Amish Acres

This is the most awesome barn I've seen! The hay loft was superb; the history so rich you could swim in it and the giant swing. Oh yea - it was awesome!


We spent an afternoon at Amish Acres - a tourist spot for all things Amish. The kids had fun trying to bite apples off the stings and each one got to take home a pumpkin. We toured the original house, the best barn ever (I totally want one), the cheese and meat shop, the fudge shop, the original cider mill, and the bakery. We got to sample apples, cheese, cider, cookies, candy and fresh out of the cooper pot....Apple Butter. YUM!

Delays in Photography

Sorry for the hugely long delay. Errgggg. My camera was full and the cord to attach it to the computer was, of course, missing. Shame on me for not keeping up with my stuff. Now we have

Cord found. Camera missing.

Then camera found - battery dead. Quick delete pic's to get in a few important ones. - cord gone.

For real!

Move pics to hubby's computer, then try to move them to mine....... no go - they are lost on his computer.

SOOOO..... we have a few months still missing in limbo and not available. We'll start from here, then.

CAMPING! More Fall Fun

Or in all actuality - to begin the fall fun we went camping with friends labor day weekend. It was wet, raining, chilly and perfect! And we all came back without killing each other from sleep deprivation!

J helping cut firewood. He really liked being with the "big" boys. He and A were really impressed when Dyl got stung by a bee and pulled the stinger out and kept walking. J didn't have quit the same reaction when a bee stung him on his ankle. He cried for a while, but was ok.

A & Bre digging in the beach.

All the kids playing on the rocks off the pier leading to the lighthouse. They're all on the "nice" side of the pier. The other side had waves crashing up and over the rocks.

C & Bre having fun together.

E & Dad having fun on our hike. The Dad's tried to scare the moms by hiding the kids on the trail. It back-fired on them when I ran ahead to find kids and ended up bypassing them and then scaring everyone else because I was gone!

Bre & Wendy - our friends we went camping with. And they let me braid their hair. So cute ladies!

The dads are having SO much fun watching everyone else play in Lake Michigan.

Everyone ready to cool off in Lake Michigan. It was cold! But WAY fun!

This is Dyl & Cal chopping firewood. Good Job Boy Scouts!! ;)

More Fall fun - FOOTBALL

We took the kids to their first ever high school football game (games when they were babies don't count). And wouldn't you know it - Game clinching win with .01 seconds left!  Yeah, it was awesome and all other football games will pale in comparison.  I was jumping up and down so much that you actually can't see the touchdown, but who cares! A picture is worth a thousand words!  They threw it for the 2 extra points, too.  Way to go Tigers!

Another thing to do in the Fall

Dress Up Time!! This year we have

E - the pirate.

A - the Jedi (Luke to be exact).

J - the Mailbox (totally his idea!).

And C - the punk/ 80's prom queen.

Scott dressed up as....wait for it.....Scott.

Alisha Dressed up in an Indian Saree thanks to a friend who's husband went to India and procured one for her! It only took 4 how to vids on youtube and 30 minutes to figure out how to properly wrap 5 yards of gorgeous fabric.

Things to do in the Fall in Indiana

How many times have you heard, "I'm bored!"

Yea, it's annoying. I've started telling my children that boredom is a state of mind and that the more bored they are, the more creative they will be. Yea, the don't buy it most of the time.

To fight boredom, we try to do many things to enhance creativity and stimulate the mind and body. This year C decided to run XC. (Cross country for all you none-letes -ie- non athlete's). She managed to finish the year with a personal best!

C - running!! She finished the 3K at 16:19! Way to go girl!!

Family

This week I've had my mom here and my sister in law Rachael and her 3 kiddos and we've gone full throttle. It's now Thursday and we are done and looking forward to strawberry picking tomorrow. :)