This past weekend we celebrated Labor Day weekend by heading up to Charlottesville to visit family and take our {sort of} annual canoe trip. We so enjoy our trips up to spend time at my aunt and uncles in the mountains. They have a quiet home in the town of Palmyra, VA and we love to spend time sitting on their back deck visiting, roasting marshmallows around a bonfire, and canoeing down the James River. : )
Saturday we visited Fruit Hill Orchard, a family that goes to my Uncle's church owns this orchard and they make - in my humble, apple butter loving opinion - the best apple butter I've ever tasted.
Reaghan had fun helping me pick some apples off the tree.
We picked a lot of Gala apples - apparently its the end of their season, so we had to search for some good ones, but it was worth it because I love Gala's!
Their peaches were on sale too so we got a few of those also! Reaghan loves to bite right into a juicy peach!
The Apple Butter!
My phone didn't take a a great nightime shot of our campfire :( I was really bummed I couldn't get a better picture because it was one of those moments that make your heart tender and grateful, one that touches all of your senses. I had to put Reaghan to bed so I was the last one to join the family around the campfire. As I walked out, everyone there was gathered around in camp chairs or on the picnic table and singing along to my cousin playing the guitar. Even though I couldn't get a great picture, I had to capture something that would help me tuck away the feeling of being extremely blessed by having such a wonderful extended family.
Sunday we worshipped at my the church where my uncle is a Pastor, and then spent the afternoon playing games like KanJam and Volleyball.
We took our canoe trip on Monday and had a beautiful day for it! It was a shorter trip than usual, only about 4 hours, since we needed to travel home that evening, but we had a great time!
{Reaghan made it in the picture, but don't worry - she stayed back at the house with her grammy, great grandma and great aunts!}
2 of my aunts and 2 cousins came back with us to visit at my parents for a few days, so we definitely had to make a trip to the beach! There are definite perks to being a stay at home {and in my sisters/cousins case, homeschoolers!} and one of those is getting have September beach days! The weather is perfect and the crowds are non-existant. : )
It's back to the regular schedule today - Doing laundry, catching up on housework that was neglected while we were gone, letting Reaghan get good naps in her crib and I have to go to work at 2.
We had such busy summer! We took a trip every month! Our fall is shaping up to be on the busier end as well. Reaghan's first birthday is in 8 days, her birthday party in 10 days, and we are planning another trip to the mountains with Mark's family in October. Mark is also going to be taking classes this fall, starting back up with giving drum lessons and I'll be working an extra day starting in October. Oy... just thinking about it sort of overwhelms me. Hopefully it won't be as crazy as it sounds, but I have a feeling it will be Christmas before I know it!
Oh well, so is life. : )
I'm so grateful for the busy, but fun summer we had!
Our little cutie made it the best summer ever.
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