O-H....I-O

Last month we took an impromptu trip to Ohio after my sweet Mama Pat passed away.  Within a day, we were on our way, driving 18 hours with my dad.

Papa, spending time with his grandkids

It was fun to take a road trip with him again.  He's a good driver, with interesting conversations, always looking for (and finding) animals, and he is the best at driving the backroads of Ohio ;)

After a quick rest stop in Kentucky where Nicole finally captured a wild bird, we were on our way to visit Grandma, or Mimi as the kids call her.

Re-enacting a photo they saw in Mimi's room with dad and his sisters :)

Dad and his mamma

The kids have never been to grandma's house, so I asked her to show us her room and sitting area.  We enjoyed looking at pictures and talking about family.  Grandma even gave me her brown bear.  Growing up, I would spend the night at Grandma's house almost every Friday night and we would play games, watch movies, and snuggle with our bears at night.  This is a sweet gift to me.

The kids enjoyed rolling around in the soft Ohio grass.

The grass...oh the grass!!!!

They got to meet Aunt Paula and eat some yummy snacks from Uncle Terry.

Aunt Paula with the kids

Thank you Uncle Terry

After our visit with Grandma, we took off for my Uncle Garry's farm.  My heart was seriously filled up watching my children interact with my Aunt and Uncle and fall in love with his farm.  They enjoyed every moment there, from running down the big hill, to feeding goats, riding on tractors and four wheelers, climbing trees and playing with cousins...it was perfect!

First ride up the hill with Aunt Debbie

We started with goat feeding, and the kids kept trying to pick those goats up (because their friend's goats like to be held).

Here little goat, little goat

Feeding Peanuts with Uncle Garry

But, these ones did not like it at all!

There they go!!!!!

This quickly escalated into rides on the Four wheeler and tractor.  Aunt Debbie took the girls on the 4 wheeler while Uncle Garry took Nate out to plow a field.

This will be a long time favorite picture of mine.

Checking to make sure their equipment is up before moving out.

Yep, Nate got to ride in a big tractor and plow a field that would be planted in days to come.

If we didn't have other things to do, I'm pretty sure Nathan would have sat in that tractor all day long!

The four wheeling continued with Yaya, Papa, the kids and I.

Taking my boy for a ride on the four wheeler

 I took Hannah for ride, but I told her that I wasn't as fun as other people.  She said, "Mommy, you are going so fast!  You are more fun than anyone else, and you're the prettiest mommy ever."  Well, shucks!

I love this picture of my parents :)

Uncle Garry and the kids.  They loved spending time with him.  I hope they remember this.

She's a natural

Soon, my cousin Michael and his lovely wife Jyme Beth showed up with their boys.  Let's be honest here, these country boys did not look to thrilled to be playing with a couple of girls from the city ;)  However, that quickly changed as the girls followed the boys around, climbed trees, and ventured off into the woods.

Hmmm...their first meeting.  Not sure what to think of one another ;)

Before they left I told Colt, the oldest, that I was putting him in charge of taking care of the girls.  I said, "They are fun and adventurous, but they aren't used to being in the woods.  They don't always know the right place to step, and may not know how to look out for things like snakes."  He took that very seriously and took great care of Hannah and Nicole.

Yes!  Yes!  THIS is what childhood is.  Walking in the woods with your cousins.  My heart was full.

From that moment, an instant friendship was formed, and these kids were inseparable.

Where in the world is Nicole?  Can you find her?

Where's Nicole?  Can you find her?

They played games together, rolled down hills with one another, cooked marshmallows and just flat out had a great time!

 I love this series of pictures.  Check out Lane...he couldn't stay in his chair. He kept falling over! hahaha

Colt is taking Hannah and mom for a ride.

That night, Hannah kept asking when "the boys" would be coming back.  I found out the next day that they were wondering when they could play with the girls again ;)

 Beautiful sunset at the farm

Before going to my grandmother's visitation service I took the kids to Mt. Pleasent in Lancaster for a little hike.  Although it started with much complaining, the quickly became excited at what they were seeing and experiencing.

They climbed rocks...

Looked for detours....

Stood over the little city....

and yes, climbed more trees.

They had fun playing with dandelions and blowing the fuzz off (and sometimes into their mouths)

That evening, we spent some time with my Aunt Susan in Gahana and went on a nice little walkway by a creek. We fed ducks and swans and just enjoyed another beautiful Ohio evening.

It was bittersweet being in Ohio.  We were all having so much fun reconnecting, and I kept thinking we would go back to Mama Pat's and Papa Sam's for a big dinner when it was all said and done.  But that didn't happen.  It won't happen again.  My sweet grandparents were now with the Lord, and that will come in a later post.

One more meeting with the cousins :)

Gainesville: Sinkholes and Butterflies

The second day of our little road trip with Aunt Lisa took us to Gainesville.  A few months ago I saw pictures from a trip my friend took to Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park.  I never heard of such a place, so after a little exploring, I decided it was a place my kiddos would enjoy seeing.  We also decided to check out The Florida Museum of Natural History on campus of the University of Florida.

Devil's Millhopper is a giant sinkhole that formed a couple hundred years ago.  It has a unique environment due to the depth of the hole, the moisture within it, and the surrounding ecosystem.  Some plants are in this sink and no where else in Florida.  A few decades ago, it because a state park and stairs were installed to allow people the opportunity to go down into the sink without damaging it's unique features.

So, down, down, down we walked.  We could hear little water falls, and feel the humidity press upon our chests.

At the bottom, it reminded me of a bog.  There was an eeriness to the gray water and plant life.

I also couldn't help but think I could be swallowed alive at any moment.

We also took a little walk around their 1/2 mile loop where I confessed to Aunt Lisa that I actually hate to do thing like this.  However, my kids love it, so I do it for them.

A little while later, we pulled up to the Florida Museum of Natural History and were quickly lured in by the unique butterfly attracting plants that were for sale.

I bought this beautiful passion flower

And this one...I forget it's name already, but it attract swallowtails and has an interesting flower.

Hopefully they don't die right away.

The first thing we did after entering the museum was head to the Butterfly Rainforest. This is well worth the additional cost (the museum is free, traveling exhibits and the Butterfly Rainforest are a small fee).

The Butterfly Rainforest showcased butterflies from floor to ceiling with great interpretive signs to read as well.  

However, that was just the beginning.  Walking into the exhibit we were instantly greeted with a variety of exotic butterflies and beautiful flowers.

The kids went crazy!  They had little booklets with some of the butterflies so it was like a treasure hunt to them.

Nathan really enjoyed hunting for the butterflies and whatever fear was present at the beginning was quickly overcome by excitement.

This was certainly the highlight of our day.

We toured the rest of the museum, which was wonderful in some area, and completely predictable in others.
We enjoyed the caves and  river areas (where we were transformed into a tiny fish and saw creatures like crabs and barnacles from a small fish's perspective).  We learned a little more about the Calusa, Seminoles, and other native peoples.

Predictably, there was an entire room dedicated to evolution, which is heartbreaking to me.  I just don't understand how you can see the beautiful variety of butterflies, their mimicry, camouflage and design and believe it accidentally happened.  What are we teaching our children when we tell them they are really just animals that happened to appear out of sludge.  No wonder our society acts the way it does.  If we are all accidents, then where is the value of life?  Where is morality?  Why does it all matter?

With that aside though, it was another lovely day, with sore feet, hungry bellies, and sleepy heads.