Long update + visitor

Summer doesn't really mean summer for the two of us right now because we have a bunch of boring tests to study for. But, in between the studying, we have fit in a few fun events: a day at the pool, showing the Ashton's our favorite donuts, going on the canal tour, Colonial Downs Horse races, a VERY eventful day at the river, a holiday BBQ, the reenactment at St. John's Church, etc. 

  

On the Fourth of July, we talked the Ashton's into "tubing" the river with us. Last minute, we decided to follow the rules and grab life vests that were required that day. Little did we know, we were tubing over the Z dam, which is a man made hydraulic system. When we went over the dam, we all flipped backwards and got stuck in the water because it has a constant spin cycle. Eric had to pull me out of the water, after which we were stuck in place for about ten minutes, screaming for help! Long story short, we were very lucky to get out and felt very lucky to live in a place where so many people rush to come help you. The firemen/all the helpers told us that 28 people have died at the Z dam since 1990 and that they usually come to pull out bodies, not rescue people. Counting our lucky stars!

Eric is currently training for a marathon (go Eric!) and gets soaking wet every time he runs. It is so crazy I had to document. On a side note, we are getting overly attached to our cute little plants. Check out the change in tomato color! We watch them grow everyday and totally celebrate when our tomatoes turn red.

At the branch, Eric and I got called to the Young Mens and Womens. We LOVE it. A few pics from a couple activities...

Winnie's Visit!:

When Winnie told me he had a work meeting in D.C. I was so happy that he would be coming to Richmond for the weekend! We even got lucky because his meetings got out early so we got him for an extra night.  I picked him up from D.C. and the two of us grabbed lunch. After dinner thursday we took him to the Byrd Theater to see 42. We went on a short run that night and Winnie made sure to distract us with interesting convo topics so I wouldn't give up and run home. Naturally, we had to do a late night run to waffle house, which was followed up with some Mario Kart. 

The next day, we showed him infamous southern waffles and chicken, did the pipe-line walk, Belle isle, and took a little walk along the river. We showed him our favorite Richmond neighborhoods and then introduced him to some delicious barbeque food! To add to the over eating, we did a little red velvet test taster from a couple cupcake joints. Frostings still wins!

 Saturday: Eric woke up really early (and I told him I wasn't quite ready to wake up) so he decided to go on a quick hike. When Winnie heard him, he asked Eric what he was up to. Eric heard him wrong and said "just go back to bed." 

When we were ready, we made a pit stop to South of the James Farmers Market (of course) and then were off to Virgina Beach. The traffic was pretty bad, which made it even worse that I plugged in the wrong address that caused a 30 minute detour. But we got there and had the best weather! Winnie is one of the more fun people so the weekend was a blast. We totally missed Sara and the kids and wish they could have been here!