A Weekend of Adventures

Jeremy had an invitation to play in a golf tournament so we went to WV a day earlier than we had planned. This meant that Karen worked the first night we were there and I needed to figure out a plan to have the children out of the house so that she could sleep.

I decided on the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Center--a museum for children. The children and I set out for Winchester and a fun day of exploring. The museum opened only a few months ago so everything was shiny and new. Some exhibits are still being developed.

There were 4 floors of activities. We spent the most time on the second floor. There was a Potomac River Watershed exhibit. It's always fun to play in water. There were 7 different tables of building manipulatives and an area to build roller coasters.

Josiah enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit.

There was also a real ambulance to play in. This particular driver made me a little nervous!!

This is the roller coaster exhibit. When it was just us in the area, Josiah really moved the pieces around and tried to figure out how to get the ball to go the farthest. I missed Jeremy here--he would have been able to help Josiah be really successful.

We had a picnic lunch across the street on the grounds of the George Washington's Office Museum and then revisited our favorite exhibits. The crowd thinned out after lunch and we enjoyed the museum more. Everyone was tired when we started the drive home. I was a little early so when all 3 were sleeping when we reached our exit, I kept driving and took the LONG route back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma was awake when we got back to the house. I kept my eyes open for a Pioneer Woman cooking show and then I was fast asleep. I was tired after walked up and down 4 floors of steps multiple times!!

Saturday morning was a nice lazy morning. Then at 12:30 we decided to pack and picnic lunch and head to Poor House Farm Park for a letterboxing adventure. Karen knows a couple that plants quite a few letterboxes in the area so we knew they had a series of dragonfly stamps at this park. It was a perfect day for a picnic and walk.

There were 7 stamps and I got us off to a wrong start by finding the last stamp first. It even made sense with the clue. But then, of course, the 2nd clue didn't make any sense and we spent a lot of time wandering along a creek in a thickly wooded area. Oh well. It's always fun to explore, right?!

All of the stamps were hidden in ziploc bags covered in black or camo duct tape.

Once we got on the right path, there were gobs of the most delicious wild raspberries. We snacked as we walked.

We found 6 out of the 7 stamps. Some were quite difficult and others were a lot easier. I think it's fun. It's a free adventure and it gets us out to new and different places.

This time, though, it was the raspberries that really stole the show. They were sooo yummy!