Dow Theatre

On a whim, Danny decided to build a stage for the girls.  They are always putting on plays for us in the attic and recently created a new backyard venue in the grass, so he thought it was something they would use a lot. Boy do they ever!  After just about an hour, my amazing hubby had the stage completed.  I was pretty impressed!  So far, I've seen multiple plays and musical numbers.  I think all we need now is a chalkboard sign. My favorite show was the one they created for Mother's Day.  It was short, but oh so sweet.  You can watch it below.

 

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Calvin turned one on April 24th.  The girls put a little party together to celebrate complete with Frosty Paws and two of Calvin's friends...Duke and Lucy.  He even got presents!

Little Ballerina

Sadie had her dance recital a few weekends ago and did a fabulous job.  She had two dances...one was ballet to a Little Mermaid song and the second was a jazz number to the tune of Crocodile Rock.  She said she was only a little nervous.  I also included a picture of her with her teacher who came to see her at the dress rehearsal.  After a long day at work, she picked up her two little ones and zipped on over to see Sadie.  How nice is that???

Crabtree Falls

We spent two nights at Crabtree Falls and had a great time despite the 30 degree temperatures at night :0). Here's Elise with her giant fire that made mom nervous and a view of the river that was right next to our campsite. The kids spent most of their time here and wished the water was a little warmer. Danny even got adventurous here and decided to show the kids that he could leap over the falls. Do as I say...not as I do...right? I was impressed that he made it and amused that he fell in while walking back to the side.

Calvin came along with us and seemed to enjoy himself. His lab instincts really came out along the river. He pranced along the rocks and loved being in the water. After along day though he reverted back to his cushy lifestyle. The dirty ground was not for him. He preferred to lounge on the chairs and sleep in the air mattresses with us.

On Friday we hiked up to the top of Crabtree Falls with minimal whining. We're getting better. It's the biggest waterfall east of the Mississippi and a pretty steep 1.7 mile climb up. It doesn't sound long, but it was. Despite the incline it was a beautiful walk with amazing views on the way.

Easter

Here's our best Easter family pic. Danny made faces in all of them. He's such a rebel.

We had our traditional egg hunt early in the morning complete with 60+ eggs, serious competition, and mud. The Easter bunny made it harder this year and put some way up in the trees! Chalkboard painted eggs was a first for us. It took a long time to dry and they sat in the sun for a little longer than I would've liked, but the kids had fun drawing on them.

We had a great time at Maymont a few days before Easter. The girls LOVED spending time with their cousin.

Hollywood Cemetery

Today we went to Hollywood Cemetery and Danny taught the girls how to do headstone rubbings. If you've never been there...it's huge and sprawls over lots of hills beside the James River. It kind of reminds me of New Orleans cemeteries because of the way the headstones are scattered and varied in age and design. Almost everything you see is old and crooked with only a few shiny stones and a handful of fresh graves.

At first the girls were hesitant to try the rubbings after our "being respectful" talk, but they quickly got into it and found some really neat images. I, on the other hand, brought my camera and snapped some pictures. I was really drawn to the statues. They looked so sad.

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!