Thankful Thursday - Weekend Getaway

I am so Thankful for time away, God's beautiful creation and family. We went to Shawnee State Park in southern Ohio this past weekend and stayed in a little cabin with Jim's family. It was so nice to get away! We went swimming, took a little hike, ate lots of food and just relaxed! It was great. Jim's parents were so very kind and generous to invite us along and they took care of everything. We are so blessed and so thankful for them! Here are some pics of our "mini vacation."

The Lodge

Our Cabin

Sunrise behind the Lodge

Grammy bought Jimmy a souvenir raccoon, he loves it!

Jimmy wasn't too sure of this big Indian

Or these bears, at first, but then he warmed up enough to pick baby bear's nose (leave it to my child)

Family swim pic! We were in the indoor pool because as luck would have it, it was a bit too cold to be outside (the water was actually warm, but the air was too cold for little Jimmy)

Jimmy's first "airplane" ride lol (he always looks so serious, he really did love it!)

What has Jimmy found?

Awww! A cute box turtle!

Ok, time for a flashback: When I was a little girl, it was my DREAM to find a box turtle in the wild. Of course, back then I would have wanted to keep it, but its illegal to take wildlife home from state parks, etc....so I couldn't keep this one (not that I would have, that's his home, I know that NOW, plus, I already have a pet turtle) Anyway, so this is the first one I have ever found while hiking! And he was right at the beginning of the trail, Jim almost stepped on him (I did move him off the trail so no one else would step on him or be tempted to give him a new home)! I was so excited, I took lots of pics of him. Ahhh a childhood dream come true lol.
Aww, isn't that sweet? Happy trails! ;-)
Oh and PS, we are off this weekend for another little getaway, I will share about it next week =)

Do you have something to be Thankful for? Let everyone know about it! Just enter your name or name of your blog and add the link to your specific Thankful Thursday post (not your blog's homepage please!) Also, please add the Thankful Thursday logo or link to my blog in your post. Have fun and thanks for joining me!

Fun at the Fair

I know, I said I would post the pics of our trip to the fair almost 2 weeks ago, oops! So here they are =)

Jimmy & his 2 lovely cousins, Marah and Marissa

Marissa on the carousel

Jimmy watching Marissa on the carousel, "I wanna ride too!"

Daddy took Jimmy on his first pony ride

Jimmy loves the lawn equipment & Daddy can't wait until he is old enough to mow lol

Jimmy & cousin Marah

Marissa won a fish!

Jimmy tries to win one too!

Jimmy got his fish! (same fish, but he doesn't know lol! Marissa got herself another one, =) )

Grammy & Grandpa on the Ferris Wheel

Jimmy finally got to ride the carousel....and decided he wanted off halfway through!

Daddy won Jimmy a penguin (loves them ever since he saw part of Happy Feet, and when you say "Do Happy Feet" he starts dancing, it is so cute!)

Mommy and a sleepy, slap happy Jimmy. Time to go home!

We also got to see some animals, but I didn't get any pics. Jimmy loved it and kept making animal noises, it was great! Then we got homemade ice cream on our way out, what a perfect ending to a fun evening at the fair =)

Canooooing

Today Jim and I went canoeing with some of my family. There were 8 of us, so 4 canoes. It was a nice time. And while we were away, little Jimmy got to stay with his Grammy & Grandpa allll day! And he was a good boy and didn't cry at all!


Our canoeing adventure was a 3-4 hour trip down the river. Not a very exciting river, but its exciting enough for me! We even tipped over once...luckily I was a smart cookie and had my camera (NOT my big Canon!) in a plastic zip bag (2 actually) and then inside of another tote bag type thing tied to the canoe. So it didn't get ruined! We came upon a rope swing and stopped there for a while to have a snack and then Jim, my step cousin Jesse and I all jumped off the rope. It was a blast!

Jim

Me

Jesse

We saw lots of turtles and birds along the river bank, and some little fishies in the water. Not much else wildlife, some dragonflies & bugs, but the ride was pretty and scenic.

Our little buddy for part of the ride

Then, after our ride, Jim and I changed our clothes and went to an early dinner JUST THE TWO OF US!! I think we have only done that one other time since Jimmy was born! It was so strange, but it was nice to get away for a little while. And my little man was so excited to see his daddy & mommy when we picked him up, it was so cute. Well, I am off to bed, hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

Our 4th Of July Weekend

We had a nice weekend celebrating our country's independence. Friday we had a family picnic and then went to the Cincinnati Reds ballgame (who lost to the Cardinals, booo!). Here a some pics from our evening at the ballpark.

The game started out with the National Anthem and a Bald Eagle flying from the outfield to the pitcher's mound. Unfortunately I did not have my camera out yet but it was a beautiful sight! Such a gorgeous, majestic bird, what a perfect symbol of our country.

Jimmy eating all of his cousin Conner's goldfish (daddy was getting food! Mommy just forgot to bring snacks....thanks for keeping the peace Aunt Mandy! lol)




First baseman Joey Votto, one of my current favorite players, he is such a cutie! ;-) No home runs tonight though.

Game Summary (photo courtesy of Mandy my sis in law)

A parachuting demonstration (don't ask me what they are called, I totally forget! Bad Ali!), we could see the plane above, the jumpers had sparklers so you could watch them coming down, and they landed right on the field. It was really neat!

Fireworks Intro (photo courtesy of Mandy again ;-) )

This was the kickoff to the fireworks, pretty cool. The guy had to start the fireworks with that box right in the middle of the ballfield.

Some bad pics of the fireworks, didn't get too many shots of them because.....

....I was holding this sweet little guy while he watched. He loved them and kept pointing to them, it was so cute!

I have to mention, it was also my grandparents 61st wedding anniversary! Here they are enjoying the fireworks =)

And by the time the finale came around, this is what Jimmy's little cousin Conner was doing. He slept right through the grand finale and it was loud & bright as day! ;-)
(sorry lady's whose rear is in the photo lol)

After such a big day, we actually didn't do much on Saturday. We went to the Americana Festival in my hometown around lunchtime and then went out to eat. Then we came home. We did some farm chores and rented a movie and had dinner, a nice and relaxing evening for the 4th of July. Even saw some fireworks out the window in the distance (crazy farm kids! ;-) )

Sunday we went over to my in-laws for a cookout lunch and then we ended up going over to my Dad & Kathy's again to pick up a horse. We are trading one of ours for one of theirs for a while, one, to have a horse we can actually RIDE, and two, to see if one of my "sisters" can ride Gunner and work with him a little bit since they know waay more about horses & training than we do. We borrowed their trailer (couldn't use ours because it is full of stuff that we took to the flea market lol) so we are taking Gunner over there tonight when we take the trailer back. Here is a pic of Mimsy the "ugly mare" they call her. She is named after Madam Mim from the Sword in the Stone movie. I don't think she is too ugly! ;-)

Well, thats it! I guess we had a pretty bust weekend afterall. But it was nice. I hope you all had a great weekend too (ha, now that is is Tuesday lol)! Have a great week!