there but for the grace of God...

There but for the grace of God, go I.

I'm sure I first heard this phrase from my mom. I had never liked it much...with it's yoda-like grammar structure. Plus, being young, it just didn't make much sense to me. The young are invincible and untouched by tragedy, for the most part.

But now, the phrase is often silently whispered in my thoughts.

And once the other day in Maymont.

We ended up getting separated here. The two older kids had gone to the bathroom with dad, and I got sidetracked taking cute pictures of Diego. When we came back up to the bathrooms, they were all gone, so Diego and I headed on to the waterfall, where I figured they'd be.


We cut through a bamboo path and came out close to the waterfall. People were drenching themselves under it, so we sat down to watch. We dipped our feet in the cool brook that was flowing by us, and I kept a tight squeeze on Diego's arm so he wouldn't go plunging down below. And we waited. The others weren't there. After fifteen minutes, I figured they must have gone on to the japanese garden, so we packed up and headed over there.

And we found them crossing the stepping stones. Joaquin was going full speed yelling, "Watch me!" And Juan Pablo was unusually quiet. Isabela was holding his hand.

Before I had a chance to fuss about being left behind at the bathrooms, JP says, "It was a good thing you weren't with us."


It turns out, Isabela had slipped off a very high rock. And here's the God part. Juan Pablo was below and reacted fast enough that he caught her. To hear Joaquin tell it, Isabela said, "Hey this looks like fun," then slips and starts screaming and waving her arms around. And it is quiet funny to see him do it.

But really it's not funny at all.

It could have been much worse. But the only injuries were a banged up ankle, a bleeding pinkie toe, and Juan Pablo scraped up his arm and pulled some shoulder muscles.

There but for the grace of God, go I.

So does this mean, if something worse had happened, God's grace does not exist?


I don't think so.


Afterall, it's just a saying.


But it gives us pause to think. And be thankful.


The fall didn't stop us from climbing high....


...or hoping to.


But we're glad there are others to help us down.


We finally made it up to the Dooley mansion, and this day we decided to take the tour. Only, two minutes after it began, Diego started squirming and whining, so before we could get kicked out, I excused myself with him. The guide said, "Come back when you're older!" Oh yeah, and see those black grates on the house like a dungeon? Joaquin pulled one of them off.


So Diego and I hung out waiting for the others. We made a new plant that reminded me of Horton's clover from Horton Hears a Who...and acted silly.


And even though I kept a close eye on this little runner, at one point, he stood on the edge of a rock wall gazing down at a tumbling waterfall. Although I was too many feet away to be comfortable, he stayed put.

There but for the grace of God, go I.

Grayhaven

Grayhaven....it sounds like the name of a castle from medieval times. Misty clouds rolling along the moonlit sky with the sounds of metal armor clanging and horses hooves stomping the ground below.

But it's not. It turns out, it's a nearby winery....The Farm Table held a family event there this past weekend. Just one more reason I'm thankful we joined. Their mission is not only for people to eat healthier, but also enjoy it!


Here's the most recognizable flag on earth these days. Don't know it? Well, don't admit it, but you must not watch soccer. (It's South Africa's...where the last World Cup was held.) I saw it and immediately thought, 'Wow, they must really like soccer,' but after some deductive reasoning, I'm now thinking the owners are from South Africa.


The beautiful wooden door on the house also caught our attention...along with large cattails and giant koi swimming in the pond surrounding it.


Did you know that wine grapes had thicker skin and lots of seeds? Someone just told me that. Interesting.


Isabela dressed the part. Check out those pink boots!


And the kids were immediately drawn to this old merry-go-round....but after spinning on it for AN HOUR, Joaquin thought it wasn't that merry. We actually had to leave early because he felt sick...luckily he didn't GET sick. He really has an iron stomach.


Watch out for those balloons!


I think Isabela was most impressed by the woman who painted her face, Ingrid...who happened to be the author of The Fabulous Flying Fandinis...a book we had checked out from the library before. And Ingrid generously gave her a copy of the book. Here she is sharing it with her Dad and Ana...and I don't think she put it down the whole ride home. Thanks, Ingrid!


"Hey, Diego...I think someone's trying to get your attention!"


Look at this amazing table. The Farm Table isn't just some fruit and vegetables in a box...although it's delicious. It's not just an education on eating healthy...although it is. And it's not just recipes in a newsletter...although we've discovered some great new tastes. It's a community gathered around local, farm grown food. If you've thought about joining, it's not too late!


Even the horses enjoyed the carrots.


Okay. So we don't always have to be healthy...Diego enjoyed a mouthful of brownies, too. Thanks to The Farm Table for a great day!

airborn!

A surprise trip to the airport...no we're not going anywhere....just visiting the aviation museum.

It looks like these guys were doing some damage to this plane. I told them not to touch it!


This is a motley crew of pilots...luckily there's not room for passengers.


And I'm pretty sure this is NOT the face you want your pilot making over the open ocean.


This place is amazing....definitely worth the visit. Beautiful, brightly colored airplanes were everywhere!! And although I didn't get to read much about them (chasing kids around), they each have a story. There was one that even flew to Antarctica in the 1930s.


There was an old army helicopter, too. The kids were IN AWE of the propellers and how GIANT they were!


Lots of model planes to look at, as well. Diego was in heaven here.


But this miniature flight simulator was definitely the highlight. The kids were really able to make it fly.


And this picture definitely sums up our experience...kids running in every direction and Diego trying to touch propellers he shouldn't be touching.


For members of the Science Museum of VA, admission here is free. (But not if you stop by the gift shop.)

después de la tormenta

(Spanish Friday...con latinaish.com)

Qué tormenta tuvimos el otro día!! Al fin, puedo usar chapparrón en algo más que la canción "que llueva, que llueva..." La casa estaba temblando con cada trueno.

Tenemos una piscina plástica para nuestros hijos....pensé que ésta los llamará afuera más este verano, pero no. El agua es muy frío cuando la llenamos con la manguera...y es aún más difícil vaciar. Mi idea ahora es cortar un pequeño círculo en el fondo y usar un tapón de la tina. No sé, si me equivoco, no podría usarla para nada.

PERO con esa tormenta, se cayó tanta lluvia, que la piscina estaba bien llena. Mis hijos fueron a investigarla, y el agua fue bastante tibio.


Perfecto para alguien de 36 pulgadas.


Qué panza!


Y qué sonrisa!

celebrating the fourth

Bug spray.

Water.

Snacks.

Yep, we were ready to go to the annual fourth of July parade.


And I finally learned where to park...at the start of the parade. If you do that, there are no long gaps between groups, you're not waiting an hour for it to start, you get to leave early, and most importantly, they haven't run out of candy.

It was all about the candy...as it is most years, but I went with it this year. We ate as much as a we could. I said, "Yes, yes, yes," and it felt good. It's tiring having to play bad cop most of the time, so this was refreshing.

And for the record, balloons are just as great as candy.


Love the boats! We are lucky to see a large group of sailboats in the lake some mornings and they are so beautiful. On my to do list is to find a place that will let us take the kids on a sailboat for a bit.


Diego was able to enjoy it more this year. He cheered the people on as they drove by.


"Yeah, Mom. This is definitely fun.


I love this picture of Isabela. It's really hard to get a natural one of her....she sees me pointing the camera in her direction and quickly turns around or poses...but here is her beautiful smile that we love.


Hope everyone had a very happy fourth of July!!

zoo animals

I took Diego to the zoo a couple of weeks ago....he and I have passes. It was so much FUN!

We went early so the animals weren't tired of everyone looking at them yet. And a lot of them were being fed.

Zoo pictures are notorious for being really boring. I didn't have my zoom lens with me, but some of the pictures turned out really good anyway. One lady we ran into said she decorated her playroom with blown up pictures she had taken from this zoo...I thought that was a cool idea. So here they are:

The flamingos flapped away just as we got there....


...but they came back and settled down.


This guy was bravely trimming the grass around the chimpanzees. He kept looking over his shoulder to see where they were and to make sure his wife was throwing the banana peels to them from across the water. Very entertaining.


Look at this fish picture!! A little scary if you ask me.


Diego LOVED it all. He's at a great age for the zoo.


They have some beautiful birds there. A lot of them are towards the back of the zoo, so maybe I just never made it that far before.


Diego was cautious around the giraffes.


A definite highlight was watching the rhinos eat. They were SUPER close and every once in a while let out a tremendous snort that sent us jumping.


The wise and aged galapagos turtle gave us a nice smile.


And the peacock chose not to open his beautiful feathers, but he's still amazing anyway.


Diego's keeping his eye on that peacock as it strutted around the picnic tables.


It was a great day...we beat the heat, and you can never go wrong if a snow cone tops it off.

the northern lights

I asked the kids to choose a state to learn more about this summer.

Isabela's first response, "Canada." (I'm glad we're working on this.)

I suggested Alaska since it's actually a state, and she agreed.

Joaquin's choice? Hawaii.

And that about sums up their differences.

So I came across this fun art activity (I'm pretty sure it was on this Iditarod webpage)when looking up things about Alaska. It's a water coloring of the northern lights.


To do this, you need:
a black sharpie
watercolor paper
watercolors
tape
water

Just tape down your paper with a nice border, and draw your landscape with the Sharpie. This is great since it's all black, the details are all colored in. Hardly any mess ups!

Then paint a layer of water on to your paper to wet it. This helps blend the colors. Then paint some bright color in the sky, and fill in any remaining white with a dark color...we used black water color.


As it dries, it spreads and some amazing colors come out. Very fun and addictive! We even thought of using these as post cards.