I made sure to leave in time that we could get to Grandma and Grandpa's and play a bit and then take a much needed nap. My kids sleep pretty well in Ohio, but they get about 2 hours less sleep each night than they do regularly...just because of sharing a room. ;) Lily had skipped her nap on Tuesday...she came downstairs after a long talk with Pepere...running over to me and patting my leg and saying, "I will be nice and I will be PATIENT, Mommy." Very cute...the first time.
So we get to Linda and Paul's house, and the kids trash the house (Grandma's basement is like Disneyland!), and it is time for naps. Michael screams as if the mattress is made of hot pokers...we tried for 45 minutes, and he wouldn't sleep. Lily kept coming out of her room telling us how, "I will be Patient. But I will be Patient, mommy...." She has no idea what that word means, but somehow it worked the day before, so she was angrily adamant that it would work again. (Note: On Thursday, I made "patient" a bad word. You are not allowed to use it at my house anymore.) (Another note: My father is no longer allowed to have heart-to-heart talks with my daughter).
Michael as we ran errands that first day. Damn it if he didn't fall asleep in the first 15 minutes. Arghhhh.
On Thursday, we got up early (shocker) and headed to The Farm. This is an Amish-run facility, which was very very clean and unique. They have built 2 Amish homes that no one lives in...it is an education tool so you can see how they live. They have Amish people demonstrating how they do things...sometimes they are canning, quilting, washing their clothes, etc. They weren't doing anything when we were there...we'd just missed the cookie baking demonstration...luckily they'd left some free samples behind ;)
Other than the farm set up, there was a wagon ride where you feed wild animals. Kind of scary...especially when Andrew got bitten by an antelope in the first 5 minutes. And I mean BITTEN. His little knuckle was cut up and pinched really bad. Thank heavens he was already on anti-biotics for his ear :) He was really really brave and pulled it together and enjoyed the rest of the hour long ride. I felt lousy, because I couldn't adequately comfort him...we were on a huge open-sided cart, and I had to restrain Michael while Grandma restrained Lily. There was no one available to cuddle him and hold him. :( Later, when I complimented him on being brave, he earnestly replied, "Well, I really love animals. And just because I get hurt, I'm not going to stop loving animals. Just like Jeff Corwin." His hero...
Andrew and his little giraffe buddy. The other giraffes were HUGE...this guy was only about 8 feet tall. Andrew actually let him eat out of his hand (something he'd stopped doing since the antelope tried to take off his ring finger 40 minutes earlier)
The Shetland cattle liked you to pour the food down his throat. Andrew LOVED it and gave him almost a bucket of food. Did I mention Andrew wasn't letting anything else eat out of his hand?
Ostriches are freaky. Me no likey.
This is before Andrew's accident. You can see the horns of the culprit below the freaky bird.
Michael petting a giraffe. They are really soft. I expected wiry. Which made me think...I don't know why I even HAD expectations of what a giraffe's fur would feel like.
Andrew resting on the front porch of the Amish house.
Michael chillin' inside the Amish house.
Michael had soo sooo sooooooo much fun.
Andrew and his giraffe buddy again.
That night Great-Grandma came over and she and Andrew read the Bible together (the other 2 children were put to bed at 4pm or something...because NO ONE was being "patient")
And finally, a video. Michael was obsessed with everything...but he really really like the chicken coop. The roosters would crow every minute or so...and every time he would exclaim, "Whoa!" I was trying to capture that on tape. 1 second after I stopped filming, it happened. Figures.
3 comments:
Hmmm... I think that trumps the deer park we visited! :-)
Actually, my Michael is afraid of animals (wtf?) so that may have been his nightmare trip!
LOVED the video and you could hear Michael saying "woah" even if it wasn't in response to a rooster. (At Least I think it was Michael.)
It looks like you guys had a great trip, though that antelope bite freaks me out! Cute pics of all the kids--they are getting so big! Your post timing is perfect, since we are headed to Howard, OH and apparently Mt. Vernon is the nearest "big city". Where exactly is The Farm and the other place with the pony rides? Ally comes up with these bizarre things, and one of them is to ride a horse. We have never talked about riding a horse! I think I would be mommy of the year if she got to ride a pony!
Any other suggestions for what to do with the kiddos out there? I would appreciate it! ;o)
Giselle--
Out of curiosity, did you ever get the email I sent you thanking you for the information? I still haven't posted our vacation pics...oops!
Post a Comment