The Nina, The Pina (but not) The Santa Maria

Fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We recently took Adam to see replicas of Christopher Columbus' famous ships that docked in town for public tours. The Nina was built by hand without power tools and is considered to be the most historically accurate Columbus replica ever built. The Pinta was actually built larger than the original. Both were created by The Columbus Foundation. I was most struck by how tiny these ships are! I cannot imagine spending months onboard on an ocean crossing. No windows below, very small deck space, the smell of pine tar (which seals and makes the ships black). These ships are actively in use by the crew of volunteers who sail with the ship and lead the tours from city to city. Because the crew lives on board, we could not go down below into the private cabins. I had hoped to see it set up as it would have been with supplies, livestock, sleeping arrangements, food prep, etc., and I think it would have given us all a better picture of how primitive life in that time was like. Volunteers run the tours now in exchange for free room and board. One girl I spoke to had just been on board for 2 weeks, and another girl had been there for 6 weeks. Both said it was an awesome experience. I think Michael wanted to sign up and cruise around the country for a stint. For me, the thought of going on a river cruise on this boat made my stomach turn, honestly. (I'll prefer my cruise ships with a solarium and silly towel animals, thankyouverymuch.) Adam had a great time running around the ships, using the pulleys, and manning the cannons. Sam had a great time with his feet firmly planted on dry land. (Sam and boats don't mix.) It was pretty neat to see them docked alongside the skyline of a modern city and wished we had seen them in motion with all sails down. It must be an impressive sight.

Thanksgiving Week 2014

Who doesn't love November? One of my favorite months, of sure, especially since the past couple of years our friends from Florida have come up for Thanksgiving. This year we made sure to take the whole week off to spend it with them. With their 2 little ones, and my sister's little ones, we had 6 kids aged 5 and under that needed to be entertained.

So, road trip! First up was Mammoth Caves National Park, which was a whole day trip to eastern Kentucky. We left the little girls and took just the boys. It was a couple hour drive of snack-giving, toy-sharing, game-playing, are-we-there-yet question-answering and a quick Cracker Barrel breakfast before our tour. Friend Ryan had been studying caves so it was a great way to roll in some educational fun into their vacation. We took the Frozen Niagara tour, which takes visitors to the most decorated areas of the caves. We saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites and the tour length was just right for 4 & 5 year old attention spans. Highlights for the boys were the bus ride to the cave entrance, the cave crickets (which look like spiders on the ceiling), turning the lights out inside the cave, and asking our guide questions (including can you turn the lights out again). Our ranger was very patient and kind when their little hands kept shooting up to ask a question, and I was quite proud of them for their thoughtful (and relevant!) inquiries.

Ready to go

Some of the draperies down below

The natural cave entrance

Inside the house there's only so much room for running around, and boys need space! We took them to an apple orchard on a cooold day, but these kiddos stayed warm by all the climbing and jumping.

And speaking of jumping, we tried out Sky Zone another day, and that was so fun! Even Sam had a great time running across all the trampolines and even took a dive in the foam block pit. Adam wants to wear his special trampoline socks just about every day.

And we filled up all the in-between times with plenty of playing, dressing up, and birthday pancakes for Stella's 3rd birthday.

Oh, and of course, the main event, Thanksgiving itself: 1 fried turkey, 1 roasted turkey, 1 smoked turkey breast and 24 people!

I hope your table was surrounded by much love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Wrap-Up

When you look outside and see this....

you know you're behind on updating about our Autumn. It was a really pretty Fall this year, and we did so many things to enjoy the weather.

Evans Apple Orchard

With Aunt Amy and family and Grandpa Dave on perhaps the hottest day of the season -- Adam was a sweaty, dirty mess by the end but had so much fun. We never actually left the play area to go to the orchard itself.

Horse-Daze

This is a really neat event annually held by the county parks system. It features all kinds of horse-related activities and games, including horse rides, horse grooming, an equestrian course for kids to jump themselves, face painting, a hayride, food and more. The event raises money for the public horse trails around the county.

Pumpkin Run & Fall Festival

We'd been looking for a 5k for Adam to do, as part of the mile-per-year plan Michael has for Adam. Last year, when Adam was 3 years old, he ran his first 5k. Three years, three miles. This year we needed a four mile race, which don't really exist, but we found a small community 5k that also had a 1-mile family walk. The Pumpkin Run is sponsored by the local YMCA and was held in the quaint river town of Franklin, Ohio.

First up was the Family Walk, and Michael and Adam headed out quickly. Sam was itching to get out of his stroller so I let him loose on the course as well and he pretty much completed the distance all on his own.  Following this race was the Pumpkin Run with several costumed participants. Aunt Angie and Kevin joined us for this race. I pushed Sam and Michael ran with Adam. Four miles completed all on his own!

Following the race was the town's Fall Festival with street food, craft vendors, kid rides and presentations by local groups. It was a perfect Fall day to be outside enjoying the event, and cousin Jake was able to come play with us.

Halloween

Halloween snuck up on me this year, and once again I was staying up late to finish Adam's Halloween costume. He'd wanted to be a mummy for a long tim but the closer the day came he kept changing his mind. I made the final decision for him and threw together a mummy costume using liner fabric I had on hand, ripped it up and dyed it with tea, and attached it to a t-shirt and pants. For Sam, we recycled the frog costume Adam wore at the same age.

We had tickets to go see Garth Brooks in concert Rupp Arena at 10:30 Halloween night, so we drove down to Lexington to join the cousins for trick-or-treating before the show.

Mother Nature didn't tell Autumn that her season was over before the first snow fall came mid-November (4 inches!), and we lost a tree in our yard due to the weight of the snow and ice on tree branches that still had leaves.

Our November ended quite busy with Sam's birthday (2!) and an active Thanksgiving week with friends from Florida. Posts on those to come!

Block Party!

I know I've said before that I love our neighborhood. We've lived here almost 2.5 years and over the course of the last year we've met more of our neighbors but really only in a casual, passing way. There are about 8 houses that all share the same backyard space which we thought lent itself perfectly to a backyard gathering and a chance to get to know everyone better. Yes, it was time for a good, ole fashioned block party!

Now being fairly new on the block it was a little unnerving for me to step out and take the initiative on planning one. (Are we cool enough to want to hang out with?) We coordinated with our next door neighbor that we know pretty well and found a date that worked for them as well. Yes! Two families guaranteed to be there!

We kept it pretty simple. Our neighbors have a built-in fire pit in the back which we'd use as the anchor for the party. I made up some flyer invitations, and to make it more personal, we, as a family, hand delivered to everyone to give a more personal touch. Those that weren't home we left the invitation for them on the door.

On party day the weather was quite chilly so the fire pit was perfect! We set up a couple of folding tables, coolers and a trash can, and let everyone else bring their own chairs and a snack or appetizer to share. I made a big pot of hot chocolate and our neighbors provided brats, mets and hot dogs, and we turned it into a classic weiny roast.

The party started at 4, and I think it was after 11 when the final families called it quits. I'd deem that a success! The parents sat around the fire and talked while the big kids played Capture the Flag around us.

We plan on this being an annual event. Everyone seemed to have a good time and weeks later we still have neighbors thanking us for putting it together. I sure hope this becomes an annual tradition.

So Long, Autumn

Thank you for bearing with me through all these November posts. I'm excited to start tell you about all our December activities but just couldn't skip over a great November. I promise, December/Christmas posts to come next!

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It throws me off when Thanksgiving is so late in the month because I'm not over that holiday before I'm thrust into December so quickly. I'm not quite prepared to part with Autumn yet, but Mother Nature is moving on. We've already had several inches of snow so we are definitely into winter now!

But autumn is my favorite time of year, and I usually fill up my camera with picture of bright orange and yellow trees. Somehow it all got away from me this year, and right near the end of the season I hurriedly snapped this picture from my car window because I knew in a matter of days it would all be over.

One of our annual traditions that I love is visiting a local pumpkin patch. While we didn't make it to our favorite farm this year, we did visit one in Kentucky instead that still had the farm animals, petting zoo, playground and hay ride.

I love all the colors and the warm sunshine and the sweater weather, and I'm still mourning the passing of Autumn but I'm ready to be touched by the Christmas spirit. There's a least that to look forward to.

Thanksgiving 2014

Sometimes pictures tell the store better than words. I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with as many blessings as ours, and your table was surrounded by family and friends that you love most.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 The view from my parent's house

2 Our bountiful dinner table

3 Thanksgiving in their new so-called "holiday room"

4-5 Sharing food and love around the table

6 Sam's first table food Thanksgiving

7 Playing the 'Heads Up' app -- so fun

Happy Halloween! (2013)

Can you guess what Adam wanted to be for Halloween this year? I mean, this is really a stretch for him... any thoughts?

Fireman, of course! He's just a teensy bit predictable.

He was a fireman last year.

He had a fireman themed party for his second birthday.

He loves firetrucks and we have to check whether the bay doors are open or closed every time we pass the fire station.

He received a fireman raincoat for Christmas last year, and combined with fireman galoshes and his fire hat, it's not that unusual for him to come downstairs all dressed up.

It's a natural fit. Though, a couple of weeks before Halloween I asked him again what he wanted to be, and he said "Super Why!" Uhhh, huh? I don't know that he's ever seen an episode of Super Why (I haven't!), plus I would have to start from scratch on a costume. Fortunately, he forgot all about it by the time Halloween rolled around.

As for Sam, I figured we'd just dig up the Spiderman costume from Adam's infancy and reuse that, until Michael had a better idea. I ordered a $15 teddy bear costume, picked up a brown shirt at the Army surplus store for $1, and after a half hour of crafting, we created an ...

Ewok! (Character from the Return of the Jedi, for those of you who are from the new Star Wars movies generation.)

Isn't he adorable? And amazingly he wore the costume all evening without trying to yank off the hood.

Did you have severe weather in your area on Halloween? While several towns around us postponed Halloween to Friday night, ours still went on. For the first hour, we just had a little drizzle (perfect for those fireman boots!) and we were able to take Adam trick-or-treating.

PS. Adam is the world's slowest trick-or-treater. I really should savor this time. It won't be long before he's zipping from house to house on his own with his friends.

What I love about trick-or-treating is the neighborly feel and meeting new people on our block.

We took Adam to about a dozen houses and came inside when it got dark and the rain picked up. But, it wasn't like he was missing out on anything. The kid already had a stash of candy from his school Halloween party. Even Sam attended.

Oh, and since I had Adam's old Spiderman costume and Adam was given a batman costume for play, I just couldn't resist a pre-Halloween dress up.

Happy Halloween!