Irons Farm and Heritage Day

Last weekend soccer was rained out on Saturday which gave us an opportunity to do some Fall fun things! The kids have been asking Patrick if we could go and pick apples. Irons Fruit Farm happens to be the closest place to us. It's about 30 minutes away. First, let me say that the apples are delicious and the kids had a blast picking them. The farm itself is an absolute mess. Patrick and I couldn't get over what a complete state of disrepair the place was in. The apple trees were being choked by poison ivy, poke weed and anything else you could think of. The ground under the trees was covered in hundreds of apples just left to rot. We're so used to seeing Rouster's apple trees. Dan Rouster keeps his place super tidy - no old equipment laying around the trees are well cared for. Not at this place!!!

Luckily Athena and Carter are old enough to understand what not to touch and what too touch. We still expected to see one of us with a spot of poison ivy the next day, but luckily no one got any. Here's photos of the kids in the orchard:

We skipped the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. We heard you took a hay ride and then picked out a pumpkin that was just laying out there - not grown there, but brought in. After too many years of going to a real pumpkin patch at Shaw Farms, we decided to miss this. Plus, the hay ride was free but only on the pretense that you picked out and bought an overpriced pumpkin. Patrick and I are too cheap for that, so we just took a photo of the kids at the pumpkins that were out in the public area.

There was a church holding a mission day at Irons when we went so the kids got popcorn, a pumpkin each and Athena got her face painted - all for free. Woo hoo!!!!

There was also a local fire department there with one of the big engines and the kids were allowed to climb all over it.

The farm had a store that sold apples, pies, donuts and homemade apple fritters. We bought some apples from there in addition to the ones we paid to pick and ate some fritters. Boy were they good!

After we left Irons Farm, we took a lunch break and then drove back into Blue Ash for the annual Heritage Day Festival. We always have such a great time at this festival and this year was no different. We ran into our neighbors, Susan, David, Zoe and Max and the kids enjoyed playing with each other and watching the magic show together along with some friends of Athena from school. We did the scavenger hunt, painted some ceramic ornaments and played some games. We got there late in the afternoon so skipped our normal carriage ride, but we do it most years, so the kids didn't really mind not going on it this year.

The magician, who has been coming for years and who is super good, decided to bring two friends along this year to help the show along. Terrible mistake - the two friends were so so at best and one was just plain boring. Poor Patrick got picked to come on stage and do a card trick. It was so boring that during the middle of the trick Carter got up and asked me if we could leave as he was sooo bored. "But, honey, Daddy's on stage right now. We can't leave, yet." almost had the boy and me crying.

SunROCK Farm

Notice my emphasis on the Rock - this farm is so awesome! We go every single Fall and it's one of our most favorite places in town. I thought I'd taken some photos, but can only find one

Farmer Frank lets the kids put baby chicks on their heads. This is the first time Athena put one on her own head. Normally she just puts them on Patrick's head. She also milked a goat by herself for the first time. She's getting so grown up!

SonRock is always just a good time for everyone. We learn something new every single year that we go and the hands on with the animals is always a thrill for the kids. We always go on the free weekend and this year was no exception. We were hoping to go back for the Halloween event, but Carter just got an invitation to his first birthday party without his big Sissy. He is too excited about it!

Yoga and Money

First yoga - seems that Carter is learning yoga at school. He decided today to teach Jenna how to do it. It was hilarious! Wish I'd had my camera. He did a tree pose and he sat on the floor, put his hand together and raised his arms over his head. Then he closed his eyes and did some "Oooommmmssss". Jenna looked at him like the crack pot he is.

Second money - Carter say a glider today on the way home from school. The kind where there's actually two gliders facing each other. He took a few minutes to fully explain it to me making sure I understand that you sat on one side and your friend sat across from you with your head at the same height as their head and you could talk and swing and have fun with your friend. I explained to him that I thought those were super cool but that they're also super expensive. He thought for a moment and said we should go back that store that gives us all of that free money. He was disappointed to learn that there is no store handing out free money. Trust me, if there was, Carter, your Momma would be first in line to get her (and you) some.

Vacation 2009

Photos from vacation in Michigan on Lake Huron. It was fantastic fun!!!!!

We had a fake birthday for Carter. We didn't want to buy a cake from Walmart, so we talked Carter into having donuts for his "birthday cake". His party was at a beach near the place where we stayed. It was really windy. Can you tell he was excited?:

Then it was Athena's turn for her real birthday. We ate dinner at a restaurant called the Angry Bull. It was the best food we've eaten out in quite a long time. The waiter was excellent and he came up with this for a surprise for Athena:

Can you see how cool she thought her cheesecake was?

After that we returned to our rental house and decided to have a bomb fire near the beach. We found a bakery open on her birthday, but no cakes. She had the best time picking out little pastries that she thought everyone would like to try. She asked that we cut them all up into equal pieces and she served them. It was all scrumptious!

Athena's best birthday present is her new bike that she picked out:

Athena's 7th Birthday Party

We had Athena's birthday party with her friends this past Saturday at the Rec Center pool. Here's the invitation I made (background should be blue - not sure what happened with the file upload):

We had absolutely perfect weather which is really saying something this past week. Athena invited everyone from her class and some other friends as well. We had a total of 17 kids including our two come. Needless to say it was chaotic and an enormous amount of fun!

We ordered pizza from LaRosa's. I had no idea on how many to order as we also fed any parent or siblings who tagged along. I ended up ordering 10 and we ate maybe five. Patrick gave one away to a friend we saw at the pool and the rest came home. We've been eating pizza for dinner and lunch for the last few days so as not to waste it. Kind of tired of pizza. Can't believe I just said that!

Here's Athena after blowing out her candles on her sand castle cake that we made:

Athena thanked us for the most fantastic birthday party ever. That's some good stuff. :~)

Highlights from July

This is a photo of the kids at my favorite park. I think they like it as well. It's called Chamberlain Park and it's probably a little less than 2 miles from home. I like it as it has a 1/2mile walking path around the perimeter. When we go here, the kids are expected to either ride their bike or scooter around the cirlce two times. Sweet Cassie just runs around like a crazy thing having the best time. After we go around, then we get to play on the super cool play set and swings.

I also like this park because it's really open without mosquitoes and the bathrooms are nice, clean and right next to the playground.

We were so fortunate that July was not as hot as normal so we were able to go the Zoo a few times. Cassie is standing behind the other two - coudn't get her to cooperate.

We did something different this month and took a trip back to the Cincinnati Nature Center. When we lived in Stonelick Township, we would go for hikes and walks with Oliver quite a bit - several times a week. We just loved going there and it wasn't far from our house. I can remember walking there when Athena was a baby. Patrick would carry her in the Baby Bjorn. I can't remember bringing Carter there.

This summer, CNC has offered free Monday visits. This was too tempting of an offer to pass up. We headed out and had such a wonderful time! I'm looking forward to going back again soon. I sure do wish this was closer to home or that there was something like it closer to home.

We went to one of the ponds to discover lots of frogs sitting on top of lily pads. The kids got an adventure kit from the Nature Center with some nets and went to a different pond and found some tadpoles and other interesting things to look at. Cassie and I headed home at lunch time, but Patrick, Athena and Carter spent most of the morning and afternoon exploring and seeing lots of things.

Athena even held a snake:

On another day, we headed back to Chamberlain Park for movie night. The movie was Madagascar II which the kids had seen before, but it was still a fun time. They sell snacks for a pittance so we had our fill of good treats and were settled in to enjoy the film when it started to rain. It started as a drizzle and we stayed, but then it just out right game down in sheets. So that was the end of that.

Another day we went to Parky's Farm. We ran into our Ranger friend, Eric who let us go fishing. This is always so much fun for the kids as the fish (not sure what kind they are - rock bass?) are plentiful and used to being fed. This means they're easy to catch.

Before fishing, we checked out the garden and ate some green beans and Patrick dug around for worms for the fishing. After we had our fill of fishing, we told the kids they could either ride the ponies or take a tractor hay ride. They chose the pony. I think this is the first time that Carter has wanted to do this. This summer will be Athena's last chance to ride as she will be too tall by next year.

One Sunday we went to Cowan Lake State Park. It's one of our favorite places to go. Well, it used to be. Unfortunately, the State of Ohio is out of money. This means there's no one around to make sure the the Canadian Geese are kept under control and no trash cans. We can handle no trash cans, but the Geese have made the place so disgustingly filthy. We found a relatively clean little patch of sand for the kids to play in and then went to buy soap from a near by camping ground so that we could wash them up before eating and going home.

We going searching for a cleaner lake - we think Indiana might be our place. We went to Brookville early in July and it was very busy, expensive, but very clean. So much for free parks. You get what you pay for - nothing.

And here's the gang at a Friday night concert on the square.

This week the kids are in Jungle Camp at Renaissance Montessori. They tell me they're having a blast.

Saturday brings August - Athena's b-day with friends on Saturday, Nana and Grandad are coming, vacation and back to school. It will all go by too quickly.

July is Getting Away from Me!!!

I can't believe it's almost the middle of July and no posts from me! Here's a quick re-cap of the month:

Wet, cold, hot, wet, cold, hot. That about does it!

Seriously, on the fourth of July, we attended Stephen and Karen Herdina's annual 4th of July Party - we've gone for at least 6 years, if not 7. This is the 3rd year that it's rained on the 4th and it was by far the wettest 4th in a bit.

We were at the party, outside pool party, for 5 hours. It rained the entire 5 hours. Patrick and the kids were smart, though, as they spent about 4 of the hours in the pool which was heated to 83 degrees. It wasn't that warm outside. I was freezing my bum off!

Swim lessons for Athena started back up on the last week of June. She's in Level 3 which is a very hard class to pass. In order to pass she has to be able to swim without stopping across the short side of the pool. I don't think she'll pass this time, but I don't think any of the kids pass the first time. She needs to be a little bit taller and needs to work on her breathing from the side. Overall, though, her improvement this summer in the pool has been incredible.

I have some photos from this month that I'll pull off my phone and will upload here soon.