Fall Fun

Wow! We spent last weekend at Poppy and Nanny's house and we had the most fantastic time. It is amazing how much we managed to cram into 3 days.

We started with the Luray Rescue Zoo. It's quite a nice little place (although Zoo might be generous) considering the size of Luray. The most impressive part of the Zoo is their extensive snake/reptile collection. They have an impressive number of highly venomous snakes (cobras, Gabon Viper, Mambas) as well as US and local venomous and non-venomous snakes. To me, the most impressive was the Canebrake Rattlesnake (sub-species of the Timber Rattlesnake). This snake was massive. It was easily 6 inches in width - maybe more. I had no idea they were they wide and it was quite impressive.

Natalie was impressed by the very large pythons, which both she and Abby seemed delighted to think were going to eat them. They find this more amusing then scary - fortunately.


The Zoo also has a host of owls, birds, some kind of monkey, a petting area of a pig, donkey, yaks, deer, goats, etc. There are also a few cats: a bobcat and their pride and joy - a Bengal Tiger.



Friday afternoon was spent on a canoe trip I'd been wanting to take forever. Luray has a wonderful walking "Greenway" through the middle of town that hugs a little creek perfect of canoeing. The water was a bit low, but it was enough to have a little fun. Ben started out with us, but the water was too low for all of us. He and the girls abandoned ship to feed the ducks, but I picked the girls up again a little downstream. The girls seemed to have a great time and I was happy to do something I haven't had a chance to do in probably 9 years.


Saturday night we closed the day with a roaring bonfire and smore's and hot cider. My chocoholic children were mostly interested in tossing the graham cracker and marshmellow parts and scarfing down the chocolate. It was a wonderful way to end an amazing day.





Saturday we started the day with a wonderful breakfast with a former member of Poppy's church who had always offered such wonderful support and prayers. Then we headed off to Syria, Virginia to Graves Mountain Apple Farm for the Apple Festival. This year was much more crowded, and hotter, so we didn't stay as long. But, we had plenty of time to ride some ponies, check out the hay bales, and visit the petting area of the farm. They even had baby pigs, which were a real treat to watch as they ran around chasing each other.









Saturday afternoon we headed back to Poppy and Nanny's to get in a little more fun. Ben and Nanny hung out with the girls and Poppy and Mommy took a little canoeing adventure. We put in on the Shenandoah River behind their house and followed the river to see where it would go! We knew it would hit under the bridge (our pick-up spot) but we weren't sure how long it would take or what water conditions we would find. (I was hoping for white water all the way:-)) What we discovered was a wonderful stretch of river with some beautiful smooth cruising water and a few fun little rapids.

















After picking us up, Dad and Ben dropped me off at the same spot we ran the day before so I could run it myself and go a bit further. It was wonderful, although going "a little further" turned out not to be so smart since there was not actually a good place to take out the canoe. So, Ben and I ended up carrying it a good bit back to the truck. Did I mention it was dark by then? While I was gone, Poppy gave the girls his own version of a hay ride in the little trailer pulled by his lawn mower. They loved it! The next time we are there in the snow, we will have to hook up a sled and go for a spin.

Sunday we enjoyed attending church at Poppy's church and seeing all our Luray Church friends. The girls were actually wonderful and made it all the way through the service up to the sermon when Natalie said she needed to go the potty. I think they would have made it through if not for that. (It was a short sermon:-))

At lunch, the girls continued to make liars out of our complaints about their eating habits as we watch them eat salsa with a spoon as if it were soup, handfuls of chips, and 2 or 3 chicken wings. It was remarkable.

After lunch we headed to Luray's Heritage Festival where Poppy had a friend who would give us a horse and buggy ride. The girls loved it. We also rode more ponies and took a ride on the cutest homemade train made from barrels - and pulled by a tractor! It was so much fun.

And to cap the whole weekend off - we found a lovely little garter snake on the road that we were able to hurry along before it was smushed.




As always, our time in Luray ended too soon. It was amazing to at least have a 3 day weekend instead of just two and it made all the difference in being able to relax and have fun.

Coming soon to a blog near you: Natalie and Abby's first trip to the NC State Fair!