A quick adventure

A week or so ago, B.J. and I decided to have one more summer adventure. We had been wanting to go to the Family Cow farm for their tour (it's where we buy our raw milk from...YUM) and then we were discussing what else we wanted to do. Originally, we were thinking of making it a few day get away with a stop in Lancaster overnight too, but with B.J.'s new position and some other scheduling issues, we ended up deciding on an overnight trip only.

This was all complicated by the fact that we lost power on Sunday for 12 hours, so I couldn't get the laundry done to pack! We ended up turning on all the lights so that when the power came back on we would wake up and get stuff going. So at midnight, we started the laundry and then again at 2am I switched things over. We ended up getting out by 10:30 or so (I was impressed :) (Upon our return, we realized that we had forgotten to check everything before we left and found our middle cat, Chipper, had spent the overnight locked in our bedroom with the obvious outcome of that, but I digress.)

We drove out to Lancaster, had lunch at a really cute diner and then went to the historic Strasburg Railroad where Janaya and Simeon got to go on their first ever train ride and Elianna got to experience a historic train ride as opposed to a Septa one. We all had a wonderful time.

Mommy and Simeon
 

Father and Son
 

Elianna loving train ride
 

Janaya on the train
 

Family Pics
 

 

And we played a bit:
 

 

We drove the rest of the way to Chambersburg late that afternoon, checked into our hotel (the highlight of the trip for the girls), ate dinner  

 

 

and then - though well past bedtime, couldn't resist a nighttime dip in the pool. It was chilly out, but the girls and Simeon didn't mind in the least. We were saving a hot bath to thaw out afterwards :) 

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early for an amazing (*free!) hotel breakfast (complete with spilled OJ) and then off to the farm tour. The Family Cow is the place we have been getting raw milk from since December. I love their milk and credit our really good health this past winter to drinking it. Expensive? Yes, but so worth it! They are believers too. We decided we wanted to visit the tour when one morning I asked Elianna where milk came from and she replied "Halo Farm". Time for some education.


The tour started off with a visit to maternity ward.  

This was where the cows have a two month paid vacation, as Edwin put it. Then we went on to visit the calves. There, we got to feed them giant bottles of milk (talk about hard to bottle feed - they were determined to tug the bottle right out of our hands) and let them suck on our fingers. Janaya was especially taken with that part.

 

 

 

Then we were back on the wagon to visit the baby chicks and the grown chickens.




Elianna got to hold one of the baby chicks and she loved it and both girls got to collect an egg.
 

 

Finally, we continued our ride out to where the cows were at pasture. It was so fun. The Jerseys were so friendly and curious and all came over toward us as if they were coming to meet us.  

Along the way, Edwin (the farmer) explained how and why they do what they do with pasturing and caring for the animals. When we got to the end of the tour, we hung around to watch the actual milking. The girls were fascinated with how it all worked, but they especially loved playing with the farm kittens that were nearby and pretty friendly. It was the cleanest farm I have ever visited - there was really no manure smell anywhere and I was impressed. I have been to other dairy farms and this one was by far the cleanest and nicest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did I mention how PATIENT these kittens were? :)

Back in the van, we visited a local creamery for lunch (and apparently missed an earthquake) and then headed home. All in all, it was a wonderful final family adventure for the summer. On the way home, I asked what their favorite part of our adventure was. Answer? The hotel. B.J. commented that next time we should drive down Rt. 13 and stay in a hotel five minutes from home. Second favorite? The farm and the kittens. I asked Elianna where milk came from and she responded with "cows". Success :)

Hurricane

According to the weather guy, we're supposed to be getting a hurricane. I really haven't thought too much of it - the media seems to like to hype things way out of proportion - we all panic and then it turns into nothing. This time, seems to be a bit different. We have taken precautions - bought water and food, charged everything, made bread, cleaned up the yard, tethered anything we can't put away, etc. I still thought it wasn't going to be a big deal and we were doing all this for nothing. Then my mom called and told me that the animals know something we don't. Um, that's not good. Apparently, in a matter of a couple hours, all of their grapes were gone. Every last one. So yeah, that made me a bit nervous.

I'm now taking this more seriously, but I know that ultimately we are in God's hands and He will take care of us. Yes, the kids will be sleeping downstairs tonight. Yes, I expect to be without power for a while. Yes, God's got this. He's not surprised by this storm. Though events of late have me thinking of end times a lot more.

So for now, the plans are to be prepared for the worst, hope for the best, and hopefully enjoy a time of slower living with my family without all the rush of modern day 'conveniences'. Stay safe everyone.

I'm getting there

So, I haven't blogged in WAY too long, but I have been thinking of all sorts of entries. Does that count? I have lots of pictures and blog ideas, but I haven't managed to find the time to write them. That and the pictures and videos make the blog entry take a lot longer. I have not given up though. I will update and get a new posting up this week. It has been a crazy couple of weeks.....

Sandy Cove

 

We are just back from a week of fun, frolicking, and family at Sandy Cove in North East, MD. I have been going there since 1988 and B.J. and I had our first camping trip as a couple just a couple weeks after we were married in 2003. This was Simeon's first camping trip and I am pleased to report that he did a great job. He even teased me by sleeping through the night twice! While the weather was HOT, it did cool down in the evening to make sleeping possible and by Wednesday, it was downright beautiful :) Since it is impossible to sum up an entire week, I will settle for a few snippets...

While walking on the dock after watching Taylor and Hunter be baptized, Janaya chimed in with the following "I want to go in the water". Me "so why can't you?" Janaya (in a - I can't believe you can't figure this out yourself - voice) "the DOCK is in the way!"

Simeon got to increase my appreciation for Zeuss (my sister's dog) this camping trip. It was so much easier cleaning up my BLW little guy with Zeuss around. He would lick up any spills, leftoevers, and even hands - which resulted in all kinds of contagious giggles. Zeuss also rescued Elianna from the giant melted marshmallow on her shoe...

Elianna discovered her inner fish during the last two days of swimming. Suddenly, my little four year old can just about swim - as long as she does it under water :) She also LOVED Club Cove and has been singing the theme song tons since then. Unfortunately, my camera got full right about the time she decided that singing on stage wasn't too terrible....



B.J. and I enjoyed the morning speaker who spoke on the importance of abiding in the vine (John 15:5) and the evening speaker who spoke on how God uses relationships (parent-child, marriage, singleness, co-workers) to help us become more Christ-like. Both were powerful speakers who challenged us in many ways. It is always neat when God takes speakers who have never even met to speak to our hearts in very similar ways. It is a definite attention getter!

We took advantage of the pony rides while we were there. Simeon just got his picture taken on the pony, but Janaya and Elianna got to go for a ride. Elianna spent her ride petting her pony "Butterscotch" and wearing a big smile on her face. Janaya did NOT want to ride, but complied after my insistence. Sure enough, she loved every minute of the ride and the second we stopped to get off, she said that she wanted to go again. Then she was rather indignant that "the other little girl is riding my pony!"

 

 

 

I decided to ride the Big Swing - since I didn't have a newborn or a pregnant belly for an excuse. It was fun and thrilling, but I don't think I'll ride again. My motion sickness did not like the swinging motion that much but it was a fun adventure nonetheless.


We got to attend the two nights of hymn sings - such a joy. Janaya was asking for them for the rest of the week and Elianna was commenting on which songs she had sung at the hymn sing.

B.J. watched the kids each morning so I could go to water aerobics with Mom, Debbie, sometimes Dave, Amanda, sometimes Sarah, and Joel and Holly. What a fun, refreshing way to start the day. Of course a week of aerobics is never done until we have had a nice 20 minutes on the hot tub on Friday morning :) It is such fun to get to spend time with my siblings each day before the busy-ness kicks in.

We took the girls paddle boating for the first time - nothing long or crazy, but Elianna really enjoyed her perch on the back of the boat.

We played air hockey which was hysterical. Every time B.J. hit the puck, Simeon would crack up. Over and over again.

Lunches were casual and always included the traditional fluffernutter sandwich and nutella spread. Healthy, as always. Hey, I did use my homemade whole wheat bread...
 

 

Elianna got to launch a rocket for the Rockets 'n Root beer Floats night. She had so much fun that next year, we'll have to let her make her own. Thanks to Aunt Amanda for making extras.
 

 

 

And to do it again...
 

We also took the girls to the craft cottage where they got to design a garden stone to commemorate this year and then they each made a spin-art backpack. They loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of our week was filled with hanging out,  

playground visits, pool visits, moon bounce

 

watching family do the trapeze (even Grammy got in on the action :),
 

eating meals with the family, kids in Club Cove with all their activities, and just enjoying time together as a family.
 

 

Bliss :)

 

Future song writer

B.J. was smart enough to grab the camera when he witnessed this spontaneous singing yesterday. Enjoy :)