Fun Around Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg is a pretty small town but is located within easy distance of Washington D.C, Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA so there are some neat day trips but there are limited activities within Fredericksburg, especially for us since we like to stay really active.  However, since it's summer and the weather is beautiful we are finding plenty to keep us busy all day!  

A lot of our time is spent hiking and riding our bikes on the trails and then we swim every.single.day.  We also love going into historic Fredericksburg to walk around the neat shops and try new restaurants.  One of Chad and I's goals is to not eat any chain restaurants while we're on assignment since we like trying new restaurants so much.  

One thing that surprised both Chad and I is how NICE everyone here is....like freakishly nice :)  Even on the bike paths complete strangers want to stop and talk.  Not at all what we envisioned when we pictured east coast but I guess we're pretty far south so that's why.  

There is another traveler I had "met" through fb prior to coming to Fredericksburg that works same hospital as Chad so we've hung out with her and her boyfriend a few times and it's fun to have another couple to hang out with!  We've also got a couple of good babysitters already lined up so we've been able to enjoy some fun nights out without the kiddos.  

With me not working and Chad only working 3 shifts a week for the first time in our marriage  we feel like we get so much family time and it's been great!  It's been an adjustment for me to not work and I'll be honest...not sure how cut out for it I am!  I find myself bored a lot and it's hard for me to put my career for the back burner but I know with the kids getting older homeschooling is going to take more of my time/attention and I wouldn't trade the experience of traveling for anything.  For now I'm keeping my job at Kansas University and will fly back every 2 months to fulfill my requirement there so I can keep up my certifications until it becomes too difficult to maintain.  We'll take it step by step and prayer by prayer!

The bike path behind our house

The playground right outside our door!

Man...one of my favorites here!  It's called Sammy T's and it's a soft serve ice cream place that you can get TONS of different flavors mixed in.  My favorite is Lemon

Busy kid...ipad and cell phone

This is one of my favorite trails and we ride it quite frequently!  The kids have gotten good enough on their bikes that now Chad and I ride along with them

Rappahanock River

At a festival in the park

Our beloved Petey had gotten left behind at a hotel in West Virginia.  Luckily we were able to track him down and have him shipped back.  Best $27 ever spent to see Grant's face when he opened the box :)

We are LOVING cherries this summer

He said he was sitting like this so that Petey could crawl on him

Historic Fredericksburg.  So beautiful

Vacation Bible School our first week here

I told him he had to quit rolling marbles across the tile b/c I'm sure it was bothering the person who lives below us so he figured this out...genius!

These kids are living the life!

Picnic on the patio

Now they are playing Doctor and McKinley is fixing his knee but first she had to write stuff down on her chart LOL!

A little bit of craft time before school

The YMCA here is really big about kids going to fitness classes with their parents so they have several family friendly classes.  The kids love them so we go to several throughout the week and they do great!

I could not get a serious picture out of him that night!

Picking out her earrings to get her ears pierced!!

She did great!  No tears or anything!

McKinley got her ears pierced for her special treat and Grant picked out a Spider Man watch!  We heard the time every minute for about 2 hours.  Chad said "thank goodness that thing doesn't have a second hand" :)