Activity Days activity

For Activity Days at church, we decided to make some Halloween pinatas.   I think the girls had a lot of fun and found out that all the girls like doing things with their hands, especially feeling the paste all over their hands.

The older girls were better organized and orderly with their methodology of putting together a pinata but both older and younger, the girls really enjoyed this messy project.

I'm so glad that my mom taught me how to make pinatas when I was a child and that we did them multiple times so that this project didn't feel so daunting.  It was actually fun.  I just had to get my paper torn and the paste made and a few more things done before the girls arrived for the activity.

And here they are at my home drying with their second layer of newspaper.  It looked like a I had a front room full of strange newspaper creatures.

And then came the paint which we did a week later.  It turns out the girls loved painting with their hands rather than the sponge brushes.  And since they were sure to get pretty messy using the brush, they just got a bit messier while painting with their hands.

Messy but happy!

This pinata didn't end up orange.  It was multi-colored with a lot of the colors being mixed together and still looked cute when she was done.

Here's a pumpkin pinata!

Here's a tie-tied spider with multiple colored legs!

And here's a purple spider with pink and red legs.  We also had a couple bats to make our Halloween Pinatas complete.

Don't try this at home

The leaves around here are so beautiful.  I wish I could "beam" you all over for the weekend and we'd go for a drive to see all the beautifully colored leaves.  But since I can't do that, I took some pictures for everyone to enjoy.  The problem with the pictures is one detail...I was driving while taking these photos.  Please don't follow my example.

The neighborhood roads are barely large enough for two cars to pass without getting hit, and I felt uncomfortable pulling off to the side of a road that didn't have a side and taking pictures.  Luckily the speed limit is really slow and so I was already slowly driving in the neighborhood...and I took a few photos.

Are those trees marvellous?!!!

The leaves are quickly piling up under the trees and I have enjoyed my Fall and all the Fall colors and events.

Cincinnati

Last week  SM went to Cincinnati for work and I tagged along.  Monday after we arrived we decided to go for a walk.  We walked along the Roebling Suspension Bridge that is not yet opened to vehicles but was opened for foot traffic.  Last Spring was the last time I visited Cincinnati and during that visit this bridge was covered from top to bottom with billowing plastic and was under a lot of construction.

As we came to the center of the bridge, a barge started under our feet.  I knew it was a large barge but it just kept coming....

...and coming...

...and coming.  And it was all incredibly quiet since the engine of the barge wasn't seen until the whole boat had finally passed under us.  It was an amazing thing to experience and those barge drivers have to be very skilled at not crashing their barge into anything because they are pushing and not pulling the barges down the river.



Here I am on the Kentucky side of the river, looking back onto Cincinnati.  I had to share this great photo of Cincinnati, the river and a barge. 



We spent four days in Cincinnati.  The leaves were changing colors and blowing all over the place.  This is a photo taken from our hotel room balcony.  I really loved looking at the church at the end of the road.  I was going to walk down there and get some better pictures but ended up never going in that direction.  I was able to follow SM to court one morning and watch how the Federal Court of Appeals works.  It was a fascinating process.  SM and I were also able to eat Graeter's Ice Cream every day that we were there...and if you've never had it, I don't know how to describe it to you other than it is very creamy.  They pride themselves on having almost no air in the ice cream which makes it very dense and yummy.  We also ate out and I shared a steak dinner that was incredible!  Thanks to SM and his co-workers for letting me tag along on their work week in Cincinnati.

Fall Colors of Northern Ohio

Sunday afternoon, SM and I went for a Sunday drive with a friend from church.  This friend is from the area and knows a lot of the history and stories from this beautiful Northern Ohio area. 

I wish I could capture the beauty of all these trees...but I really can't.  But I love knowing that God has given us all this natural beauty because He loves us.

Our small town was celebrating the fall colors with a scenic drive and a pioneer gathering at the park.  Here we have a couple metal workers and some traditional clothing.

And beautiful horses and buggies!

And a medical tent...and black powder guns...and a little bit of everything.

A few of the tents were set up near a small lake.  The participants of this gathering had slept in their tents for several days and really gotten to know each other.  And the weekend was beautiful weather so it was comfortable and fun for everyone.

And that Sunday evening everyone would be eating small birds...yum!

Part of the scenic road tour included a dairy farm.  We were able to see where the cows were milked, where they lined up before and after a milking and how they were taken care of.  These cows were really pampered with large fans in the barn and...

...a self scratching post.  This post has two or three large brushes attached so that when you've got an itch the cows can take care of it themselves.

And the last place we stopped was at a sawdust farm where the father was also a collector of tractors.  He had close to 100 tractors in the field next to the barn.  We saw very old tractors, new tractors and unique tractors.

Here's an older tractor.

And a very large tractor...and one of SM's favorite!

Niagara Falls

Last weekend SM and I went to Canada and visited Niagara Falls.  I had never been to Niagara Falls before and since it was only a little more than four hours in the car...we went.  And I'm so glad we did.  The weather was very nice, the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze.

Can you see all that water going over the Falls?  It was awe inspiring to see all that water! 



We had a fun trip on the Maid of the Mist.  We wore our blue water smocks and went into the river.  SM had the biggest grin on his face as we went close to Horseshoe Falls.  He really enjoyed the trip and all the mist and water that covered us as we were so close to the Falls.



Yeah!  This is me after the Maid of the Mist trip!  The Falls that you see behind me are called the Bridal Veil Falls and are on the American side of the Falls.  But as you can see, the view from the Canadian side is the best!

Here's the excited SM...hee, hee.

Isn't that amazing!!

And then we took the Journey Behind the Falls tour.  We travelled a couple hundred feet down a shaft and into the base of the cliffs.  We were able to see the Falls up close and then we walked down tunnels and behind the Falls.

Here I am behind the Horseshoe Falls.

Here's a good picture of the Horseshoe Falls.  Look at that mist!  It's amazing!