The last post in this series of pictures from our trip to the farm in West Virginia last weekend.
I should have included this picture of Benton in the post dedicated to him from the trip…but I missed it. It’s become something of a tradition that he and I will hike down to the river and make a small fire on the gravel bar down there. In this case, between the snow, the sub-20-degree weather, and the damp wood, we actually ruined a lighter trying to get the fire started. That necessitated a trip all the way back up to the farmhouse, where we snagged a book of matches. On the way back down, we found some perfect grass-like kindling…and proceeded to light the fire with a single paper match!
Molly wasn’t bothered by the cold at all — happily sniffing around in the snow and wading in icy water.
A view up one of the little creeks
My “standard” shot looking up the river (this is taken from the spot where Benton and I made the fire)
Looking down on the farmhouse and barn
(the hunting cabin is visible wayyyyy in the distance, pretty much directly above the front of the barn)
I really am taking the easy way out with these posts from our trip to West Virginia last weekend! I already posted the video of Benton on the 4-wheeler, but I snapped a few other pictures that seemed worth sharing.
Going up…
…and going down
Pausing for a picture en route to the river with Julie and Molly
And…a few pictures of Carson from our West Virginia adventures last weekend.
Sledding
Hanging Out with Army Men and Legos in Grandpa’s Chair…While Benton Draws a Laser Bead
Icicle
I got to carry this 20-lb chunk of frozen water all the way back to the farmhouse (including up a lengthy, snowy, wooded incline) so that he could show it off…before busting it into pieces against a tree.
Alana headed outside a couple of times to “clean the snow off of Mommy’s car,” but, for the most part, she stayed inside — Grandma Pam is entirely too much of a draw, especially in sub-20 degree weather.
On Saturday afternoon, she played some checkers with Julie:
She’s totally up for a little smack-talk after a sweet move:
She also entertained herself a bit, hunkering down to listen to a Webkinz podcast while reading a book:
And…rounding out the day snuggling with Grandpa Bob:
She announced on Sunday evening, when we’d been back home for just a few hours, that she missed Grandpa Bob and Grandma Pam. Life’s tough.
Benton and I went for several 4-wheeler rides and just couldn’t resist having a little fun in the snow (as always, if you can’t play the video directly, just click on the link and you should get to the YouTube page where it will play):
We headed to West Virginia for the weekend and were surprised when it snowed for most of the day on Saturday. Pleasantly surprised! The boys barely waited until the ground was covered before heading out to slide down the hill, despite the 12-degree weather.
Julie got the idea to give Molly a ride down the hill. Never one to turn down affection, Molly trotted right over to Julie when she called her…while seated on a blue collapsible sled. A tight grip, some nudging with Julie’s feet, and they were off!
Julie’s description: “She squirmed the whole time!” (ya’ THINK?!)
The experience had Molly fired up for a bit, shown here racing around several minutes after the ride.
Observing Molly over the remainder of the weekend, the experience clearly (re-)cemented Julie’s status as “alpha” in the Wilson pack — she stayed close to Julie for the rest of the trip!
I had a fun little Twitter experience yesterday. I put Hootsuite up in a browser on my laptop when I’m at work, so I’ve got an easy way to glance over and, in under a second, see if there are any replies, direct messages, or tweets from various lists (it’s not multitasking, as scientists have proven that’s impossible, but it’s minimally disruptive, in my mind).
When I got to work yesterday morning, my family list on Twitter (which includes a sister, one paternal cousin, and one maternal cousin) I saa Tweet from 9:49 PM (Eastern) on Sunday from my cousin, Chris, in Seattle:
I knew Chris and Jen were expecting their second child, but I’m not all that great of a cousin, so I wasn’t sure exactly when they were due. I shot Chris a quick direct message (basically, a private text message) telling him good luck, not to worry about responding to me directly, but I’d be watching Twitter for news. Over the course of Tuesday (all times in Eastern, although he’s Pacific):
The last tweet link leads to a picture of my new first cousin once removed:
So, there’s my Twitter anecdote for the day. Chris and I see each other every few years at best. I’d love for it to be more often, but our Life and geographic circumstances are such that that’s not likely to happen. Rather than relying on thirdhand information (from his parents to my parents to me), Twitter gives me a more direct, more timely, connection into his life. I think it’s cool.
It’s been a drizzly weekend, which means a not-ideal-for-outside-activity weekend (which, oddly, means a GREAT weekend for me to feel the need to take Molly on a couple of walks; I’m not saying there’s a correlation to all of the family indoor time, but you can draw your own conclusions).
Benton rediscovered his Flip Ultra video camera this weekend. While the initial rediscovery was the result of indoor boredom and curiosity as to how video shot from a camera mounted on top of a Lego truck being pulled by a low-geared electric vehicle that he’d assembled would look, that led to him sifting through some old videos and putting together some compilations. The following is a series of clips from potato gun shooting with Tyler, Meg, and Brett some time last year in West Virginia.
Last Friday was the first snow day of the year (and of the school year). Two of Benton’s best friends, Josh and Jack, came over in the afternoon and then spent the night (and then spent all day Saturday at our house and out sledding with Julie). On Friday afternoon, the three boys…and Alana…spent several hours in our yard/driveway making snow forts (Carson also had a friend over, but they opted for indoor activity).
Benton tried out the fort while the rest of the crew admired their handiwork:
The boys helped Alana make a fort of her own. We’re still not sure if it was the fun of playing in the snow or her long-standing crush on Josh (“Joshie!!!”) that kept her outside so long:
February 7, 2010 by Tim 
Posted in Benton, Molly 
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