Foxfield 2013

Henry wearing a blue and orange button down with a UVA hat...

Horses running...

Girls in summer dresses... 

 This can only mean one thing - FOXFIELD! Our annual journey to Charlottesville on the last weekend in April every year. This year was a first -we had over 1/3 of the number of kids as there were adults (about 45 adults and almost 20 kids), so we spent quite a bit of time making sure we had lots of stuff for the kids to do. My friends Renee and Beth put together activity bags for each kid, which was a fantastic idea, especially as the races wore on in the afternoon. being able to pull out bubbles for the kids was very helpful, as you'll see below!

When we first arrived, I took a bunch of the kids over to a grassy area to play. We brought some baseball bats and balls, and they proved to be a HUGE hit! I ended up pitching the whole time, so my friend Rachel grabbed these shots of us all playing. Henry may need a little help figuring out how to hold the bat!

 

We all agreed this may have been the funniest picture of the day. No, I did not actually hit Ellie in the face - the ball bounced off the bat and gently bopped her. She was fine :)

 Here I am pitching to Sydney, drink in hand. Would it happen any other way?!

Then it was time for food, and the races to start. Henry absolutely loved watching the horses, even more so than in previous years. It was nice that we've reached the point where Natalie and the other girls her age (or older) can mostly take care of themselves (with occasional checks by us), so we mostly had Henry to watch after.

Midway through the races was time for Evan's birthday cake (Foxfield is always around his birthday, and every few years it falls on his birthday, like this year!).

Photo courtesy of Rachel

Don't you love the children just waiting for cake?! That may have been the highlight for them.:)

 As I mentioned before, we then brought out the trip kits and the kids had a blast with bubbles.

 I loved how excited Katie got about the bubbles Natalie blew for her!

 Henry enjoyed being thrown up in the air by Evan, and I love this little guy's happy face!

Rachel also grabbed a couple of great family shots of us - this one is my favorite

 When it was time to head back, we got everyone packed up in the car with minimal issues. Ellie's car seat had been moved to our car, and this was the site when we got back to the house. Ellie stayed asleep for about another 30 minutes; Henry around an hour! I kept checking on him expecting him to wake, and he was just OUT. That's what a day outside will do to you!

 Natalie and Zabby got showered up and were good to go. Since the other parents were doing different things (including Evan and a few others getting Crozet Pizza for dinner), I supervised the girls on the big tree swing outside.

 

 

As always, a fantastic time at Foxfield! I do have a ton of photos of friends at the event, but thought they were better suited to Facebook than to here (as then I can tag everyone). So if you haven't seen them yet, click HERE to take a look.