Today I had dedicated to learning some about the Amish religion and culture. We had overnighted at Walmart, and I was shocked to wake up to this: horse and buggy stalls (occupied!) in the parking lot! Little did I know this was about as close as I would get. We headed to the city of Berlin, OH, where there is a modern Amish home they give tours of (and buggy rides). But not today. I did get to cuddle some…
So, the national parks system setup this reward system in Dayton: visit 6 aerial history sites and get a free teddy bear. And guess what? My kids are ALL IN. After yesterday we had logged (and really visited) 4: the wright brothers museum, the Huffman airfield, the USAF museum, and the National aeronautical hall of fame (located inside the USAF museum). This morning we quick-drove-around to log the last 2: the Paul Dunbar house (the poet colleague of the wrights)…
Sometimes our goals or new events that pop up keep us from staying on track for our trip. In this case, it was both. We came back to Dayton, OH today because we didn’t feel like we had seen enough. Plus Aunica had heard they were doing a really fun activity for young women at church. So, here we are. Today we toured the National Museum of the US Air Force. Deon was really excited about this one, as he…
Funny nickname for Cincinnati, Ohio. In doing some research, there seem to be some disputes as to origin, and as to whether they have the right to claim this title at all, or if it belongs to another city. I wanted to visit the Underground Railroad freedom museum, but I only wanted to bring the girls. Mainly because I didn’t feel the boys could maintain the site deserved. The subject matter was heavy, we we have covered slavery, so it…
This will cover two days, as the first day is Sunday, and I don’t have any pictures. We can’t seem to get and stay healthy, so our church experience was a bit truncated. We all went to sacrament, but Deon and the 3 youngest went back to the rv. We met some very nice people, and Aunica was invited to attend a youth fireside at the bishops house, which she did. It is so nice to feel welcome. Monday we…
I was so excited reading about Connor Prairie, outside of Indianapolis, Indiana. Bonus that it happened to be their free day of the year. This living history museum is broken into different areas, depicting different eras. There was a 1836 village, a 1863 civil war site, a hot air balloon ride, a Native American village, and a barn with animals. My favorite area by far was the civil war site. It is a recreation of DuPont, Indiana, a day after…
Yesterday, we didn’t do anything. Well, that isn’t fair. We sat outside at the campsite, doing art, playing at the playground. It was nice to relax. Then we drove. I was so excited because I found a fall festival happening in Amish country on our drive for today, September 23. Deon worked while the kids and I went in. But no Amish. Lots of things for sale, but no genuine culture. We did glean some good from it, as we…
I always say that birthdays are great, as long as you are happy with where you are in life. I would say I’m pretty happy, but this birthday (40!) was a little hard to swallow. For aunica’s birthday, she requested a trip to a pumpkin patch. I hadn’t gotten around to that, so I researched and found one in Des Moines. We spent the day at Center Grove Orchard. So fun! I had never heard of a corn pool before….
Whew, we packed a lot into this day! We were very generously invited to attend our new friends’ homeschool co-op this morning. We were late (I’m sure you’re shocked), but still made 2 hours of it. The 4 big kids took off to their classes, so I will just have to give you their word for it that it was fun. I stayed with the 2 littles in the 0-3 class. There were probably a dozen kidlets and 6 adults….
I am so excited to say we were able to spend the day at the zoo again today! Our new friends were kind enough to get us in again, giving Deon and Aunica a chance to experience it! We did most of the same things again. Everyone except baby K and I rode the skyfari, we walked though the butterflies and the aquarium. We were given tickets to 2 more IMAX films, but Aunica, Kieran and I skipped one (in…