Back in the Blue Ridge again

One thing we love about Charlottesville is its proximity to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Over the past couple of weeks, we have ventured to the mountains twice (making last-minute plans both times). We feel lucky to be this close--within half an hour we can be in Shenandoah National Park.

Last weekend we went to Turk Mountain, one of our all-time favorite hikes. It's fairly short, but with the climb you get some good exercise--and it's a great view.

Turk Mountain view

Troy and Steve taking a breather at the top of Turk Mtn

One of these kids is not like the others.

Full moon over the brewery

This weekend has been a bit crazy as we have been prepping for a potential grant application for BradFest. We made a last-minute plan today to get out of the house for a few hours. It turned out to be a perfect fall day.

Oops! Can't see the scenery behind our big melons.

New favorite spot: Blackrock Summit. It's a scramble to the top but a pretty easy hike.

 Nature always helps me to relax and feel like a human again.

Over a month of Minnesota

Obviously, I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog. So many things have happened in the last month and more!

Our time in Minnesota was incredibly busy--mostly with good things. It was challenging to balance our work, BradFest organizing and visiting, but we worked hard at it.

BradFest was rained on both days but we still managed to raise some money and had a great time. Our efforts were recognized this year by the Two Harbors mayor, which was very exciting.

The mayor of Two Harbors with the BradFest organizers and Brad's parents.

 After BradFest, Troy brought the robots down to Minneapolis. Our friend Aaron designed EMMI's new logo. In exchange, he was promised a private robot concert. Aaron organized a nice, intimate gathering of his friends (and ours). It was nice to see so many music robot enthusiasts. Troy's composition professor, Scott Miller, showed up to jam with the robots, as did an old friend, Jeff Vigness.

We got to visit with many old friends and later went out on the town. Minneapolis is really a great city. I realize that more and more each time I return. One very unfortunate thing happened that night though. My camera was stolen (along with my cell phone). As you know, I love taking photos. And I loved my camera. I'm a bit heartbroken but found what I think will be a suitable replacement finally this week on Craigslist. I'm anxious to play around with it.

Some of the other major MN events:

I spent some time with my mom, aunt and cousins at my grandpa's cabin. My sister came up one day with the girls too. We realized we had 6 sets of sisters there at once! Pretty special.

Maddie, Barb, Val, mom and me

 I helped to throw a small baby shower for my sister. 

Suzi with Taylor, Marty, Heather, Laura, me and mom

Laura and Taylor

Nieces Ria and Amelia

Laura, Ria, me and mom

Troy's mom retired from teaching nursing. We were happy to be there for her surprise party. Unfortunately, I have no pics of that since my camera was gone at that point. :(

We had a fun game night at the Rogers with our friend Steve (who drove up all the way from Charlottesville for BradFest). I never realized how good Troy's mom was at beanbags! And has anyone ever heard of moose balls? It sounds weird but it's a pretty fun game!

My brother and sister both came home for a nice family dinner. It's a rare opportunity for all of us to be together.

Patrick and Jackson (his girlfriend's son, a sweetheart, who I met for the first time)

Family

Ria eating her favorite food. She went through 3 half cobs and was demanding more.  She didn't want to eat anything else!

Chowing down on the deck.

Towards the end of our stay, Troy and I were thrilled to get one night away to ourselves in nature. We went camping at Fenske Lake again. It was an incredible 24 hours. We had perfect weather. We went canoeing and swimming. We cooked delicious steaks over an open fire. We fell asleep listening to loons and wolves. It was just what we needed. I borrowed my mom's camera to take some shots, but it's hard to do this beautiful MN scenery justice.

I love my nieces to pieces!

We're back in Minnesota for a month or so to organize BradFest again. It's been a terribly busy time since I'm not really able to take time off, but I did find a bit of time this weekend for visiting. I finally got a chance to meet my niece Taylor. She's unbelievably tiny and sweet!

 

 And I had a blast with Ria, who is now 19 months old. She's got an incredible vocabulary already and my heart just melts every time I hear her say "Auntie!"

Picking raspberries

Eating raspberries with "Papa"

Peekaboo!

Open Workspace

I obviously haven't gotten around to posting in quite a while. Summers always seem to fly by, but this one has been particularly busy. A few weeks ago Ear Duo (the duo that EMMI recently collaborated and toured with) was in town. It was the perfect opportunity for EMMI to host an open house at their Belmont workspace.

Beer was on tap and Troy's hand-roasted coffee was brewed for the occasion

Loads of friends and supporters came to check out the space and find out about the recent tour. The robot builders were on hand to explain and demo their recent creations and to show a movie that chronicled the tour.

EMMI & Ear Duo outside the workspace

Fourth Fun

Nothing says 4th of July like a BBQ, friends and fireworks. This year we were happy to enjoy all of these things. Thanks to Steve and Aurie for hosting!

Troy made a wonderful BBQ sauce and some delicious (but dangerous) watermelon drinks with rum and white wine.

Troy making dangerous drinks

Ian (who is 4) provided the main entertainment for the night (besides the fireworks). He impressed us with his vocabulary and demonstrated the versatility of a massage brush. He used it in a seemingly endless guessing game and as a dance prop!

Sarah and Jaimee

The party was also a going away celebration for our friend Sarah. She arrived in C-Ville the same year as we did. Unfortunately for us, she's returning to Canada this week. We'll miss Sarah. I'll especially miss her enthusiasm for dancing and singing karaoke. Parties definitely won't be the same without her!

A Brew Ridge Birthday

You probably already know that Troy and I are beer lovers. This region is known for having lots of wineries but in recent years, more and more local breweries are cropping up. We have often ventured to the Blue Mountain Brewery as it's only a short drive from Charlottesville. My birthday was a good excuse to venture a bit further to check out the rest of what has been dubbed the Brew Ridge Trail. Our friends Steve and Aurie volunteered to drive, which was sweet.

We started out at Wild Wolf Brewing Company in Nellysford. Right now, they have a home brew shop and a place to buy growlers for a great price. If you buy a growler, they let you taste the beer. We were pretty impressed with the quality of their beer. Their Alpha Ale features some of the delicious, West coast hops that I love. Their Strawberry Schwarzcake is really good too--it has some serious strawberry flavor, but isn't too sweet. I also enjoyed their Belgian wit (something I don't say often about that style when attempted in the U.S.).

This fall Wild Wolf is opening a brewpub/restaurant and they hired the sous chef from a place called Staunton Grocery, which is well known around here for its food. We'll be happy to have an excuse to go back!

Next we ventured to the Devil's Backbone Brewery. It's a nice building but more reminiscent of a hunting lodge in Montana (with elk and deer heads on the walls) than what you'd expect to find in rural Virginia. The food was tasty (I had a pulled pork sandwich) but the beer was mediocre. I feel like they're trying to do too many beers and they don't really do any of them well. Still, it's always fun to do tastings.

They made me wear the goofy headband

After DBB, the plan was to go to Paul's Creek to cool off and try out the natural rock slide. Unfortunately, the water level was too low. But we still enjoyed the scenery. We even saw a little turtle.

We finished up with the Blue Mountain Brewery, where Sarah, Dave and Laura met up with us. It was a beautiful evening on their patio overlooking the mountains. And their beer and pizza are always incredible. They have an ÜberPils on tap as well as their Mandolin--a Belgian-style beer that actually tastes Belgian!

We were pretty exhausted by the end of the evening, but we topped off the night with a decadent cake that Troy had made for me--buttermilk-chocolate with chocolate ganache, cherry butter cream icing, and blueberry-pomegranite glaze. It was divine!

Good beer, food and friends, what more can you ask for on your birthday?

A new niece!

Our new niece was born June 20, two weeks early! Taylor Cole Cash is tiny but she's healthy and happy. 

Mom and dad are overjoyed. Grandma was thrilled to welcome another granddaughter. And sister Ria (now 18 months) is adjusting to sharing the spotlight.

 

We're really looking forward to going home to MN in July to meet Taylor and see firsthand how much Ria has grown!