Fall Colors pt. 1

Earlier this week we drove the northern part of Skyline Drive to see the fall colors. It was unfortunately overcast, but we saw some good colors and figured it was almost at its peak.At the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center:
There are more pictures on Facebook if anyone wants to see them. It's just easier to post lots of pictures there.

Children's Festival

Today we went to the annual Children's Festival put on by the county. It was way too warm outside and the sun was unforgiving, but Benjamin and I still had a great time (John had to go to work).

The fire engine. Benjamin asked one of the firefighters if he was from the fire station. When he said yes, Benjamin said, "yes, but I'm from Virginia". He got a good laugh.

The "pony" ride. He was happy to get the horse instead of the pony. I guess the pony was too girly.The mini-hay maze. There was only a slight pause where he said "no, not that way" and then he was off on the right path and out the exit.The moon bounce (the first of two times).Pumpkin painting.Fireman Benjamin and his pumpkin.

Corn Maze

On the 6th, we decided to take advantage of John's day off and visit the corn maze at the Buckland Farmer's Market just outside of Warrenton. We all had a great time and had the place mostly to ourselves. They had "stations" throughout where we could do rubbings or answer questions. Benjamin insisted on leading the way even if he had no idea where we were going. Even though he kept asking if we were almost back to the car, as soon as we were out he asked if we could do it again. All told, it took us a couple hours to get through (it was a lot bigger and more complicated than I had expected).

Benjamin and the cows next to the parking lot.
Striking a pose inside the maze:

Navigating: After the leaving the maze:

Live Long and Prosper

The other night at dinner the subject somehow came around to Star Trek. Benjamin spoke up when someone mentioned Captain Kirk and Spock. Amanda asked him if he even knew who they were. He thought for a minute then held up his hand and tried to do the Vulcan symbol. He struggled for a minute then proudly held it up for the whole table to see. I guess it's more evidence that we're training him right.

New school Orientation part 2

Forgot to mention yesterday--while they were doing a presentation to the adults, the teacher was talking about the standardized tests that they will be giving the students. They are required to take them before entering kindergarten, so the preschool program preps them for the test, then administers the test for you. They take the test in the fall to find out what they need to improve on, then retake it officially in the spring. She used an example that if they know 5 letters of the alphabet in the fall, they hope to see improvement to maybe 20 by the spring. I just about fell out of my chair. John and I could only stare at each other and try to refrain from laughing our heads off. I managed to not blurt out that our smarty pants has known the entire alphabet for more than 2 years. Hopefully they can still manage to find something to teach him.

fyi-there are new pictures on the Mealey pics sharing site in case anyone didn't sign up for updates.

A Child's Prayer

Yesterday while driving back to Virginia, Benjamin and I had stopped at a rest area to use the facilities. When I went to pull out of the parking space, Benjamin told me to stop so that he could say a prayer (obviously inspired by my prayer before we left Mom and Dad's). When I didn't stop right away, he yelled "red light" to me. He said:

"Heavenly Father, we have to go home in Virginia, so we have to do it now, Jesus Christ, Amen"

Then he told me "green light, we can go now".

The next time we stopped he made we wait for another prayer and said something along the longs of needing to get home to Daddy and the dogs in Virginia. I guess we're doing something right.

New School Orientation

We attended the orientation today for Benjamin's new school (Teens & Tots). He was hesitant to leave the house and was pouting the whole way there. When we got there, he refused to leave our sides. While I was filling out paperwork, John managed to drag him over to some toys. In no time he was playing with another little boy and one of the teenagers. John snuck away and Benjamin didn't seem to care. 5 minutes later we were completely forgotten. He got to play with one of the teenage girls assigned to him, Shaniqua. He'll get to meet the other one next week. She seemed very excited to meet him and very attentive. He had no problem following her around the room as she introduced him to the different toys and play areas. When it was time to leave we had to drag him out of the room and he hasn't stopped asking us if we can go back (Monday isn't soon enough and he wants to go now). I've made up a schedule for him so he can see what days he goes to each school.

Benjamin in the kitchen/store play area with Shaniqua. He's playing with a cash register.

Outside in the sandbox with another child, Shaniqua, and some other teens:

In the too-small-for-Benjamin play set. He couldn't stand all the way up, but it didn't seem to bother him. He did appear to be the tallest kid there.