Where Did August Go And A Vacation Story

I’m telling you the older I get the faster I loose track of time. I can’t believe August is almost over and I only made it to my poor neglected blog once. Are you ready for a long winded picture heavy post?

This month we went on vacation, and then the harvest was upon us. There is nothing like bushels and pounds of fresh produce to make one feel overwhelmed quick. I have been busy in the kitchen ever since. Even without a garden I have managed to put up more fruits and veggies than I had thought possible. I am so thankful for this as I love to have a full pantry and avoid the grocery store when I can.

As for our vacation, well that one has some stories that I am sure my children will never forget! We decided way back in January to meet up with some of our dear friends who live in Illinois. Ohio marks the halfway point for driving so we chose a state park on Lake Erie. Not wanting to drive the distance all in one day we made a stop in Western Pennsylvania as a state park there as well.

Our first stop was Fort Necessity where George Washington fought and the French and Indian War started. It is always amazing to visit these places in person so you can really get an idea of the size. This place was small for there to be 250 soldiers here. We had a great time learning more about the war.

We stayed the night at Ohiopyle state park and in the next morning explored the area. It is so beautiful in the Laurel Highlands!

We saw some interesting mushrooms on our hike along the river. I think I took about 50 photos of all the varieties.

Then later that day I went on a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. That has been on my list of things to see ever since I studied about his designs in college. It was beautiful and fun to see it in person, amazing! I am not allowed to share photos online that I took but I can share this one of the exterior.

The next day we drove into Ohio and stopped to visit a blog friend. We had so much fun and had such a hard time leaving!

Finally we made it to Lake Erie!

On the first day we went to the lake to swim. The weather was perfect!

That night it rained. We were well prepared and stayed dry. We woke up made breakfast, cleaned up and then sat down to discuss what were were going to do for the day when it started to rain again. Not 5 minutes later the tornado sirens went off. We ran to the bath house as fast as one can with 9 children in tow. We ended up spending the day at Wal-Mart and the bookstore to pass the time as it poured and caused flash flooding. When we finally got back to our campsite it looked like this!

This mixing bowl was in the dining tent and it was dry when we left.

We ended up moving campsites to one on higher ground and not underwater.

The next day we took the hike were were planning. The Lake is very pretty and the lily pads are everywhere.

This photo is one of those that I will treasure forever. First off we asked a woman from another campsite to come over and take a picture. She only took one. In one shot she managed to capture EVERY child cooperating and looking at the camera, and smiling. That never happens!

We had such a good time! It was a wonderful and much needed vacation. Our friends are some of the first people we met when we moved to Illinois. Our oldest boys are 4 months apart. Owen is three days older than Elita, and Fiona and Campbell are 6 weeks apart. We used to spend hours together when the children were little often gathering for dinner and evening chats. It was amazing to see that even after 4 years there was no hesitation among the children, they just jumped right in as if they see each other all the time. We sure miss them!

We then drove home 8 hours and real life began again. The End.

Rest

This past week I have been resting at my parents house, away from all the work needing to be done. It was glorious! Spring was in full color and nowhere on earth does spring smell the way it does in the South. I knew I was home when I smelled the sweet scent while driving up the mountain.

I had the chance to meet up with one of my friends from elementary school while she was in town with her family. We hadn't seen each other in years! We met up at the park we played at as children, and watched our children play while we chatted. It was so nice to catch up face to face!Over the weekend my brothers came into town for to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday. It was such a fun time to all be together!

I think we wore him out! :) Happy Birthday Dad!

During the week I had a chance to work on a little project my Mother picked up for me off of Craig's list. I'll share that with you as soon as I can get pictures tomorrow!

Now it is back to work, our house goes on the market in 12 days!

Crazy, Hectic, Busy Week(s)

Well that about sums up the last two weeks. The first weekend we were out of town to visit with my parents and my husband's father. We went to Greenland Gap for the first time in the spring, usually we go in the fall. It was a great weekend with warm weather. I wouldn't really know that though because I only ventured out one day. The other? I slept while everyone else went hiking and fishing. It was glorious and such a rare occurrence, I can't remember the last someone let me sleep all day. Thanks Mom and Dad for keeping an eye out for everyone. This lodge was build by my husbands Great Grandfather in 1938. It is absolutely beautiful and in the middle of nowhere. Someday I'll have to take more photos inside, but the lighting is poor.

Our traditional picture on the stone walls outside the lodge.

The one day I did go out we drove down to the falls to hang out by the water.

As soon as we got home it was back to real life. Funny how that works. :)

I spent the week getting ready for a consignment sale that was held last weekend and a brunch for my bible study group. I have been on a mission lately to get rid of stuff. I have been contemplating it for a while, the attachment to things and how that can become unhealthy. Just watch an episode of Hoarders and you understand. So I started going through things, trying to pare down to half. It sounded like a good place to be. If I am always dealing with stuff and not really living then there is to much. I though the consignment sale would be a good place to tackle the children's things. With their help I went through all of their things and got rid of half or almost half. I was quite proud of how well they did, the only thing they had trouble parting with was the stuffed animals. What is is about stuffed animals?!!  We filled the back of the truck  and took it to the sale. It was raining so I snapped a quick photo not wanting to get my camera wet. Things sold well and I came home with only one box. Next up is the yard sale in May to get rid of the rest. Every day the pile grows bigger as I come across something else we don't need. The more I get rid of the easier it becomes. The children's rooms are purged and they can easily keep them clean. Most of the toys we kept are in the basement and organized into shelving I all ready had. The house feels lighter and I am lighter, I can't wait to tackle every nook and cranny so that everything that is left has a purpose and a place. Things can hold us back form the lives we are meant to live in Christ.

I have been contemplating this verse in Matthew 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the brunch I hosted. We had such a wonderful time and I so enjoyed putting together some spring decorations. It may not feel like spring outside but it sure is inside!

Doctors and Vacation

I spent last week sanitizing my house and still didn't finish. It wasn't on my list to become a germ freak. Then I took my girls to the Doctor for a strange rash on their arms and legs. Diagnosis? Impetigo. Never heard of it? Me either. Apparently its a form of a staph infection common in children. I just love it when the experts say common. Sigh. It's also highly contagious, which explains the crazy amounts of cleaning I did last week, all before we were to leave on vacation for the weekend. Why do these things always happen right before your supposed to do something big? So on top of cleaning I was packing for a weekend in the mountains of West Virginia, hence the silence here. There was just way to much to do! Thankfully they are getting better and their bodies are accepting the antibiotics. It could have been so much worse. We had a wonderful time away and the weather was perfect. It's such a beautiful spot to visit and the children look forward to it all year. This year we took a little side trip and visited Blackwater Falls State Park. It was beautiful!

I'm not sure what prompted the salutes but they all did it at the same time.

We played and fish in the creek that runs through the family property. Some a little more than others. :)  We hiked, enjoyed the views and relaxed! It was a great weekend! We are all ready looking forward to next year!

Camping in the rain

Between Mammoth Caves and Fort Boonesborough State park it rained. And rained, and rained. This was not just a soft gentle rain, no, it was a downpour that lasted all. day. long. We steadily drove east in hopes that it would be over when we got there. We had a wet tent, and hoped that it would be dry enough to set it back up for two more nights. We even thought about driving straight home. But, no Fiona was counting on seeing the Kentucky horse park and had waited the whole vacation for it. We had to stay.

As you can see it did stop. At least for a while. There were huge puddles everywhere, and so much damage from the flooding. This area had had enough rain. Parts of the campground were still closed from the damage.We managed to get our tent up and a dinner made when the rain came again. I washed the dishes in the rain and then we went to Wal-Mart for a while. Our tent never leaked so we were able to sleep. It was muggy and hot but we were so tired it didn't matter.

While we set up the tent the children found the puddles. Who can resist the mud when there is nothing else to do? Eating desert and trying to keep dry.  This is the stuff memories are made of. 

Mammoth Cave National Park

Our next stop was the National Park. we arrived in the early afternoon, so we visited the Visitor’s center first. I am so glad we did. Mammoth Caves has a Junior Ranger program so the children were able to pick up a workbook and start earning their Junior Ranger badge. We also decided which tours of the caves we were going to take got our maps of the park. Then it was off to dry out our camp gear and set up the tent. Those junior Ranger books kept the children so occupied we hardly knew they were there! Even Gwen was able to do some of the activities. You don’t have to finish the whole book but my boys were determined! When they turned it on two days later it was complete. The Ranger was quite surprised they had finished it and my children are quite proud of their badges.

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Deer and wild turkey are quite plentiful in the park. This doe came so close we could almost touch her. At this point we had all ready found 4 ticks on various little bodies so we tried to say away.

Before dinner we took a short bike ride up to the camp store for ice and stopped to look at the old train. It was build just for tourists to come visit the caves, They have been an attraction since the 1800’s when slaves used to lead people down in the earth for a tour.

The next morning we decided upon a two mile hike to see the Mammoth sink dome. This is the indentation above ground where water enters the cave. It was so beautiful in the forest!

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That afternoon was our first tour. We chose the Historical tour which begins at the first discovered entrance. We saw where they used to mine saltpetre to make gunpowder, old graffiti form the 1800’s, some of the very large rooms where concerts were held, and even public restrooms! This tour is about 2 hours and two miles long with 480 steps. It had lots of low ceilings and curvy spaces. It was so much fun and so interesting! After our tour the children were pooped! They fell into bed without complaint!

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The second day we took the tour from the New entrance. So called because it was dynamited out. This tour is also about 2 hours but it is only 3/4 of a mile in length and has 500 stairs. There was a lot of straight down and straight up! This tour has many more formations to see. We also rode on the park bus to get to the entrance. This of course was a highlight to our homeschooled children. They never get to ride on busses!

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After our tour we had a quick lunch at the campsite and then went for a scenic drive up to the Nolin Dam and state park and stopped in one of the small towns for some ice cream!

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We then came back for a bike ride, dinner, and then frantic packing as we could tell the storms were coming in! We just made it with packing the truck back before the rain hit. It didn’t rain to long that night but in the morning it poured! We packed up everything as fast as one is able in the pouring rain and drove to our next destination in hopes it wasn’t raining there.

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