Getting Festive

This year we mooched off other people's ideas and of fun things to do and it went well!  My parents, (who have only lived in the state for less than 6 months and have probably seen more than me in five years) told us about a free tour of the trees in the governors mansion held by local botanical societies.  It was a fabulous way to spend a Saturday morning!  We had been to the capital, but never inside the governors mansion.  ...and extra bonus, we could check off one of Grant's cub scout goals.

  The trees were beautiful and we each had our favorites, but a big highlight was the press room set up in the small ballroom.  Both kids had fun pretending to be governor.  Haley really wants to be governor now and have her husband be the first man to have his picture in the hall of governors wives.  Haha.  She has always loved control and power :)  I think she's since moved on in her goals from the lowly governor's office and wants to be a supreme court justice now.  Either way, I see law school in her future!



 The capital is just across the lawn.

 It's hard to see in this picture, but every tree on the property was packed FULL of these huge birds. It felt ominous, but it was fun to watch them.  The capital roof was full of them too. 
 Later that night we went to Shaker Village.  A family friend told me about the twilight tours they give with free hot coco and cider, music, games and candlelight tours of the main living hall.  It was soooo cool and so much cheaper than regular tour prices.  We loved it so much we are keeping this on our yearly traditions.  



 They sing carols and have a tree lighting too.  It all just felt so homey and festive.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life is Expensive

Image
This black friday I had my hopes set on this: But what I got instead was this: Cool, right?  Well - yes, and no.  I do really, really love our new Toyota Rav4, but was geared up to spend around $800 this week, not so much the more than $800 a new car costs.  I should also mention that I have been saving for the past 3 months for my big tv purchase and had finally saved $750 this week when our money pit Buick Rendezvous finally decided enough was enough and decided it only wanted to drive to Clarksburg West Virginia, not Morgantown...another hour down the road.  So needless to say there will be no big fancy tv in my house this Christmas season, (boo hoo hoo) but hey - I can live without a tv, but I can't live without a car. As sad as I am at the loss of my near tv purchase (and all of my financial savings!) I am grateful this Thanksgiving week for many things.  Here are just a few things I've learned this week: 1.  Never buy a Buick....NEVER!...
Read more

Dr. Noehren is Now FUNDED....a Little!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I seem to blog a lot about Brian's work stuff - but I just get so excited and want to share.  Plus, I figure it is our family blog, and Brian's not one to mention this stuff on his own so here goes another post that you can skip if you could care less! At any rate - today Brian got his first grant!!!  Oh happy day.  He has been included on other people's grants and gotten some as a grad student - but this is his first official grant that he is the primary investigator on.  The glorious sponsor's of the grant are his professional foundation - the American Physical Therapy Association.  I love them.   I really do.  They gave us 3 grants during grad school that saved us $30K in student loans.  They are one of the few organizations that when in a position to do so, I will donate lots of money to.  And now this.  Man, they are cool. So, as a rookie researcher they typically give you 2 years to set up your lab and ge...
Read more

Easter Visit

Image
This Easter we invited my parents down and had a blast!  We headed off to Keenland for the spring races in town on the only sunny day of the week.  It was a ton of fun!  For some reason horse racing here is regal and fancy - not scuzzy and seedy like it can be other places.  Girls in pretty sundresses, men in sport coats and ties.  I would have never thought of going to the horse races when we lived in Delaware, but here it is a real destination!     One of the "worker" horses that parades the race horses around.  ...and their off!!  Beautiful Haley  Here are the two die hard horse betters watching their horse lose at the last mintue.   We colored eggs.  We went to church with our new Easter dresses,  and found where the very large manly bunny (named Brian) hid the Easter baskets and eggs this year. Grant not-so-patiently waited for almost a month for his mini pillow pet.  He even...
Read more