Cox Farms 2011

Girl mischief

Kathryn really likes coloring on herself.

"pot head"

Kathryn thought it would be fun to color on Charlotte. Isn't she a cutie!

Shake your body. Charlotte finally gets into at the end.

First day of school

Happy 6:35 in the morning!

Skyline Caverns

We went out on Labor day to drive down Skyline Drive but saw the signs for the caverns so we followed them instead.

The caverns were awesome. Matthew made an awesome video of the whole affair. Charlotte decided she didn't like the idea of being in a cave so screamed the whole time. I asked to be escorted out half way through and I took her to the car and ate some yummy cherries. Anyway Carolin really liked it and Kathryn liked it too. There was some amazing rock formations and the fun colors they did for lighting was fun. They say that using colored lights helps make it so no growth happens with plants and algae. White lights are more like the sun and cause the growth. We took stuff for a picnic afterwards and just had a nice time. it was a nice end to a summer vacation. School started the next day! 6:45 to the bus is really early!

Here's the video that Matthew made enjoy. Right in time for Halloween scary shows...

Life with our Exchange student Carolin

We are a family of 5 for the next 10 months! Carolin joined our family from Germany on September 28. She'll be here for the school year. We waited at the Airport for a few hours and then she and Chiara the girl I'm coordinator for came out and we rushed home. It was certainly a long day for these girls. They got up at like 6 in Germany meaning midnight here. They are 6 hours different. We got home I made some yummy taco's for her first meal in our home and then we took her for a walk down to one of the parks in the neighborhood. We couldn't let her go to sleep to help with the jet lag. She finally said she was tired about 8 and we let her go to bed.

Monday we just hung out at the house called to get school appointments and got to know each other more. She played with the girls a little bit.

Tuesday we went out to the Manassas Battlefield after a little Shopping. It was fun and I think she was interested in the things we saw. Stonewall Jackson got the name Stonewall at this battlefield.
Stonewall Jackson

Union Officer Charlotte

Confederate Officer Carolin

Union officer Carolin.
Which is her color??? Grey or Blue???

Kathryn's the Unions lead for the Cavalry!

Wednesday we had the school appointment which took about 2 1/2 hours because all exchange students have to pass an English exam before the school will register them. She passed with flying colors. Then we got the appointment at the High school the next day. She's taking some killer classes if you ask me. But she's excited. I hope Matthew will be around for some of the hard classes she's taking...

Friday she did her student orientation with all the freshman. She found her classes and where all the main rooms at the high school were. She came home on a school buss. Her first ever time on the school bus. I think she had a good time. We went for some more shopping for some school things and had a nice evening home.

Saturday we were going to go downtown for some sight seeing of the capital but it was rainy all day. So we went out to Tyson's mall and walked around that for a good hour or so. We didn't get to everything but she was sure impressed. I'm impressed and I've been in some big Malls. This thing is enormous! That night we went to the Nationals baseball game at their big stadium. We got $3.00 tickets. I thought it was awesome. Kathryn slept through the whole thing, Matthew looked for the camera guys, Charlotte played around on the chairs, I watched and explained the game to Carolin and Carolin watched and then fell asleep for part of the game. She slept most of the way home too.

On Sunday she came to church with us and I think she enjoyed it. She said she'd come next week too and then let me know if she'll keep coming or just come once a month like I asked her too. I hope she does just so she gets to know the kids better. She got to talk with her parents on Skype Sunday afternoon. I think it was hard for her but She's doing a lot more with us and I think she's getting used to us more. I think she needed that with her parents to know she's not alone and she can be apart of our family too. She's really getting into playing with the girls and helping me out with cooking and doing dishes.

Anyway I think this is going to be a great year! I can't wait for all the fun adventures we're going to have and all the things we're going to learn from each other.

My goal this year. Follow her US history class and take her to see as many of the things she's learning about in her class.