Ah hah! This post will have me caught up! Boy, this was less painful than I thought! Hopefully it wasn't too painful for you - to read. :)

Some of you may have noticed the new LARGE picture at the top of our newly named blog. That is a picture of Great Falls. A beautiful hike near our home. We had a great Saturday hiking it. I must admit, I like hiking! In Colorado it was pretty tame, well-beaten trails and fairly flat. Here in VA we were traipsing (sp?) all up and down rocks and hoping that we would somewhere meet the trail again. It was GREAT!

On the way to the trailhead a snake was spotted. Cool. Later I learned there is a poisonous snake in this park. Oh, maybe not so cool!

There are LOTS of rocks all over the park and trail. These are some of the cool holes the water has worn in. And some cool boys in the holes. Boy in the hole!!!

At the turning back point we came to Sand Beach. I know, really imaginative name. Ben decided he'd cool Frosty off. He is so intune to Frosty's needs, except for walks and food that is.

Our home is small, but we are closer now. I loved this scene of Mark and Ben putting shoes on for church. 

Jon and Julie, Sarah and Will and all accompanying cousins came over for Jordan's birthday. We were talking about Rock Band and Julie boasted she was pretty good on drums. Jon threw down the gauntlet and the game was on! You can barely see it but look in the crook of Julie's arm. There is a Buddy hand there.The boys just had to help Mom!

Then it was Jon's turn. He won. And he even had a hand too!

Ben had my phone at church.

A happy dad. A movie and some cookies. Bring it on.

Another cultural event we got to participate in was a Plane Pull at Dulles Airport. It's for Special Olympics. Mark was a little excited to see a real Mustang. Too bad the old guy with it was a curmudgeon. But that didn't damper Mark's enthusiam.

Casey was less than thrilled by the activities. Until she saw the classic cars. She really appreciated the gears they have now that she can drive a stick shift! Did you know that Corvettes have 6 gears?!

This was the cornerstone event. Teams would raise money for Special Olympics and then compete at pulling a 195,000 airbus. Really. 

The maximum number of pullers was 25. The minimum was 20. One team was short 8 members so Mark got to help! Pull baby! 

After the team would pull they would be weighed. There were plaques for the lightest, oldest, youngest, etc. This team won the competition, pulling the plane in under 8 seconds. They have won for the last 5 years. Mark's team weighed over 3,000 pounds. He thinks this team clocked over 8,000. They are big boys!

The boys decided to make their own swords one Saturday. Off they went to Home Depot for supplies. Here is Jordan with the beginnings of a long sword. 

Even Mark got into the game. His was a Darth Maul double-bladed sword. He does look menancing. So does Ben as he stabs him in the side. Kidney hit! 

Jordan was getting something off Ben's shoulder. That's another good use of a long sword. 

Benjamin was quite attached to his sword. It was a standard size. Good thing as the long sword would have been hard to navigate while doing dishes. 

Another score for the day was the free ncardboard. Perfect for making shields! Jordan measured the circumference of the shield, divided it by 5 and used those points to make his 5-sided star, equally. 

I am happy to report you are now caught up on our activities. The swords are still in play, though the boys have determined they need more padding as they do indeed hurt when whacked hard enough. Tossed aside is the suggestion that they not hit each other so hard. Of course.

Till next time!