Memorial Day Weekend at Garber Farms

For Memorial Day weekend we went down to visit our great friends, Marti and Charlie, on their beautiful farm in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley of northwestern Virginia.  They live in an old farm house passed down through Charlie's family for generations, and they run this poultry/cattle/various crops farm as part of a larger family farm on land occuped for 8 generations!  That's amazing - 8 generations ago, that part of Virginia was practically western frontier.

Marti was Sarah's best friend in high school down in south Florida.   As always, we had a great time with them.  I love their lifestyle and what they do.  You never know how much you don't know about something until you meet someone who does it - Charlie is practically an endless encyclopedia when it comes to farming.  I had know idea there was so much to know. 

We arrived down there late morning / early Sunday afternoon (Marti had to chaperon prom the night before - she teaches at the local high school), and mostly spent the rest of the day hanging out in their yard, letting Jackson swim in their kiddie pool with their sons, Cliff and Clay, and basically just visited. 

Marti with Lilly.

We also went over to Charlie's parent house, where most of the barns and equipment are, so he could show Jackson the tractors. Jackson is very big into tractors right now.

Here Jackson, Lilly, and I are helping to bag up some soy bean seeds out of the hopper (I just made up that last word - I don't know what you call it).  Someday we're going to be farmers too.  With lots of tractors. 

In the evening, Jackson, Cliff, and Clay were having a dance party while Charlie and I were seperating a steer from the herd. Don't I sound like a farmer already??

The next morning, Charlie and I got up horrendously early to load up a very awnry bull into his cattle trailer, and take it up the road about an hour to a livestock auction in Winchester, VA.  I've never seen anything like it.  Pretty amazing - very efficient - hard to describe.  Again, something I don't know the 1st thing about.  There's so much to learn before I start my 15,000 acre cattle ranch in Wyoming! 

At the same time, Sarah, Marti, and the kids took a long walk down to a creek not far from the house.  It was terribly hot this day. 

Charlie and I got back in time for lunch, but then went back out to rake and bail hay in one of their hay fields - a beautiful spot on top of a ridge where we could see thunderstorms pop up and pass by all afternoon and into the evening.  I had a greta time doing that!!   Those same thunderstorms in the area were often just close enough to keep Sarah, Marti, and the kids inside the house most of the afternoon. 

They did get outside a little, and while the kids weren't in the pool, they were laying in the shade. 

Lincoln had a great time harassing the cows the whole time we were there..  He found his way into their area and would run up fairly close to them and bark.  Eventually the cows learned he wasn't gong to do anything to them, so they stopped running away, and then started chasing him.  I think this was Lincoln's plan, because he loves to be chased.  But, I was a little nervous b/c he doesn't always have a lot of sense, and it was hot, and I was afraid he'd get tired, forget where he got through the fence, and then they'd catch up to him and kick him.  As usual, though, he just came back when he was ready.

That evening, we packed up, and went to dinner at a pizza joint on the way out of town.  It was really a great trip, though way, way too short. 

Visiting Grandparents

As always, we had a wonderful time visiting Grandma Genevieve and Grandpa Rolf in Virginia in early March.  I love it down there so much, and it sounds like they're doing great.  I was so happy that they got to meet Lilly, and to see Jackson again.  Last time they saw him he was just around Lilly's age during this trip. 

We arrived late in the afternoon on the 1st day - just in time for appetizers.

Multitasking.

The 2nd day we drove to George Washington's Birthplace National Monument, but that will be it's own post after this one. It was a beautiful day for a drive. 

Jackson and I are going to be farmers when we grow up.  He loves riding lawn mowers. 

We also took a walk on the beach with Jackson and Lilly.

Jackson would throw rocks in the water all day if we'd let him.  It's funny - he does not like his hands to be dirty or be covered up in long sleeves. 

Jackson is really a very sweet boy.

Great Grandmother - that's hard to believe!

As always, we had to say goodbye way too early.  It was a wonderful trip, but too short.  We missed having Lincoln with us too (he loves it here because he can run around free, chase rabbits and dear) but the car was too crowded as it was.

Saying goodbye.

On the way home we wanted to visit another park - Robert E. Lee's birthplace, again, right on the way home.  But, we got a bit of a late start and the tour would have taken too long, so we found a place to eat lunch instead and just headed home.  I was a little disappointed because this too is a beautiful park.  It's actually not a National Park or Monument but it should be.  It's actually bigger and perhaps more interesting than George Washington's birthplace, though the latter is great on its own.

We busted Jackson taking out all of the wipes.  Actually, we didn't catch him until he had almost emptied an entire package.  Sneaky little devil. 

Rolf and Genevieve gave us this little plastic table and chair set for Jackson.  He loves it and draws on it all the time.  They said they got it for my aunt Nicole when she was that age - do you remember it, Nicole?