I am having the time of my life!

I realized I am getting my posts a little bit out of order.  The hazards of not being able to post regularly.  So, I thought I would just go ahead and throw this one in and then post back ones after this one.  Who cares, right?  :)



Hearing Lydia say "I am having the time of my life!" this past weekend made Mike and me realize that even though she might forget what she was doing at the time, she would never forget that moment!  None of them would.

This past weekend was Labor Day Weekend.  Mike and I were both off work so we were able to spend a couple of days doing some different things.  Friday evening and Saturday were rainy and cold.  Kinda knocked out much of the outdoor stuff.  Ryan's birthday was Saturday.  We spent it by going to the movies (Mike won two tickets to the movies off the radio) and seeing Cars 3.  Sequels are never as good as the original, but this one was pretty good.  After much debating, Ryan picked Wood Grill as his restaurant of choice.  We ended up having lunch there. 

On Sunday we spent the day at the lake.  The lake has become one of our favorite places.  It really rides the fence with the beach!!  I am pretty convinced that as long as I am in or around water, I am pretty happy.  :) 

You can't tell from this angle, but Loki is actually falling asleep.  He gets so tired when we are at the lake!  He has his own life jacket and swims too!!


We ended up seeing a Water Moccasin swimming with us while we were there.  In all the times we have been to Lake Anna.  Which have been A LOT, we have never seen a snake.  This was the first one.  We were swimming in the water and I took a step back and felt something hit my leg.  I turned around to see what it was and saw what I thought was a stick float past me.  It was not a stick at all.  Needless to say, we all ran out of the water--kind of cartoon character style. :) Once up on the boat, we saw it come back towards the boat and went up on to the "beach area" where we had docked our boat.  He was quite the swimmer!  We are so thankful that Loki was on the boat at the time!!



On Labor Day we decided to make our second pick up for our Adopt-A-Highway project.  Since we had given Ryan the opportunity to drive the last time (and other times on our street), we decided to let the girls try it.  While it's not conventional or legal really, we figure the earlier they can get the hang of a vehicle and what it does, the better off they will be when they start driving.  There were only a few cars that passed us and no one seemed to notice.  Or care.  Who knows.  :) 

Not long after this picture was taken, Lydia was trading out with Emily to drive and said "I am having the time of my life!"  It was so cute!!  They really did have fun!  All three of them.  Even though they were working.  It was for a good cause.  I also think we are curing them of EVER being interested in drinking beer!!  We pick up MANY MANY cans of beer along this 3 mile stretch of road!!  :)  It's pretty gross!!

I will have to start putting things in order again!!  :)

The Washington Family Adopts a Highway!!

Well, we really adopted three roads.  Not actually a highway.  They are back roads, but it is roughly 4 miles total.  We have been wanting to do something like this for a while.  However, we didn't realize how difficult it would be to find time to pick up the trash.  We have only managed to pick up trash once since we adopted the highway--which was back in April or May.  Hoping to go again this coming weekend!  Once we get a certain amount of pick ups, we will get a sign with our names on it, posted at our streets.  VERY EXCITING!!  Other than the total disgusting stuff that you find on the side of the road, this was really fun!  The state provides us with trash bags and neon ponchos so that people can see us from their cars. 



We attached our trailer to our SUV to keep the trash away from the inside of the vehicle.

Holding up our sign so we are seen by passers by.  However, these roads are not that heavily traveled.

Mike had a brain child and had Ryan drive for a little bit on this back road.  Ryan loved it.  He did pretty well.  He drives in our cul-de-sac sometimes.  Weird to see!!

Emily didn't appreciate Ryan driving.  So she walked behind.  :)

Sadly, Loki didn't go with us.  We didn't want to have to keep him away from cars, etc.  Next time we may have him ride in the back of the SUV.  Just so it is a family adventure.  We are hoping that we can find enough time to keep this up and do this every quarter or so.  If you see the kids, you will have to ask them about the beer containers . . . with nasty beer still in them!!  Yuck!