August and September

August

On my side of the family, August has always seemed to be the month of birthdays and in our nuclear family, both AJT07 and Mommy have a birthday this month – so the tradition continues. Beyond birthdays, though, this is the month for the Indiana State Fair, which we attended on Purdue Day this year. (Many of you may have heard about the stage rigging collapse at the fair – that occurred the day after we attended the fair.)

Germany was the partner country for the Indiana State Fair, so AJT04 saw St. Nicklaus even in August!

This August also marked the first true "Back to School" for AJT04 since she started first grade.

Lastly we celebrated Mommy’s birthday by going to Conner Prairie and experiencing the Civil War Journey: Raid on Indiana exhibit. This exhibit is based upon Morgan’s Raid in 1863 through southern Indiana and Ohio; you are placed in the town of DuPont where you relive the raid and are mustered into the local militia to try to stop Morgan before he goes any further. There is also a play area with a sutler’s store and a mock-up of steamboat like that used by Morgan to cross the Ohio River.

September

September’s highlights include the girls attending my cousin’s wedding (that was the first wedding the girls ever attended) and the next day’s visit to Cabela’s. Since AJT04 was taken to Cabela’s once she was completely potty-trained the same had to be done for AJT07 (she had been potty-trained for awhile but we finally had the chance to go to Cabela’s). Both girls loved the animals on display and sampling the delights in the sweet shop.

October and November

October
October in central Indiana means Riley Days in Greenfield, which we attended for the first time. I don’t know if the girls were too thrilled with the crafts and such, but I KNOW they enjoyed the parade, particularly all the treats they acquired.

Over Fall Break, we had the opportunity to visit a special exhibit in Bremen, Ohio, about Native Americans in the area (although the girls were more thrilled by the rocks) and visit my extended family in Woodsfield. The girls enjoy visiting everyone in Woodsfield, especially their cousins (technically first cousins, once removed but who is counting) and the animals. AJT07 had a great time riding a horse while AJT04 just sat on the horse before becoming too nervous.

Last but not least is Halloween. Both girls were princesses this year – AJT04 was a snow princess while AJT07 was a spring/flower princess with LOTS of pink (which she claims as one of her favorite colors). Thankfully there were no fights between the girls over results of the costume contest since both girls won cutest costume for their respective age categories.

November
November has been a busy month with AJT04 participating in the Math Pentathlon (a math contest that will occur in the spring so practices are every week now) and the MAD (Music, Arts, and Drama) production at our church. Fortunately, the girls seem to be holding up well with all of the activities, although I guess they could camp on first floor if they can not make it to bed. We also had celebration #1 for AJT04’s birthday with her maternal uncle providing the cake again (he is quite the cake artist especially with his extremely hectic schedule).

Now we are in December and it appears that life is not going to slow down anytime soon, but with the girls, I think we are in for more adventures and excitement, which I would say is definitely a very good thing.

Over the past few months.....

Well, since I have been awful about updating this blog, I thought I would post the condensed version of the recent events.

March:
After returning to Ohio for my Grandmother's funeral, we traveled to the greater Chicago area and visited Michigan City, Legoland Discovery Center, and the Jelly Belly facility.







April:
We visited the Children's Museum for the costumes exhibit (there were some cool old school costumes and props there) and the Dora the Explorer exhibit, played outside (when it was not raining), and celebrated Easter.





May:
AJT04 finished her first year of school and my Mom was able to come visit for several days (and to give me my annual perm). I think my Mom would say that bigger highlight for her was being able to go to the Early Learning Center and meet AJT04's teacher and see what AJT04 has done over the school year. Since Mommy had some curls from the perm, the girls decided to try curls as well; however, they decided that it was ALOT of work and only worth it for special occasions. We also attended Civil War Days at Conner Prairie where the girls learned about the very earliest text messaging (via Morse Code and telegraph wire). Last, but not least, we visited my parents where AJT07 decided to try to communicate with Buddy, the resident feline, and we happened to see the Goodyear blimp at the regional airport closest to our house (we also happened to see the DirecTV blimp there at the end of July).











June:
After school was done, we were rather busy with Vacation Bible School (both girls helped me by creating sample crafts and building the lighthouse), but we did make time for PBS Kids Let's Meet in the Park where we saw MANY characters but more importantly two brothers who are the girls' favorites -- Chris and Martin Kratt. While the girls had fun that day, the evening proved quite different when AJT07 fell in the shower and fractured her clavicle. So, right before VBS and our trip to Holiday World, I took AJT07 to the doctor for the x-rays and the sling. Fortunately, the sling did not slow her down at VBS or on our abbreviated trip.



The start of our trip was great when we met my parents and one uncle for a trip to Falls of the Ohio State Park where both girls were QUITE willing to walk around on the rocks looking for fossils or interesting features (even if it was a rather warm day). We then visited Angel Mounds and traveled along the Ohio River to Newburgh where we were able to watch a barge "lock through". After that we were able to spend a great day at Holiday World and then....we received the phone call that our basement was flooded, so back home we went.













July:
While working to clear out the debris from the basement, the girls and I visited my parents to celebrate AJT07's birthday, went to the church's Fish Fry (after making 6 pies and brownies), and managed to go to South Carolina for a few days where the girls met some cousins and visited the beach. (On our way down we did make a detour and visited Cowpens -- a REVOLUTIONARY WAR battlefield -- if there was more time, I'm sure I would have subjected the girls to many CIVIL WAR sites.) After a good time in South Carolina, on our way home, we stopped at that virtual shrine to fried chicken -- the original Sanders Cafe aka birthplace of KFC.

Fast Times at Lowes -- Building Race Cars, That Is....

Well, the end of February brought a surprise for the girls -- building, cars, and a visit with relatives all at the same time! Thanks to the great idea from my brother, we met my parents and brother at Lowe's in Richmond so the girls could build "something" as AJT07 keeps insisting that she wants to do. The best part of the visit was that the girls had no idea that we were meeting grandparents and an uncle, just that we were going to be building at Lowe's. Needless to say, the girls loved it -- in fact, AJT07 has said several times "I love my car". I just hope that when the girls turn 16, they do not decide to drive like they are driving race cars....