Norfolk Zoo

We went with some friends to the Norfolk zoo before the summer was over. Their favorites were the mama and baby orangutan, the giraffes, and cheetah. And they also very much enjoyed the fountains - it was another hot day! 

Swim team

Bonnie and Riser tried the swim team for the first time this year. They were on the Wellington Waves (the closest team to us), but they did the 'Little Waves' program for the kids that weren't able to swim across the pool and compete in meets yet. 

They had fun, made progress on their swimming, and enjoyed pancake breakfasts on Tuesday. By the end of the season Bonnie was swimming across the pool and is excited to participate in meets next year. Riser is still a work in progress and has a lot to learn before he can join the official team, but has fun doing it!

At the end of the season, they have a meet just for the Little Waves. The kids had only been practicing in the shallow end (not the lap lanes) all season, so it's a chance for them to see how far they can get in the lap lanes. The coaches are there to help them along when they need it. It was very cute and fun for them to get an idea of how a meet runs.

See if you can spot Riser waiting in the chairs in the video below. The energy that courses through him is nonstop. 

They had a great season and say they want to do it again next year!

Blueberry picking

I decided to take the kids blueberry picking one day, and mom met up to join us. It was a beautiful day and always a fun adventure!

The ice cream is always a favorite!

Hiking Old Rag

Earlier in the summer a couple friends and I took a short weekend trip to hike Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah. We drove up on a Saturday afternoon, grabbed dinner along the way and pulled into our little farmhouse Airbnb.

We went to bed early so we could wake up while it was still dark and get to the base of the mountain early. We heard it could get busy on weekends and parking could be tricky so we wanted to make sure we got a spot and also beat some of the heat. 

Old Rag:

According to Google:

Old Rag Mountain is a famous 3,284-foot peak in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. It is known for a strenuous 9.4-mile circuit hike featuring a challenging, mile-long rock scramble and panoramic 360-degree views

We left early enough that we saw very few people for the first couple hours of the hike. And every time it opened up to a new view, I thought it couldn't get better. 

I was impressed with how steep and long some of the rock scrambles were. Some of them took multiple attempts to figure out how to traverse. 

Once we finally made it to the top it was absolutely beautiful!

Our trip down was much less eventful but beautiful nonetheless. The deer didn't mind us at all.

It was easily the best hike I've ever done and I would love to do it again. But my calves were pretty sore for a couple days.