Highlights From The Highlands

We went camping over the Memorial Day weekend.

Three other families joined us at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.

We had a wonderful weekend of food, fun, and fellowship!

I'd never seen a Fire Azelea before.

Stephanie braided Corinna's hair.

The big boys played lots of cornhole.

The Buchanan's were nice to share their bikes. We've got to figure out a way to carry ours next trip.

The crew is setting out for our Wild Pony hike at Massie Gap.

This is the highest point in the park.

The hike was very scenic.

Here's the first pony we spotted. As you'll see, they weren't too "wild" after all.

She's going to have a baby real soon.

I told my second graders that I'd try to get my picture made with a wild pony and I did! It nipped my hand tying to get my water bottle after this shot.

We saw a big group on horseback. There is a section of the park for equestrian camping.

I'll post more pony pictures later because I deleted some while editing.

the party ball, made of Dixie cups and Christmas tree lights...

This photo was taken after our camp church on Sunday morning.

There was some pickin' and grinnin' going on in the ampitheatre.

JJ tries to get the beanbag in the hole.

The next pictures are from two separate Salamander Meanders.

a crawdad

a salamander

There were 8 adults, 14 kids and 2 dogs in our group. We're visiting another Virginia State Park in July. Want to come along? The more the merrier!

Beach Weekend!

This school year I have co-lead a small group Bible study for high school juniors and seniors. This past weekend, four of the girls joined me at the beach.

We had great fun in the sun!

We hit the beach Saturday morning after arriving around 9:00 Friday night

This is Carrie, Liz, Jenny Beth and Val.

They built themselves a little pool.

We did a little consignment shopping

and had some ice cream at DQ.

The girls played Ninja on the beach and got a lot of stares.

There were lots of beached jellyfish at Oak Island over the weekend.

Here the girls were getting ready to play beach volleyball without a ball. (more stares)

Here's a flower that was growing along the path to the beach. There were lots of them.

sunset

the beach house

It was their idea to get "dressed up" and walk along the beach.

There was lots of seaweed scattered along the shore. It's full of fiber!

My attempt at a mid-air pic....successful but blurry.

Have you noticed that I like taking pictures from behind?

Here's Liz and Val buried in the sand. I accidentally deleted the one of JB and Carrie (sorry girls, you can see it when I post pics on Facebook).

My friend and mentor Colette was the other adult on the trip. In our study this year, we talked about becoming a True Woman of God. The study encouraged the girls to seek out a "spiritual mother" and to mentor a younger girl in her walk with the Lord. Colette has been a spiritual mother and mentor to me so I was delighted that she joined us. We had a fantastic time. It was a refreshing and relaxing weekend indeed!