Lov'n Da "Country"

Well, we decided to stay a 2nd day in the same area. There were a few things that we thought might be fun to do, and realized that we were quite close to one of Mike's Aunts & Uncles, so we thought we'd drop in for a visit. Today was all about being "frugal"....and there were quite a few fun stories today. AND....Anne Marie's pictures made it to the blog today. We made sure she had her own camera with us on this trip, and she's had a BLAST taking her own pictures...and there were quite a few that I just had to include today.

This is one of Anne Marie's pictures ... and well, we just had to include this for 2 reasons... #1 - because this is actually a young man filling our car with gas...full-service? Yes, here, I guess it's true...and the gas was no more (and less than some) than the other stations?!?!? WOW!! Well, she asked if she could get her camera out...and I said sure, but let's make sure we don't run your batteries down -- just take pictures of things you think are ones you really want to keep! Well, from the back seat I heard "click" & then "YES, I got it!" -- I realized she took a picture of the boy pumping our gas!!! Haaaaaaaaaaa!!!

We then headed to a petting-zoo! (a FREE petting zoo!!!!) There were not a ton of animals -- but enough to make it fun -- and they were very friendly since they all knew that the parents that walked though would feel guilty enough to pay $0.50 for hand fulls of food since the zoo was free -- the bunnies even came running & "loved on you"!

Anne Marie made a new best friend....

I made a new best friend --- for those of you that know me -- you know those goats and chickens I talk about wanting to go along with the farm I'll buy one day. (If you don't know me, this is a dream...but I'm sure it will never come true). Well, I want THIS chicken!! HOW CUTE IS HE??? He's all fuzzy & just too cute!!

Then, Anne Marie found her next best friend -- I think she spent most of her money on this little guy -- he was the baby of the goat herd (and there were at least 10 of them). She picked him out each time & took him down out of the way a little so she could feed just him. I have to admit, he would go along quite well w/ my fuzzy-white-chicken!!

Even Mike found a new friend!! (Because neither Anne Marie or I wanted that tongue all over our hand.....YUCK!!) But he really was quite calm & even kind of cute!

We then took another little ride around the countryside, on our way to our next "outing". We saw a sign @ an Amish farm for natural-made soaps. And again, for those of you that know us.. we're trying to use more "natural" products around the house, so we thought it would be fun to stop in for 2 reasons #1 - get some TRUE natural soap -- and #2 - we got to drive right up to the Amish house/farm! Well, we got there, found out it was natural soap made from goats milk. What goats you may ask -- the ones on their farm, which when Anne Marie spoke up to say "I wanna see" -- they took us to their barn!! We got to see their horses, bunnies, puppies, goats and even baby cows!!! Anne Marie was THRILLED! But, out of respect I did not want to bring my camera any where near there. I did, on the way out, take a picture of the sign along the road. I have to say that this was one of my highlights today -- I just think it was so sweet that they let us in their barn just because Anne Marie asked!!

It was then off to our next place....we read that you could take a tour of a pretzel factory for free -- and learn how to twist your own pretzel. Sounded interesting...and since it was free we thought we'd try it. (Free minus the $7 we spent on 3 fresh pretzels...whew!!)

Anne Marie learning how to roll & twist her own pretzel.

Anne Marie & Mike enjoying their fresh pretzels. Anne Marie had a cinnamon one and Mike and I had "regular" with mustard. YUMMY!!

After the pretzel factory we had a little time to kill, so we took a dip in the hotel pool.

After swimming & showers, we headed to Mike's Aunt & Uncles house for dinner. They were so sweet to invite us to stay for dinner when we came to visit & I must say, I think this was the highlight of Anne Marie's day! I did not take my camera (duh!) But she did, so I'm using her pic's to tell you about our visit! 1st - They live on what I would call a "mini-farm" - they have a few acres w/ AWESOME gardens, fruit trees/bushes, grape-vines and a pasture w/ 2 baby cows! They named them "little-debbie" and "twinkie" -- CRACKED ME UP! Anne Marie was in LOVE -- she got right up to the fence and talked to them. They really were quite cute! Then, Mike's Uncle took her through the gardens, letting her pick tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, and more tomatoes, shucking some corn for her, and pick more tomatoes! We even got to bring a doggie-bag back to the hotel w/ us!!! YEA!! Mike's Aunt even made dinner with fresh-veggies just picked from the garden moments before we got there it was delicious! We had a wonderful visit and I was so glad they were in town so that we could spend a little time with them.

Anne Marie wanted to take a picture of them...well, let's just say she pulled the camera away a little too soon! So, she tried again.......

And just got his Uncle ... but at least it was a good picture.

What a WONDERFUL day....now, off to a new town tomorrow!

Just Had To......

Just had to give my "daily blog readers" (probably only Grandma...but that's ok...) a treat -- one of my favorite pic's from yesterday that I didn't post for some reason...... As we drove through the farmland for 2 hours yesterday I just had to take a picture of the forever & ever flowing cornfields w/ the beautiful sky & bright sun glowing down! Ahaaaaaahhh!

A Little Amish Country....

We've headed out on a little family vacation. Unlike our "normal" get-aways, this one is a fully "wing-it" vacation. All I know is that Mike wanted to travel north & possibly end up in Niagara Falls. I told him I was willing to try (I'm not good at not having plans). I just would need to know at least one day ahead of time where we would be. So, Thursday night, we decided Friday we'd head out to "Amish Country" - it was within driving distance in time to give us enough time to do something there, but not make Anne Marie NUTS in the car. (she's not the best travel-mate). So, here is the 1st day of our "Grizwold" vacation.......

Unsure of our exact plans, we have packed food, snacks, tents, air-mattress and enough clothes along with swim-suits in case we stay @ hotels.....you just never know. This is the back of the van -- and the 3rd row seating is F-U-L-L!! How does a family of 3 need so much stuff?

There is a budget for this trip -- so the duration will also depend on our spending habits (reason for SO much food packed in the back of the car!!) Well, I will say that if these tolls keep coming we're in TROUBLE! At least we stayed @ about $5 the first day -- but if you notice the ticket -- there are places that were going to be almost $14! UGH!

We traveled through 4 sates today -- leaving VA, then the 1st picture is off a bridge in WV near Harper's Ferry, then we dipped our toes in MD, and finally passed into PA! Anne Marie wad "done" long before we ever got there...so I'm glad we didn't go much further the 1st day.

How is that for beautiful countryside? (except for the glare off the glass-duh!)

I don't know if you can make it out -- this is not an Amish family (looks to maybe be Mennonite, but the boy is holding a hen in his hands while driving his tractor! heee!)

Again, there was BEAUTIFUL countryside -- I have pictures of goats, sheep, cows, majestic horses -- but this was one I had to post -- a little barn w/ a sweet little horse peaking his head out the door -- with the out-house on the side!

See -- i really did get pictures of "purty things"!

Mike and I decided after about a 2 hour drive in the country-side we wanted to eat dinner. We hopped over to a local highway near where we were -- boy, were we SHOCKED! The traffic was NUTS -- the outlets, the malls, the shopping, the theme-parks, the "CITY" -- ahahahah! It's NOT what we were looking for on this vacation -- we were going for "relaxing" - "simple" - "peaceful" -- so we headed back the way we came from. We stopped at a little Amish/Mennonite deli/shop and grabbed some fresh cold-cuts - fresh picked blackberries (OH YUM BY THE WAY!!!!) - and home-made oatmeal-whoopie-pies! We decided that we'd head back the way we came from since we saw a cute little park w/ a play-ground, a pond & it was behind this quiet little farm.

When we pulled into the park -- this is what we saw waiting for us. A large Amish family (about 50 or so) were there to celebrate someones birthday. Well, the park was large enough where we could stay and eat, play a little & still not bother them.

After our dinner, Anne Marie wanted to play on the play ground -- it was a VERY nice playground! Plus they had a volley-ball court (with sand -- so that was another fun thing for her -- she just build HUGE piles of sand that were "houses")

We walked around the grounds a little bit - got to "visit" with some sheep -- looked @ the pond - talked to the little Amish children -- and found a gazebo to take a few really cute pictures!

It's been a fun 1st day -- looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!!

More Water Fun!

Just had to post a few more pic's of my bathing beauty!!

We have been enjoying the pool @ Daddy's place of work this year...probably more than most years due to the MAJOR heat-wave we've been having!! Not to mention the fact that this girl just wants to swim & swim & swim now that she's getting good @ it!!

You just gotta love that little face -- all puckered up swimming dog-paddle. How cute?!?!

And you can't miss the fun in the "mushroom fountain"!

LOVE'N me some summer!!!!

Our First Sleepover!

This past weekend we passed a big milestone @ our house! Our very 1st sleep-over! Our friend Mattie came to spend the night on Saturday. We got Mattie after our fun-finale of vacation bible school and brought the girls home for a little sleep-over fun.

After all that fun in the jumping-castle & obstacle course we realized the girls were a "little" dirty -- so we thought a bubble bath was in order! They thought that was a GREAT idea!

Then we had pizza...yes, I know the Church had hot-dogs, chips & apples for everyone to eat while @ the VBS celebration, however the girls were having WAY too much fun to stop & eat, so we decided they could just eat at home.

After a little play-time it was off to bed...they had a very long day...and though we were a little unsure that sleeping together on the floor of the bedroom would work, the girls were out within 15 minutes of lights-out! They were exhausted...and with the promise of a day at the pool the next day if they were "good little sleeper"....it was sure to make it work!

VBS Hero's!

This past week was our Church's VBS -- the theme was Hero's for God. Me and a friend of mine did the arts & crafts for the toddler classes (3-5 yr) -- there were about 50 kids in our age range. Anne Marie (and her buddies) being some of them. We decided that each day we would make a new part of a hero costume. By the end of the week they each had a cape, mask, 2 arm bands and a radio-transformer. The kids were sooooo cute!! The last night of VBS everyone comes back with their parents for a cook-out and a cute little program to "show-off" all they've learned during the week. We even had a silent auction to raise money for a child our Church is supporting in Guatemala. It always makes for a very long week, but we have a GREAT time!

Anne Marie, our friends Mattie & Mira ready to "save the day".

the girls super-hero-capes

After the hot-dog-cookout, the kids were allowed to get some energy out before their program in the jumping equipment they brought in.

What a fun week!!

We Have a Self-Taught Swimmer!!!

I don't know if you all remember last years "disaster" post about putting Anne Marie in swim lessons!?! Well, just as a quick recap - we never got more than ONE FOOT in the water before a CRAZY MELTDOWN happened & she would NEVER take a swim lesson again! So, we decided we would work with her ourselves to save sanity. (and money -- as they did not give us our money back even though we never even got one lesson!)

The past two weeks we have made HUGE progress with our "own" swim lessons & we now officially have a swimmer in our house!! We're SOOOOOO excited! And since Nana (my mom) is out of town until after the end of summer, I just had to bore you all with video's again so that she can see her swimming so she won't miss it!! We're so proud & she's having a ball!

Backtracking To The 4th....

Like I said, I've got a little behind this month. Anne Marie and I got home from our beach trip on July 3rd - and then we headed to a party at our friends house for the 4th. We always have a fun time...and they throw such a great 4th party every year.

Family 4th picture...

Our hostess & our friend Mira (her daughter)

All the kids lined up waiting for sparklers to be passed out.

Yea!!!

Mike "relaxing" with the girls....

My 2 "sweeties"!

We hope you all had a happy & safe 4th!!