A day in the Mountains

The Shenandoah Valley is protected on both sides by small, (compared to others I have been on) tree filled mountain ranges. The have made this a National Park.  The wildflowers were so beautiful and so were the lush green valleys below.  We left Chantilly around 8:30 am and didn't get back until 7:30 pm that evening.  The temperature was 61 degrees of  heaven.

 We stop to eat breakfast in Front Royal.

Every aspect of the drive was amazing! Even the little ones.

Laynie was afraid a bumblebee was going to sting her. She didn't want to pose for me thus, the face.

A Day in the Past...

Driving in to Chantilly we noticed a lot of log fences stacked up in a zigzag fashion.  We later realized that these fences outlined the battlefields of Manassas. ( first Battle of Bull Run)  We decided that we would try and go see it while we were there with Jamie's family.

We took Gavin and Laynie with us during Audrey's nap time.  We took all of them to the park in the morning, and after Auj went down, we took off.  I was a little leery of taking the kids, thinking they would be a little bored.  I was wrong, they loved it!  We stopped at the visitors center to get our CD for the tour. They had all the things little boys love cannons, cannon balls, guns, and all sorts of fun.

Morning at the park. It's literally 200 yards from their house.

Then were off to Manassas...

Cannon Balls and balls were awesome for the kids to look at.

 They loved the cannons

 Stonewall Jackson

Papa and Laynie stopped to read, Gavin took off down the path.

They loved the good old plastic Civil War army men we bought for them.

We had a great day learning about the past.

Oh Shenandoah, I Long to see you...

One of the prettiest rides you can take.  We drove up to Virginia a week ago, to spend time with our new little Ady and family.  Honestly the ride through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia were beautiful.  The Shenandoah Valley, takes my breath away.  I kept noticing the farms and old silos.  I decided to whip out the camera, and shoot pictures of the old barns and silos of the Shenandoah Valley.  Reminding you that these were taken going 70 miles an hour out of a car window, but I still got a few good pictures. Words can't describe the beauty of the lush green valleys, protected by the tree covered mountains.  I would have no problem making this my home.  Like John Denver sang..."almost heaven."