September 2004
Thursday
the 30th. Benjamin, like his dad, is a Steve Earl fan.
Most nights his mother puts him to sleep in his crib after a few minutes in the
rocking chair. But on some nights, it is just baby and dad, and on those
nights he goes to sleep on my shoulder listening to Steve's Open Your Window. It knocks
him out every time. If he doesn't go to sleep, it certainly puts him in
the mood, and I get no complaints when I lay him in the crib.
I went into work late this morning, so we all took Emma, Cassie, and Zorro for a morning stroll around the block. Jackson does a great job walking Zorro all by himself, they make a good team. I remember telling the puppies when Jackson was a baby that one day he would be big enough to take them for walks. That doesn't seem that long ago.
Amy and I were engaged seven years ago today!
Wednesday the 29th. Benjamin
fell last night, hitting his forehead on the wall, and got his worse boo-boo to
date. He recovered, but now sports a big blue bump.
Congratulations Sendella and Greg! Evan Gregory King was born at 3:20pm!!!
Tuesday the 28th. On a day that Tropical Storm Jeanne flooded neighboring Patrick and Stokes counties, Amy and the boys ran errands in the rain and made caramel apples at home.
Monday the 27th.
Jackson had his second soccer practice on a rainy evening at Westwood Park.
Tonight at 7pm, Barely Famous, a show on CMT will show the Warren Brothers visiting Mount Airy. Amy and I saw a little of it last night. We were flipping channels and recognized Main Street. The brothers got their hair cut at Floyds and kidded around with some ladies walking down the street.
Sunday
the 26th. We came home from Virginia with a van full of potatoes,
chestnuts, apples, and pumpkins. The pumpkins came from Painter's
Pumpkin Patch just off the parkway. Some of the apples came from a tree in
Bellspur that the boy's great, great, great grandfather planted before going to
the Cival War. We also bought a bushel of Golden Delicious apples in
Willis Gap. And before we started, everyone ate lunch at Hama's in
Claudville. When we got there at 12:30, Hama wasn't home from church yet.
Of course we still found a big pot of Chicken and Dumplings, potatoes, peas,
spaghetti, and a pone of cornbread, all warm, on the stove. Jackson
picked the chestnuts up under a tree behind the
house that their great, great grandparents,
Earnest and Alma Stanley raised Hama in.
So now we are back in Mount Airy, the kids are asleep, and an
apple pie is in the oven.
Mmmmm, mmmm.
Saturday
the 25th. A big day spent celebrating Mayberry Days by eating BBQ and
fried apple pies, drinking orange Nehis, and listening to lots of good music.
Benjamin and Megan loved listening to Mandy's band,
Southern Sky, while we ate
lunch at the new amphitheater, but Jackson skipped the festivities to watch
Caleb play soccer in Stuart.
Friday
the 24th. Tonight we joined the Eads for a walk to Mount Airy High School
where this year's Relay For Life kicked off at 7pm. The children had
fun, we saw lots of friends and it was nice supporting such an important cause.
It's Mayberry Days! Amy went for a walk on Main Street
before sunrise. She said that Snappy Lunch was as full as she had ever
seen it and that people were already gathered at the amphitheater. Later
in the morning, Amy walked with Benjamin to the unveiling of a life sized statue
capturing the classic scene of Andy and Opie walking to the fishing hole.
Andy Griffith was on hand, along with the president of TV Land, and an
unbelievable crowd of fans. I got to stop by for a few minutes. Andy
was very amusing and it was nice to see so many people in town.
Click here to see of clip from Andy's speech. (1.9MB)
Thursday
the 23rd. A beautiful day to spend outside. Amy and the boys went for a walk this morning at Fisher
River Park, then walked to Main Street from the house this afternoon, and after
dinner, we walked to Main Street again.
Downtown is a buzz with activity in preparation for Mayberry Days and Andy
Griffith's arrival tomorrow morning. Last minute work is still underway
at the playhouse and the new amphitheater. Bluegrass bands were playing to
large crowds at the playhouse, the Blue Bird Diner was packed, and Main Street
was filled with out of town TAG fan club members. Notice the
squad car in the photo of Main Street.
Wednesday
the 22nd. I have often said that Jackson was at his cutest between fifteen and
eighteen months. He was still short and chubby, with adorable cheeks, and
we hadn't cut off his curly blond locks yet. But he was old enough to
talk, to dress up for fall, and to do all sorts of cute things. I think
Ben is entering into that same window, because at fifteen months, I think he is pretty darn cute.
If you've forgotten what Jackson looked like at
seventeen months, click
here .
Tuesday
the 21st. Amy and the boys took advantage of our wonderful weather by taking
a morning stroll that included a stop by Daddy's office. Then I went with
the boys to Fisher River Park for some late day play.
Monday
the 20th. Jackson had his first soccer practice this evening. It
was his first practice for anything and mom and dad were very proud. He
did such a good job listening to the coach. All the kids were just as cute
as could be. Check out other Jackson milestones.
Sunday
the 19th. A nice cool crisp day that started with a walk to
the Eads house from Main Street and ending with dinner club in
Walnut Cove at the McMichael's house.
Saturday
the 18th. We made it home safely yesterday, avoiding all the tornados
reportedly in our path. We took a detour through Farmville, visiting
The Appomatox River
Company, and picked up a
Dagger Element 11.2 kayak. Of course I pulled my back unloading it off
the van, which makes me feel very old. This afternoon, after watching the Hokies beat up on Duke, Jackson went with his aunt Deana and cousin Caleb.
Deana bought the boys Home On The Range and thrilled Jackson by giving
him a set of Teen Titan figures.
Friday
the 17th. I took this
photo of a falcon in pursuit of a sparrow through Grandma Sue's neighborhood in
Colonial Heights, Virginia.
Thursday
the 16th. Like footprints left in the sand, our beach trip is now
behind us. We had a fun morning playing in the ocean and walking to the
pier before heading back to Colonial Heights. You can see all our beach
photos by clicking here or click
here to see galleries from
all of our family beach trips.
Wednesday
the 15th. Day two at the beach started early for Jackson. He and I hit
the weights hard at 7:00. Met Amy, Sue, and Ben for breakfast at 7:05.
Ben led us away from the breakfast table and onto the beach. So by 7:30 we
were swimming in our clothes. Jackson just loves being in the waves, but they are really,
really big this week. So we got all that in, plus a dip in the pool,
before nine. Then Ben took a nap in the room with Sue watching him, while Amy, Jackson, and I hit the waves
one more time before lunch. A rain storm gave us a chance to rest before
hitting the beach again, and again. Jackson finished off his day by
feeding the birds and taking a long sunset walk to the pier with Amy. Both
boys fell asleep within minutes at bedtime. But I bet they will be up and
ready to go again tomorrow.
Tuesday
the 14th. After spending a fun afternoon visiting the boy's great-aunt Betty
in Chesapeake, we arrived in Virginia Beach and hit the waves for the first time
as a family of four. Ben was too little last year
to count. Benjamin has loved everything; the waves, the sand, the pool.
A wave knocked him face down into the sand and he came up just covered in salt
water and sand. He was signing "more" and smiling the whole time we tried
clean his face off. He also signed "more" while we walked back to the hotel.
But as soon as he hit the indoor pool the smile came back. It's been
two years since our last beach trip with Grandma Sue
and we are very happy to be in the middle of another one with her.
Monday
the 13th. Yesterday, Jeff and I rented a couple of Dagger
Zydeco's from Hanging
Rock Outdoor Center and paddled a ten mile stretch of the
Dan River.
We explored feeder streams, lunched on an island below Seven Islands Bridge, and
really enjoyed spending a day outdoors. More photos are on
the paddle
page and you can
watch a short clip of Jeff paddling the Dan
by clicking here.
Sunday the 12th. Congratulations to Marcus and Chastidy Heath on the birth of James Wyatt Heath today. 7lbs 15ozs.
Saturday
the 11th. We went downtown today with Megan
to celebrate Mount Airy's diversity at the International Festival. Of
course, this is Mount Airy so we were the only ones there. We also
had lunch at the Blue Bird and ice cream at The Good Life before hitting the
playground at Miss Etta's.
Friday the 10th. What a pretty day. Jackson had a good morning at preschool and made a very nice friendship necklace that Benjamin adores. Ben still feels pretty bad and has a fever, although he did sleep better last night.
Thursday
the 9th. Ben was up all night again. We thought just to play,
because he kept ramming his popper into
Jackson's door and yelling like he couldn't figure out why
Jackson wouldn't come out to join him. But his fevers kept coming back and
it finally dawned on us that he probably had an ear infection. Amy took
Benjamin to Primary Care (our luck, Ben's pediatrician started her vacation this
afternoon.) Sure enough, the poor little guy has a double ear infection.
We feel bad because it took us so long to figure it out. It is so much
easier when they can tell you what hurts.
Wednesday the 8th. Benjamin's vaccinations from last week finally caught up to him. He was up much of the night and early this morning with the fever Dr. Gale predicted he would have. The poor little guy felt pretty bad all day too.
Jackson has been doing scientific experiments everyday. Yesterday he put a bowl outside to measure the rain. This morning he had over four inches of rain in it. I think the Dan should have plenty of water for this weekend's kayak trip.
Tuesday
the 7th. The boys went to the library on a day that Frances kept wet and
gray.
Monday
the 6th. A nice Labor Day off with the family. We got
out early for some biking and strolling on the greenway, which ended, as usual,
with Jackson and his bike being carried. The kid is like a cheetah, big
bursts of speed followed by complete shutdowns. The funniest thing is to
see what he does when an attractive woman jogs by. He starts running or
pedaling really fast until he passes her, then stops right in front of her to
catch his breath. He'll do this two or three times and never mention what
he was up to.
Sunday
the 5th. Happy First Birthday
Landon!
We started the day with a walk on Main Street with Mo and a stop at The Good Life
for coffee and ice cream. Then
it was off to Winston-Salem to celebrate Landon's 1st birthday.
Saturday
the 4th. The boys hit the greenway first thing this morning for some
more biking and strolling. And a day after Jackson
rode a bike for the first time, he jumped off the diving board for the first
time. I can't wait to see what he does tomorrow. Tonight Mo came
over for dinner and a movie night sleepover with Jackson.
Friday
the 3rd. What a great evening. The family followed up dinner at Chile
Verde with a walk on the greenway bike trail. It was the second time
Jackson took his bike to the trail and he
pedaled solo for the first time, going
over a mile all by himself. We were very proud. Then before dark
Jackson and I caught a pet spider to go in his bug jar. His name is Spidey
and he has really long legs. Jackson says that he loves him.
Watch the movie of Jackson's First Bike Ride (1.8MB).
I've recently scanned photos from
my mother's side of my family
and put them in the Rogers-Mills-Vipperman Family Album.
This photograph is of Jack and Ben's great-great grandparents, Albert and Laura
Vipperman. Laura was twice widowed and I remember her as
Mrs. Stone.
Thursday
the 2nd. Benjamin smacks his hands on the oven door and says "HOT!".
So we've taught him another word, just not exactly what it means. My Aunt
Dianna and Uncle Ronald stopped by for a visit tonight, which both boys enjoyed
very much.
Wednesday the 1st.
Jackson put on his guards and cleats for some soccer practice in the front yard.
Team practice starts after labor day. One day you're in the delivery room
and the next day you're a soccer dad, wow.
