Sunday, August 29, 2010

Baseball Fever

For Evan's 9th birthday (back in February), we gave him a real bat, balls, and glove with a promise to sign him up for Fall baseball. Well, the time has come.....here is Evan in his baseball uniform.
He is doing very well for his first time playing baseball. He seems to really like it.
Here's what we're learning about youth baseball:
1. Games are an average of 2 hours......twice a week.....usually both weekend days.
2. This is first year kid-pitch.....so expect your child to get beaned once a game.
3. Nike bat bags, Nike batting helmets, Nike batting gloves....baseball can get expensive - sorry to say we're the cheap parents.
And I couldn't resist this last picture....a boy and his dog.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Old Economy Village

We were able to attend a field trip this week to Old Economy Village and we all enjoyed our visit. Our group was large enough that we were split into age groups - so Evan and Ann-Marie went with older groups while I hung out with the youngest group (which is why most of the pictures are of Alec). If you have a chance to go, I highly recommend the child's tour if you have school-age children. It was very well done and there were lots of hands-on activities so even Alec's age group didn't get bored.
No indoor plumbing? How about pumping your own water and carrying buckets on your shoulders with a yoke?
Recess games.....
chores.....
school.....
and printing. We also experienced bread-making and cooking in the communal kitchen. What a fun and educational day!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Aunt Helen


How do I
write about a woman
I loved so dearly?

It's difficult to put into words,
the love she shared with Darrell,
the connection I felt with her,
how important she was to our family.

She held all three of our babies,
treasured our visits to her farm,
was our link to Darrell's mom.

Our visits to the farm,
family get togethers,
all treasured memories that are hard to put into words.

Thank you, Aunt Helen,
for accepting me for who I am,
for loving us,
for laughing with us,
you were truly a special woman,
who will be dearly missed.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Visit Wrap-up.....

Friends have gone back home to Maryland, but the sweet memories of a fun week remain. A water balloon fight was on the list of "must do activities." Adults vs. kids.....do not worry, no children were seriously harmed during this activity (although Darrell looks pretty serious!)













Then onto Ohiopyle....enjoying the Youghiogheny [yaw-ki-GAY-nee] River Gorge, the waterfalls, and the natural waterslide. Who knew this was all in Fayette County, PA - my Iowa friends will appreciate that.

Our friends left to go home from Ohiopyle, so we ended our week of fun there. We will be cherishing these memories for months to come.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A quiet blog means....

friends are visiting from Maryland and we are busy having fun! At the Brady's Run Creek, swimming pool, and
Cleveland Zoo! This marks our official end of summer week, and we are enjoying it to the fullest!







This is only our second visit to the Cleveland Zoo and it was well worth the repeat visit. Special exhibit was "The Scoop on Poop"....definitely a favorite subject for the school-age crowd; and we discovered the Rainforest building (a must see!)

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Janoski's Farm City Days

We decided to spend our Sunday afternoon at Janoski's Farm City Days....and my town kids had a great afternoon.......
getting close and personal with chicks and calves......
Grandpa Shippy would be happy to know that all the tractors were RED (Farmalls).....
Now onto pick-your-own produce.....

potatoes
eggplants, stems so hard that you had to cut them with scissors and watch out for thorns!

green beans.....
sweet banana peppers and the hot ones too....

tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.....

happy kids and happy adults!