F is for Friends

A week has gone by! Not much has happened... we've rolled around to another Thursday and that means it was park day :) I wanted to share some pictures we took!

jess, austin, sadie, me, jessie, and meghann

me and my boyfriend austin

Park Day with Friends

meghann & I being 'power rangers'

The homeschool group here in Pulaski County / New River Valley gets together once a week and has what we call a 'park day'! 

me and Sadie!

jessie

meg and sadie

I love park day, because all the homeschool kids just run around and have fun at the park. 

Sometimes we'll organize games of soccer, and so on, but today we just hung out. :) 
It was a really nice day, and I'm glad I got to spend it with friends!

Kayaking on the New River

I'm an adventurer and I love anything that gets my heart rate moving, so when my dad said we're taking the afternoon to go kayaking on the river? I was absolutely thrilled. :) Of course, the kayaks weren't our own, my aunt lent them to us for the time being. We got up reealllyy early that morning and headed over to Radford, Virginia. My mother and brother dropped my dad & I off, and they met us about 5+ miles down the river.

I was pretty excited because this was my first time kayaking on the river!

It was interesting going over shallow parts in the river, especially because you could see all kinds of fish and water-grass.

I'd say we spent at least two hours kayaking, and it was a blast. I got to see big birds - such as heron - that I've never gotten to see up close before.
I also noticed numerous turtles, and certain areas where an entire flock of birds had sat on some rocks. They were spreading their wings, letting the morning sun warm their feathers.

We did struggle at a few points, such as when I got stuck in the rapids.

I tried to paddle fast as we kayaked over them, but I ended up getting stuck on a rock! It was really scary, especially with all the rushing water around me.

I was really nervous, but luckily dad  and I used teamwork and we were able to continue downstream.

Right near the end, dark clouds covered the sky and it started pouring down rain, but by the time we got to the shoreline (where mom & Joshua were waiting for us) the sun came back out :)

Sleepover at the Library

For the end of the Summer Reading Program at the library, they held a Sleepover (from 8pm-8am) at the library!

"Shake your Booty"

Myself, and my friend Meghann volunteered to help out with all the nights activities (and of course, to participate as well!)

In total, 51 people spent the night at the library. Of course, that number does include some parents, considering some of the younger kids needed a guardian there as well.

I haven't had this much fun in a long time! The library had a room called "the movie room" which is where they had a non-stop reel of movies playing all night - this is where the snacks and most the kids hung out in.

In the 'teen section' of the library was a video game center (the place my brother hung out for the majority of the night.) and spread out through the library was even craft tables and games!

one of the games. the objective is to try and throw
cheese puffs on your partners head.

If you thought all that wasn't enough, we even had an "Olympics"! playing different games/events during the night, sigh as "CUPPONG" or "Angry Birds". At the end of the Olympics, the kiddos with the highest scores got little awards.

Craft table

real life angry birds!

At the end of the night, once most of the other kids went to bed, Meghann, myself, and a few other kids decided to have a game of hide-and-seek in the dark library. It was literally a dream come true.

Having freedom in the library to run around and scream was exhilarating, I loved having the opportunity to help out and also be involved in the fun as well!

MOVIE SCHEDULE

Riverfest

Here in the New River Valley of Virginia they had a small local festival, with many vendors, craft tables, games, live music and food all throughout the day.

The Radford Library had a table set up with crafts and an area with games, so my friend Meghann and I decided to volunteer and were 'helpers' all afternoon. We both enjoyed helping out with the kids and interacting with people, it was a lot of fun! At the gazebo there was local bands playing bluegrass and folk music, occasional we'd jam out and dance to the music! :)

• The Riverfest was put together to bring the community together, helping to support local businesses along with raising money for charity.

Along with the day-long events at the riverfest, there was a "duck race" where you would buy a rubber duckie -the proceeds going to a local organization- and they would toss the ducks off the bridge and into the New River.

It was an exciting race, watching over 600+ ducks float down the river to the finish line! Of course, things didn't go as plan... many of the hundreds of ducks started floating further down the river than they anticipated. Apparently they spent all afternoon trying to round up all of them!

The races!

I've never been to the racetrack before, until my dad was offered tickets from work to the Motor Mile Speedway / Dragway, and of course, we couldn't pass those up! I was so excited.

Not only did we get tickets, but they were VIP passes to the PLATINUM room! I wasn't sure what to expect from this experience, but I'm so glad we had this wonderful opportunity, because this was the best night we've had in a long time!

The VIP tickets included access to the air conditioned room, with comfy seating and windows all around you, but all of us preferred to be outside on the porch/balcony.

It was quite an astonishing view from outside, you could see all of the race cars as they buzzed by on the raceway! Honestly, you've never experienced race cars until you can feel the vibrations going through your body, until it's so loud you can't even think.





There is nothing like seeing the cars crash right in front of you, to feel the 'whoooh!' of the crowd rush through your body. There isn't a sensation such as this one.



Even my little brother, Joshua, really thoroughly enjoyed himself! There was a smile on his face the entire time that never left. 

I loved the smell of funnel cakes and the roar of engines, it makes me want to become a race car driver!





If you haven't been able to enjoy such an experience, I definitely recommend going to a race! Though, you might want to consider ear plugs... it can get loud!

Hair dyeing?

Trash Bag Dresses, the latest fashion!

I had a fabulous time at the DiPietro's house, not only was it a night of fabulous food, movie watching, duck chasing and carrying baby goats, it was a fun sleepover that even included.... hair dyeing? 




Meghann and I are both homeschoolers and have known each other for quiet a long time now. We both see each other often and love hanging out.

Meghann posing, wearing her 'new hat'

Her older sisters were dyeing their hair- My hair is very long and I've been growing it for a long time, so dyeing is something I'd NEVER do, but in this case we're all having such a fun time, and I decided to go for it!

The end result = Vampire Red!

Meghann's house is very cool, not only do they have an old graveyard on their land, they have a flock of ducks, many baby goats, sheep, and at least 9 horses. I bet it's fun living on a farm!

Pink! (though it looks orange in picture)

Summer Reading Program

Unfortunately the Summer Reading Program has come to and end :( I have proudly read 17 books and over 50+ hours this summer, what an accomplishment! We all had so much fun at the library this summer, they offer the greatest programs and are very child and teen friendly. It's a wonderful atmosphere and I've enjoyed myself greatly.

A fantastic program the library offered was learning about Belle the giant green-winged macaw! Did you know that Macaws are able to reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour? They also have very strong beaks, and can break open a Brazil Nut shell.

We've also learned about Bats, Foxes, Rabbits, and Owls! Joshua and I love animals, I'm glad that we both really learned a lot from these events.

• Did you know what grey foxes can climb trees? I had no idea!

 


And just today there was a teen program, ART DAY. It was so much fun, art is something I am very passionate about, so a day of sitting around sculpting, painting, and coloring is defiantly fun for me!




 
During the summer you received "book bucks" and at the end of the reading program you could use your book bucks at the teen auction/raffle. I bought a tie dye kit and a new book, it was very fun!