Things you don't do in Virginia in August . . .

We have been busy the last few weeks, mostly due the unusually comfortable weather. Typically the weather in Richmond in August only has a few descriptions - hot or hotter, humid or sticky, or sometimes we just say it feels like an armpit outside (yum, right?). Well, for the past two weeks, we have only had one 90 degree day and we've had lows in the 60s overnight. My friend Mary and I even celebrated by turning off the AC and sleeping with the windows open for 3 nights. (This is a special treat since we usually have to wait until late September, October and November for open windows.) Can you tell how happy that makes me?
Anyhow, this has allowed us to do some things that are typically very uncomfortable in August.

We started with Tate's first trip PuttPutt Golfing. Daddy and Tate golfed while Avarie and I supervised
and Avarie kept score.

She also had to take a few rests on the fairways. All that scorekeeping was hard work.

This is going to seem funny to people who live in more comfortable and less critter infested areas, but we got to play in the sandbox. Hot and humid also equals bugs and critters, so we took advantage of this 70 degree morning by getting into the sand.

And, last, a new outing for us - Belle Isle in the James River. My friend Jamie invited the kids and I to join her and her kids to this island in the James River. It is a rocky area of the river (due to a fall line) and is a great outdoor oasis for biking, rock climbing, "hiking" and walking trails. The kids rode bikes, we had a picnic lunch on the rocks and watched everyone swim among the rocks in the slow waters. You can see the city in the background - the colonists settled here because they couldn't sail any further west on the river and then began to build a canal system along the banks of the river in the hopes of getting all the way to the Mississippi. A few miles west and east of this rocky area, the river is wide and smooth with plenty of room for boating, waterskiing, tubing and jet skiing. On the weekends, the river is FULL of people!! It's like a giant beach in the city.

Tate and Luke ready to go exploring

Tate trekking across the big rocks in the river. We had a great (and adventurous) day with our friends. We'll have to come back another day and swim in the river.

Despite some of my complaints, this really is a great place to live and neat city full of history and fun things to do.

Hope summer is happy wherever you are too!