Fall Vacation

In October, we took at long trip to the Creation Museum in Ohio with many planned (and unplanned) stops along the way.  

One of our first stops was Camp Wildcat, a Civil War battlefield.   

We hiked a mile on a trail in the woods.  

Here are a few of the things we did...

Kentucky's first battle of the Civil War.

In the hospital...

In the trenches...

In the fight...

Next we headed to Dayton, Ohio!  Why?  To see our amazing friends, the Ross family!  We've been many places with the Rosses, but as for now we are stationed in different places.  It was wonderful to see our friends again.  It's always amazing to see how the kids, who haven't seen each other in 1.5 years, pick up and play as if they saw each other yesterday.  Thanks for letting us stay with you guys, Carrie and Steve.  We loved every minute of it!!

Sliding down the super fast slide!

The challenge was to keep this thing from spinning.  I think it was impossible!

Simon and Connor on the gator!

Trevor gets a turn.

Emma, Caleb and Mr. Ross

Sweet Hana

A certain someone refused to go to sleep one night.  

FINALLY he fell asleep...his own way!

We went to the Air Force Museum with the Rosses one day.  It was spectacular!  I don't know how, but I have no pictures.  Certainly, I took some?  I guess they are lost somewhere.  If I find them, I'll be sure to update.  Trust me, the airplanes were awesome! 

If you are ever near Cincinnati,  you must make a visit to the Creation Museum!

Be prepared to experience history 

in a completely unprecedented way.

The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Majestic murals, great masterpieces brimming with pulsating colors and details, provide a backdrop for many of the settings.

 

Okay...so obviously we took many more pictures of the dinosaurs, but I promise walking through creation and the days of the Bible were awesome!!

Our journey continued as we visited family in Louisville for a few days and a night in Atlanta. I'll put those pictures in the next post.  

Labor Day at Grandma's

Over Labor Day weekend, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the family at Jeff's folks' house.  As usual, it was a super fun, chaotic time!  Would you expect anything else from this crazy bunch??

We spent one beautiful morning at the park. I won't tell you where we went afterwards for lunch...

Grandma at the park with some of the grands.

Grandpa's pool was a big hit for all of the kids this year.  We spent many, many hours there.

Here's Phoebe, the daring one!  That girl had no time for her lifejacket.  All she wanted to do was swim on her own!

With all those people in the pool, a lifejacket was a must for Connor.  He's just as daring as Phoebe but less talented at swimming.  

These two blondies stuck close to Grandma the whole time.

Sarah, at the time, didn't care for too many people holding her.  Her big cousin Caleb was on her approved list though!  He loved taking care of her.  

Connor's all-time favorite toy at Grandpa's house!

A quiet moment fishing...

The Ward Cousins

Myrtle Beach

We were able to make the annual Myrtle Beach camping trip with the Ward clan this year. It was tons of fun to just hang out on the beach for almost two weeks!!

We have tons of pictures, so you can check them out here.

Visiting Melbourne

Easter weekend 2009 brought a trip to Melbourne for our family. We spent a long weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's (Jeff's parents) house.

Grandpa's pool seems to always be warm enough for swimming...at least by kid standards! This time it really was warm enough. I think they got in right away.

Grandma had Easter egg dye ready for the big kids. They had a blast. It was funny to see how differently the two kids dyed the eggs! Caleb just hurried through, trying to put one egg in every bowl of dye on the table. Claire took her time carefully choosing multiple colors for each egg yet only using one bowl at a time. Then the competitiveness overtook Claire and she started trying to put her eggs in as many bowls at one time as possible. Oh well... :)

We went to a baseball game and the zoo while we were there. At the game, the kids had fun with the mascot. Even Connor liked him, and Connor is not always impressed with characters. During the seventh inning stretch, all the kids in the stadium got to make a mad dash from the outfield to the dugout.

The zoo was tons of fun. We went to see the giraffes and pet the snakes first. Then we headed to the new water park inside the zoo. The kids loved it! There was even a small spot just for kids Connor's size.

A few random pictures from the trip...

hunting eggs

playing baseball

Easter morning

What a cutie!

Disney Marathon 2009

Disney Marathon

Caleb's 8th Birthday!

Our oldest kiddo, Caleb, turned 8 over the weekend! I know everyone always says this, but...I really can't believe time has passed so quickly! Caleb had a friend spend the night a few days before his birthday instead of having a party.

He celebrated his actual birthday at DISNEY!

Disney in Sept 2008

Caleb and Claire participated in a duathlon on the morning of Caleb's birthday. They ran a 1/2 mile, biked 3 miles, and then ran another 1/2 mile. They loved doing it and it was for a great cause...cancer research! Jeff competed in his first triathlon the next day. He swam .9 miles, biked 25 miles, and ran 6 miles. He did an awesome job!!

Duathlon and Triathlon Weekend