A Walk in the Woods

On a non-preschool day we've got to find things to do.  Seems like Prince William Forest Park is my go to place these days.  Last time we went to the playground it was teeming with kids.  This time it was empty :(  Katie said it was okay though, that she could play with me and Levi.  :)  We all climbed into the rocker bee and rocked away.  Levi held on and giggled his head off.  Then we went for swing rides and all went down the slide in a train.  It was good times (for about 40 minutes)  Then I was ready to do something else.  Katie had gotten wet first thing when she went down the gravy slide.  (It rained here again all day yesterday)  So we decided to go for a walk on the trail we attempted last week when I was sick.  I don't know what it is about this place, but the isolation creeps me out.  Not sure if I will be eaten by a bear or killed by some hick Virginian, but I don't like the empty woods so much.  I was happy that there were two other, non killer looking people on the loop trail.  It wasn't much of a trail, but we used it to practice looking for trail markers and we had a few hours to kill in the afternoon (in a non murdering sort of way)

A walk in the woods

LEVI!  Don't I feed you enough?

Pointing out trail markers

A big long bridge

The other, non killer looking people seemed to use the trail as an exercise loop.  For me, one loop was enough.  I don't think I had quite found my calm, relaxed mentality yet where I could just go around in switchback circles for hours at a time. I needed a new trail.  We were going to head over to the Tangled playground (the one on Quantico) but Katie suggested we drive around the park a little more.  Okay.  Levi was crying so we stopped at the next place that we saw other cars parked on the side of the road.  Certainly no bears or people would eat us with other people around, right?  To get to the trail, we had to walk down a big staircase so I ditched the stroller and carried Levi in the Ergo.  Poor dude hated it, even with milk involved.  Katie decided the place was lame for hiking, but the stairs were cool. She went up and down them a few times.  Kids!  Who goes up and down stairs for fun?

At the top of the stairs.

 Since Levi was crying so much we got back in the car and drove a little further.  At a choice in the road, I picked the way with a cool looking bridge.  Well, then I was stuck driving a ways on a two lane windy road with no where to turn around.  When I finally found a place to turn it was the start of another trail and an empty parking lot.  CREEPY!  Katie suggested we go on the hike.  Really?  Into the woods with no one else around and silence in the seat next to her, which meant that Levi had finally fallen asleep...  Okay, I guess.  It sort of looked like I could maybe bring the stroller down the dirt path filled with tree roots.  Whatever.  Let's do it.  Oh and it was the Algonquian Trail.  I made my kids learn about the Algonquian Indians in Japan so I felt that I owed it to the to follow the trail and imagine my life as an Algonquian Indian as the sign instructed.  I did text Dan to let him know where we were in case some rouge Virginian decided to eat us.

The sign that inspired it all

Katie found a walking stick

She was quite proud of it

I shortened it for her :)

Checking out a small stream

Had to abandon the stroller

We made it to the river

Enjoying some tranquility

So happy to be out exploring

Look who finally woke up!

We gave him a stick so he could enjoy the nature too

Katie took this picture of us

By the time we walked back to the car, uneaten, Dan was calling and was done for the day!  Yipee!  He borrowed his roommate's car and met us back at the hotel room for free dinner and wine.  Yum :)  Oh we also made Katie a tiara today from Princess School.

 

Fredricksburg and a Trip to Maryland

I think we are feeling better, but who knows anymore.  We decided to head south to Fredricksburg and go to Old Mill Park.  It was a large grassy area along the river.  We threw rocks into the river and squished around in the mud.  Katie's pants and shoes are caked in mud now.

Walking over to the river

Still nice and clean

Who can resist throwing some big sticks into the water?  It is even fun for adults.  We tried to get around the big log in the background.  It was no easy feat.

Daddy wanted to throw the biggest ones in

starting to get a little dirty

 It was finally a beautiful day around here.  Warm for the area- mid sixties.

Levi had been held too long.  Since he likes sand so much, I was wondering if he would like mud too.  I think he did.  Nothing like squishy mud between your toes :)

trying out a new texture

cold and squishy :)

I think he likes it!

Katie's shoes were done for the day

 We changed clothes, got warmed up, and laid on the sheet under the sun and then headed over to the park's playground

Swing

 We ended the day with a drive across the Potomac to Maryland to check it off the 50 nifty list.  I wasn't thrilled. We ate at a crab place on the water.  I expected the food to be fabulous, especially for the price.  The vegetable of the day was string beans. I was expecting sauteed green beans in a little olive oil with maybe some nuts.  Instead I got warmed up caned green beans in a Styrofoam bowl.  This was part of a $25 dinner dish.  All and all it was too much fried stuff (I didn't know that was possible)  It was $6 bucks to get back to Virginia- so worth it.  On the way the speed limit changed from 55 to 25 right at the border.  There was a cop sitting there walking into the road pulling people over.  Glad we escaped.

Searching for Salamanders

Dan was feeling better and Katie seemed better so we decided to get out of the hotel room for a little walk.  We got all ready to go, walked out the door, and Katie said she was ready for a nap :(  Poor kid.  Who wants to nap when they could go out in the woods and look for salamanders?  So we went back inside and rested again.  We watched some of Cinderella and then tried to drag her out again.  This was mostly Dan's idea, although I needed some fresh air too.  We have too huge windows in our hotel room, but no fresh air.  We decided to show Dan Prince William Forest Park and follow some little creeks to search for salamanders.  

Searching the creek

Had to cross it several times on every log we saw

so peaceful out here

Katie was to official water poker

  
After scouring the creek for a while we decided to try our luck in the leaf litter.  We found a salamander :)

Here's the handsome fellow

Katie even held him

We continued the search for other items in the leaf litter.  We found a centipede.  

We didnt hold this guy

We found another salamander

We found water salamanders in the pond

Levi by the pond

I have the most adorable loveable children ever!  And now Katie and I feel like we are going to throw up again.  Our 30 minute excursion may have been too much for me.

Forest babies

Easy Crockpot Roast

Dan bought me a crockpot to use while I am in Virginia. Last week I bought a roast to cook up, but since we have been sick all week it sat in the refrigerator.  Yesterday I finally decided I needed to cook it up or it might go bad.  I love this recipe.  So easy and delicious.  With Dan being gone to school the past few months I have learned to make a lot of stuff using the crockpot since the kids are both happy in the morning.

Ingredients:

1- 4 to 5 pound beef roast any kind. Chuck is best!
1 packet dry Italian Dressing
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing
1-2 packets brown gravy mix
 3-4 large russet potatoes peeled and chopped up
4 carrots, peeled and chopped in 2 inch rounds
1 cup water
 
Some people say to rinse and dry the roast first.  I always skip this step.  I'm not sure it makes anything taste better, but it definitely increases your chances of putting dangerous bacteria all over your kitchen.  Instead I just dump the roast right into the crockpot and go.  Mix up your seasoning packets in one cup of water, until well blended. Peel and quarter your potatoes and carrots.  Place the roast on the bottom of the crockpot. Pour the seasonings with water over the roast. Place the veggies  on top of the roast. Cover and cook in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours. 

(Using my new crockpot, which apparently does not really have a low feature, it only took about 3 hours.  oops!)

 Having a house full of sickies though I was the only one who ate yesterday anyways.  Today Dan and Katie both loved it though.  Nothing like an extra day to marinate in yummy goodness.  Now to get everyone healthy again.  Katie wanted to go and do something so we were going to take her on a hike and have her ride in the stroller (just to get her outside)  We got all ready to go and then she said she wanted to go back to bed.  Poor sweet girl.  You know your kid is sick when they would rather stay in bed than go and look for salamanders.  :(  Maybe after a nap she will be ready for a stroller ride.  I'm not sure how much longer I can stay inside.  Wish we would have had these sicknesses last weekend when the weather was so miserable.

Prince William Forest Park

After yesterday's death day of staying sickly in the hotel room ALL day I had to get the kids outside, at least for a little while.  We decided to drive over to Prince William Forest Park, which was about 10 minutes from our hotel off the 95 N. There was no gate guard present and they suggested paying at the ranger station.  Since we have the military parks access pass we decided to bypass stopping and figure out what the park had to offer.  We stopped once we saw a sign for a playground :)  Three year olds are quite persuasive.  The park was beautiful, and there were about 10 kids there which was perfect for Katie to have someone to play with after missing her preschool day on Monday.

A park in a forest!

Really everything around here is a forest

 The best part was the swings.   We put Katie on a swing and Levi and I pushed her.  Every time she came towards us, Levi laughed so hard :)  Then he got in a swing too and loved that

My big six month old

rolled right off the blanket to eat some leaves

after a little hike, Mommy needed rest!