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.