ski adventure down the river.
We didn't get to do as much as we had planned this week since most of us were sick. We had colds, sore throats, and pink eye. However, the weather was great so we could enjoy a lot of time outdoors. The first Sunday we were there, we attempted to visit a new PCA church plant. Our directions told us to go down a road that took us through someone's farm. We were driving through a corn field. It soon became a treacherous dirt and gravel road. Then we proceeded up a steep incline and quickly found our van rolling backwards. I thought Jason would have to back down the road without any of us in it. Thankfully, Jason slowly backed us back down, turned around, and went to the PCA church we attend every year. This was the only warning sign.
We went camping at Cedarville State Park for the weekend with the Dove family and 4 Loftus girls. It was a great time to fellowship with our dear friends from church. We arrived Thursday evening and spent our time biking, cooking, eating, and making smores by the campfire. Our first night was VERY cold. It dropped to 33 degrees that night and Jason and I did not sleep very well. We were able to keep our fire going all night. The next morning was chilly but warmed up as the day went on. We spent the afternoon on a hike at Calvert's Cliffs. The children were able to search for shark's teeth and shells along the beach. Since it took the adults longer to walk, the kids finished their hike by playing on a playground made out of tires. Our evening was much warmer... around 50 degrees. We all slept much better that night until I was awoken by drops of water landing on my head. It started to rain hard and our tent was slightly leaking. However, the next morning we did have a little sun, but not very long. We were hit with a thunderstorm as we were packing the van. We left our tent up so it would dry before we went home, but instead we came home with a wet, muddy tent. Everything was either wet or muddy. Jason reminds me that we are creating memories! 
Jack really enjoyed his dessert! I think more ended up on him than in his mouth.
We went to Brad's Produce to pick pumpkins. We had a great hayride to the pumpkin patch. The kids could only pick pumpkins that they could carry without my help. Of course, Autumn got the biggest and she could barely carry it.
This year was my dad's 75th birthday. We had dinner at the Union Hotel. My brother, George, joined us from New York. We also celebrated my birthday and Autumn's. We had a great evening together. We ended the night listening to 8 Irish men sing and play instruments in the basement of the restaurant.
I looked out the window one day and saw Josh and Jack sitting together. What a great picture!
For Autumn's birthday she had 2 friends sleep over and the next day I took them to a tea room.
