Nana and Papa in the House

We were lucky enough in mid June to have Nana and Papa (my mom and dad) come for a nice long visit. We all traveled up to West Virginia, rented a small cabin and spent a few days hiking and fishing in Wild Wonderful West Virginia.

Here is our little rented cabin in Watoga State Park in Pocahontas county West Virginia. It was very nice for the price actually. But David was awoken one night to a scratching at the door and found a huge black bear staring back at him. As we all know David is full of stories, we almost didn't believe him because none of the rest of us woke up -- but we came to find the trash can of the neighboring cabin completely turned over in the morning looked like he wasn't dreaming after all. (The bear ignored our trash can because it only had dirty diapers in it -- I don't blame him one bit.)

We took a day hike/fishing trip up the South Fork of the Cranberry River to get some trout for dinner. We didn't end up catching any worth eating, but we still had alot of fun.

David and Papa wore their waders over their shoulders until we finished the 2 mile hike to the water.

Ella found the trip very exhausting and took a nice nap on mommy's back in our hiking backpack

She slept in the car too - she loves to snuggle with her kitty anywhere she sleeps these days.


We had to be a little creative in our cabin with no large sink and no bathtub, so we let Ella play and bathe in a large tin pan we found under the sink. She had such a good time splashing around in front of the fire place, and the cabin got a free floor cleaning as well.

So cute!!

The weather only cooperated for outdoor activities a couple of days while we were in WV, so we had to be creative and find some indoor entertainment. We spent one afternoon at the Green Bank space observatory. It was really neat to take a tour of the facilities and see all the different projects they are working on. Interestingly enough, Green Bank has a huge area of "no interference" where you can't use a cell phone, microwave, or any other device that might hinder the research. Pretty interesting!

The guys went fishing again the next nice day while we did some lake fishing and took Ella on a walk around the state park. They didn't catch all the fish they caught on camera, but here is a taste of their day.

We headed back home to VA for the end of the week and spent Saturday at the Wayne Henderson festival. Wayne is a local guitar maker in whom my dad has always been very interested. It was a great day full of fabulous music and lots of good family time. Hope we can all go again next year! Maybe one day Papa will enter the competition for one of Wayne's guitars himself.

What a cutie! We had so many people comment on how well behaved and adorable Ella was during the whole concert as she danced to the music all day -- we couldn't agree more!

Getting sleepy at the end of the day

And a few pictures of us after church with Ella dressed up so pretty

Mischief all over her face -- this happens every time we try to put away dishes

We took a short ride around on the Blue Ridge Parkway after church just because it is so beautiful. (We are going to pretend this picture does NOT make me look as big as a house, but in reality it did lead me to start working out harder!)

Ella and Nana working on a cradle roll class that mommy can do at church.

And Finally some really sweet video of Ella listening to Papa play his guitar at night by the fire of the cabin. She had been fussy all evening, but she calmed right down with the music. This was special for me because I have so many memories of listening to and singing with my dad as a young girl, and now my little girl loves it just as much.