Thursday, October 29, 2015

Bridge Day 2015

Bridge Day in West Virginia is the biggest event in the state.
They close off the New River Gorge Bridge for the over 150,000 people that show up for the day. 
This is the longest arch bridge in the western hemisphere so it is the largest tourist attraction here also.
The main event at bridge day is the base jumpers that are legally allowed to jump. 

They also have zip-lining, walking under the bridge, repelling, white water rafting and of course food. 

We headed out knowing it was going to be a bit chilly outside. 
I guess we weren't really prepared for HOW COLD IT WAS! 
More so Emma because shes all I cared about.
I had her pretty layered up but I still felt like she was cold, so we didn't stay on the bridge to long.
I got a couple shots and left the blistering wind. 



 Kayaking rapids 
 Rafting groups

 Cant imagine how cold this water was!
I was hoping the trees would have changed a little more before this day but it was still very pretty.
Note to self for next year: dress like it is snowing out. 

Monday, October 26, 2015

Gritts Farm X2

Emma and I headed out to Gritts farm once again for some fun. We had went a few weeks ago when Mike was able to go and now Emma and I went again with some friends and their kids. 

Diving out there was pretty much a disaster. 
I had Emma in a Halloween shirt, a sweatshirt and of course a pair of pants. Half way through driving she started to say "wet" over and over. Then it hit me...when I smelled it. 
She threw up. 
It had only happened one other time and it was when she had yogurt for breakfast. 
Well today you guessed it. 
Yogurt. 
I guess if we are going to be going in the car then yogurt is not a good choice for her. 
I tried to clean her up as best as I could but that smell just doesn't come out using only baby wipes. 
I thank goodness put a change of clothes in the car...of course they didn't match, but oh well.
 The only problem was her sweatshirt. 
I had her wear it a little when the wind was blowing, but every chance I could take it off her, I did. 


 Still loving the goats. 
side note: I really thought moving to West Virginia we were going to have a little bit of land in order to have a couple goats or some chickens. I knew she would have loved it...and so would have I. 


 The first time we came here, Emma was not able to play in the corn box. There was so many kids in there that there would have been definitely tears from getting hurt. This time around there was still field trips at the farm but the groups stayed together. So when they were at one activity the whole group was there enjoying themselves. The time before the kids were running wild everywhere.

She had a blast in the corn box and looking at the goats. 
See ya next year Gritts Farm. 

Saturday, October 24, 2015

We have a Gymnast!

Emma did a real somersault today. The first one I did not catch on video...but this was the second one. 
  The actual somersault doesn't start till 0.33 sec. 


Monday, October 19, 2015

Fall Hikes

There is no hiding that I love to go outside and explore. My love first started just a couple years ago when I lived in Hawaii. I had never really stopped to listen to the birds or feel the wind blow the way I do now. Of course I would "enjoy" pretty things outside back then, but I never truly loved it the way I do now. 
I want my baby to feel the grass between her toes at a young age. 
With that said, I am always looking for new places to go and explore as much as I can. 
Moving to West Virginia has become a little tricky with my exploring bug that I have. Hawaii, I was able to get around the whole island and adventure, then come home and have plenty of time to make dinner.  Here, everything seems so far away. The places where I would really love to go takes 2-3 hours just to drive there. Count the hour or so of actual exploring, then the 2-3 hours to drive home. Mike and I are looking into buying a RV to make things a little easier with being able to travel long distances...especially with Bolo.  
Don't get me wrong, there are still neat places around my home to see but I can only duplicate them so many times.
  
This Fall will be Emma's first. 
Sadly, we don't have a tree in our yard so there will be no throwing her into a pile of leaves, but on our hikes we do we get plenty of opportunities to see all the changing colors. 
Wine Celler Park has been my favorite place to go at the moment. There is never anyone there and it is a easy walk for Emma...so I can run some energy out of her. 
I don't like to take Bolo with us when we walk to far. He doesn't really seem to enjoy it so I don't want to push him. 
This day it was so beautiful and I wanted him to get some fresh air so we took the walk extra slow. 
We sat at the lake for a good hour just taking it all in. 
These are the best days. 
Once again, I knew we weren't going to far so Bolo was able to come and explore with us to 
The Devils Tea Table.
It was a huge rock in the middle of the forest. 
A very peaceful spot. 

We were exploring another part of West Virginia when we came up on a creek with some beautiful waterfalls.
Keeney Creek
I am such a sucker for a waterfall, big or small.
 I just wish I had my good camera with me.
I am just going to have to come back to check out all of the other waterfalls in this area.
There are so many!


Saturday, October 17, 2015

Gritts Farm - photo heavy!

I am sure I have mentioned this every October that I have been blogging, but I will say it again. Halloween is my favorite holiday! 
From every aspect!...except knowing snow is coming.
Mike finally had a day off so we went to pick pumpkins.
 This farm had so much to do. 
Hill slides, corn pit, hay rides, corn mazes.... 
I had written a couple posts ago when Emma and I went to the pumpkin festival buses and buses of kids were there on a field trip.
Once again we had the idea to go on a Thursday because Saturday and Sunday were just going to be crazy packed with family's....right? 
Well, the buses were there. 
I loved field trips, and these are the type of places that are perfect for kids, and don't get me wrong, I love kids. 
But when your child isn't able to enjoy somethings because there are 200 kids having fun themselves, it makes me just wish the buses would disappear. 

 Emma could not get enough of the goats. 
 We went through the corn maze. Emma was giving us a bit of a hard time, so we weren't in it to long. 
 WV had been having a cold spell recently, but not on the day we came here.
It was in the low 80s. 

 The next few years we will be living here we will be seeing how tall she gets each time we come.
 I was trying to get her to sit alone but she was just not having it. 


 Now time to pumpkin pick


Emma picked out her own pumpkin this year.


What a great idea! 
I had never seen a pumpkin washing station before. 
She learned how to smell flowers recently. She now smells every flower. 
We had such a great time here. 
I still cant believe we got 2 huge pumpkins, 1 medium pumpkin and 2 little pumpkins all for $17.00. In Hawaii that would have been $40.00!  

Thursday, October 15, 2015

2015 Family Photos

I would like to start taking family photos at least once a year. 
I like to see the progression of our family...plus I like to have updated photos in picture frames.
I was lucky enough to have a really talented friend when we lives in Hawaii that took amazing pictures for us.
In West Virginia, I am not so lucky.

As a family living on one income right now, I cant justify spending $$$ on professional photos at this moment. 
I have a nice camera so I decided to give the DIY photo shoot a try. 

The first step was purchasing a remote and a tripod.

I did a little research on Pintrest of some nice poses, got all dressed up and headed out to one of my favorite parks.

This is where the fun started.
 NOT!

I now understand why people pay the big bucks for a professional. 

The plan was to take a couple pictures on the trail, but most of the pictures would be taken when we reached the lake. 

Probably half way to the lake, with no photos taken yet, (because I wanted to get closer so I wouldn't have to put stuff away and then take it out again) poor Bolo got stung by a bee. 
Are you kidding me. 
The bee stung him on his paw so he would not put any weight on it after that. I got the stinger out but he was now holding it in the air. 
Mike took his nice shirt off and carried him just a little longer, but we decided not to go to the lake anymore but do all the photos in the trail instead. 
Emma was starting to get tired because nap time was coming up.
I have been to this park twice before and both times I had been the only car in the parking lot. Not on this day. Trying to get a baby and a dog to look at the camera while people walk past us is not the easiest thing to do (I know I am in a public place though).
And to top it off, my camera was not working the way it had been ever since I had gotten it. I am still not sure what was going on with it but it was becoming EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING! 

So out of 237 photos, I have 4 semi-decent ones. 

I will go head and show you those first, then the bloopers will be after that.




So I tried my best with how the day had played out. From the sleepy baby, to the bee sting.
These will just have to do for our fall family photos.
Next time I will be hiring someone. 

And just for fun, here is pretty much what the rest of the 233 photos look like. 
(i didn't bother editing them)


National Register of Historic Places

The Criel Mound is such a interesting place. 
It was built somewhere in between 250-150 BC by the Adena culture. 
It is the second largest burial mound in West Virginia. 
 13 skeletons were found buried here. 
 The view from the top. 
South Charleston  
 It was a beautiful place in the middle of downtown South Charleston. 
A few sketchy people made this place somewhere I visited quickly though. 
 After our quick visit to the mound, I took Emma to check out a park that we had never been to. 
 She always has a good time at the playground so I had to post her smiles.