Fall Vacation

Fall break was last week so we took a mini-vacation to Northern Kentucky. We visited the Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) which was incredible. That will most definitely be a post coming soon. The Museum has a petting zoo.

We also visited this great little treasure hidden in the hills of Covington, KY called Totters-Otterville located in Johnny's Toys. There are so many fun activities for the kids to do. We stayed all day. Here are just a few of the things they played...

Lydia caught every pink fish in the pond!

The Veterinarian Clinic was well staffed with our three there to take care of the animals. Joshua has always wanted to be a vet.

Their grocery cart looks like mine usually does with boxes falling off the top. I menu plan which means I only go to the grocery one time a month...except for small trips for items like fruit and milk. Last month I could barely push my cart and I had to carefully tuck the last few items into the sides, otherwise, they would have fallen off the top! I will have to have two carts when they are teenagers!

Okay, the coolest part of our trip was the hotel room we stayed in at Wildwood Inn. The hotel has theme rooms. We stayed in a two story pirate ship. Honestly, I don't know who liked the room more...Steve and I or the kids.

Personally, I think our Captian was quite good looking.

This is our room from the loft area...with a few members of the crew playing on the bed.

Outdoor fun

Yesterday was Kids Outdoor Day at Green River Lake. It was a beautiful day!

Joshua shooting a pellet rifle. He came very close to hitting a white balloon. However, Lydia shot the gentleman helping her. The pellet bounced off the target and came back and hit him. I thought he was kidding!

Steve joined us just in time for a canoe ride. Which was good because I think the kids and I would still be paddling our way in...
Katherine insisted on shooting a rifle. Not sure there is anything this girl won't try! Her finger was not strong enough to pull the trigger alone so the gentleman had to help her. Her goggles (is that what you call them when you are shooting a gun?) kept sliding off her nose so the sweet girl in line behind us (who was 10 years old but told us she prefers shooting her dad's 22 over a pellet rifle...) held them on for her.
This is Lydia shooting a bow and arrow. Kathine did this as well, but she was on the otherside of Lydia and the only way I could get a photo was to stand in front by the targets...I really wanted a photo but not that bad!

We had relaxing pontoon ride. The little boy with us is a friend we made while waiting.

Fun times, real fun times. We came home exhausted from the day...and now I know what a 22 is and what trap shooting is. So much this city girl has to learn...

Trick or Treat

Yes, it was 92 degrees and technically still summer but we've already been trick or treating!

Last weekend we departed on our annual trip to Lake Rudolph for a Halloweekend. Despite a barking dog, partying neighbors, Holiday World closing, and a dead battery (which my friend and I are convinced is directly related to the barking dog)- we had a great time!!!!

Friday night included hayrides and Charlie Brown's It's a Great Pumpkin on the big screen at the Pavillion, with popcorn of course. This was followed by s'mores around the campfire and time spent with good friends.

We did squeeze Holiday World in on Saturday since it was closed Sunday. We had to cut our day short in order to get back to the RV in time for trick or treats! The kids rode everything they were tall enough to ride at the park. Trick or treating was a blast for all of us. The decorations and costumes are so fun. We rode around in a golf cart (complete with flying ghosts thanks to Steve) and visited numerous camp sites. Lydia collected so much candy that her bag broke!

None of us won the costume contest although we all know Katherine should have, seriously, look at the picture.

The night ended with more s'more and time around the campfire with friends...well it ended for us, but not for the neighbors... or their dog which kept us awake all night. We found out the next day that four other neighbors on the cul-de-sac had also called security. However, our car was the only one that had a suspicious "dead" battery the next morning. Amy and I are convinced that the neighbors did it. Steve says no...the battery just "happened" to die during the night.

This is a photo of one of the campsites...there are hundreds of them throughout the campground. Some where a little scary but the kids had a great time. Katherine even walked up and gave a very large werewolf a high five. Guess she knew he had candy.

I am already excited about next year!

All by 8:15am

Okay, I debated on posting this blog because of the roach. But I am working on being more transparent at this stage in my life. So I decided to post.

Just in case you had a bad day...here goes. I found a roach on my shirt while getting dressed this morning. Thankfully it was a white shirt and the bedroom light was on. Often Steve is still in bed when I get dressed, so I don my clothes in the dark. It was a baby roach...which means it has a mommy and siblings somewhere in my closet. Yuck!
This may explain in some Freudian, psychoanalytical way why by 7:15 I had spilled bleach on my favorite pair of jeans. They are really my favorite by default. I have only one other pair of jeans which I ruined earlier this year when I sat in gum at the county circus. Yes, we went to the county circus. That is a story for a different blog...or not. Anyway I tried everything google had to offer including peanut butter and a few nights in the freezer and my sweet husband sat for hours dissecting the gum from the back of my jeans (after I had taken them off of course) but to no avail. So now, I have one pair of jeans and from the knee down on both legs there are splatters of bleach.

By 8:15 or so I had cleaned up vomit. Which is another interesting story. Katherine and Lydia have had the stomach bug this week...and stayed home from school. Today, Joshua woke up convinced he had it. I was not convinced. I was doing the whole "tuff-love" thing and making him get ready for school...unless he could come up with some symptoms, no pun intended. Anyway, I let him stay home, but there was no nuturing or compassion going on here. I made him lay in the bedroom floor with a bowl while I scrubbed the bathroom with bleach (which I had sprayed on the floor earlier...hence the stains on the jeans). Well, I started feeling guilty, like what if he really was sick. Throwing up is terrible. Maybe I should let him watch Scooby Doo, or at least lay in a bed. I was working through this and just prayed, "Lord, give me discernment here...if he is sick , I will stop what I am doing and just love on him. But if he just wants a day at home..."

Which brings me to two points. One, the Lord cares about the everyday. Don't just turn to Him for the big stuff or when nothing else works. He desires to be involved in the mundane of everyday life. And two, the Lord always answers us, sometimes it's in the rustling of trees, or a whisper-a still small voice. Sometimes we have to wait...and He is teaching us something in the wait...Other times, it is an immediate answer and right before our eyes. That was the Word I got from Him about 5 minutes after my prayer...then I was cleaning up the mess.

I think Joshua's first words after the "episode" were, "Can I watch Scooby-Doo now?"

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Joshua is in first grade, Lydia is starting kindergarten, and Katherine will be in preschool just two mornings a week. They were all excited, I was not but think I did a great job hiding it from them. They got ready so fast this morning they had time to watch 10 minutes of Scooby Doo before leaving at 7:35.

Horses

Over the weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday with horseback riding at the party! The kids can't stop talking about how much they loved it. They all want to learn to ride horses now...and if they take after me they will be just the right size!

Vacation 2010

We had a terrific vacation this year. Enjoy the highlights!

As the kids are older and better swimmers this year (thanks to the swimming lessons this summer), we spent lots of time in the water!

That is Lydia under the waves! She loved "riding" the waves and even being wiped out! Katherine was wiped out a few times as well...she learned quickly to close her mouth and eyes and hold on tight to her floatie!

There are just endless activities to do in the sand...

JUMP!

Katherine entertained folks at the pool everyday as she would run and jump in the water while yelling "cannon-baum!"