Catching Up (Part 1): Ethan's birthday, Apple Picking and Mom's Surgery

Happy Tuesday everyone! I really didn't mean to take an almost 2 week break without posting anything except Jacob's birthday questionnaire. It has just been extremely busy around here. So much is going on I will break it into 2 parts...

So on  Friday October 2, we headed out to Utica to celebrate Ethan's 9th birthday! Ben and Bill stayed home as Ben wasn't feeling well. Ethan was happy that we came out and we had cake and presents. My brother's girlfriend bought pumpkins for the all the kids to carve and they did that. They had fun! 

Saturday, October 3, we were up early and out the house and back to Utica as we were meeting up with everyone to go apple picking and to celebrate Jacob's birthday. We went to Legend Hills Orchard to go apple picking and it was perfect weather for it. I am glad that we went early as it was packed when we left.

 

Then it was back to my parents house where my dad made grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup for the kids for lunch. The adults got Subway. Then it was time to celebrate Jacob. (We celebrated his birthday then since my sister Mary, her girlfriend Cecilia, my brother Josh and his girlfriend were all in town from college. Also my mom was scheduled for her colon cancer surgery that Monday and is out of commission for at least 6-8 weeks). Jacob got chocolate cake and fun presents! Then it was home to relax. 

Sunday was kind of a cool day. We ended up going on a long walk on the bike path in Howard, enjoying some early fall scenery. It was funny too because Rebecca almost stepped on a snake! When we came home I made beef stew and an apple pie for dinner! 

Last week was kind of a blur. My mom had her colon cancer surgery on Monday. Everything went as planned and her surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor. Thankfully her test results came back that it was stage 1 and that it had not spread to any of the 22 lymph nodes that they also removed. She was in the hospital until this past Sunday.

So I spent much of my week driving back and forth to help pick up my niece/nephew from school and watching them so my dad could spend time at the hospital. (Due to COVID he was the only visitor allowed and once he entered the hospital for the day he wasn't allowed to leave and return that day). It made for several LONG days but I would do it again in a heartbeat if it was needed. 

Well I think that is a good stopping point for today. I need to go and fix dinner for the family. Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday despite the crazy world we live in! 

Jacob is 11!

Today is a special day in our household!

It's Jacob's 11th birthday!

In honor of his birthday we started out the day with donuts, we will head to his PSR (church) class here soon. Then I am not sure what fun we will get into. A lot has been going on and we have been extremely busy. It is all good though-- we get to celebrate Jacob! Can't believe he is 11 years old! Time sure does fly! In honor of his birthday we did our short annual questionnaire. Here is the life of my 11 year old! 

 1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world?

Daddy

2. What is your favorite color?

 

Depends...Blue

3. What is your favorite television show?

The Weakest Link

4. What's your favorite outfit?

Short sleeve shirt and sweatpants

5. What sport do you like the best?

 

Football

6. What song is your favorite?

"Fairly Local" by Twenty-One Pilots

7. What is your favorite cereal?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

8. Who is your best friend?

Moe

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A football player

10. What is your favorite book?

"Year in Sports 2020"

 

11. What are you really good at?

Throwing the football

 

12. Where do you wish you could go on vacation?

Florida, where Memaw and Pepaw live

13. What is your best memory?

My first day of Kindergarten 

 

14. What would you buy if you had $1000?

A lot of cards

15. What vegetable do you hate the most?

Rutabaga

16. If you could have a wish, what would it be?

To meet John Cena

17. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

PB&J

18. Who is your biggest hero?

My parents

19. What do you like to do best with your friends?

Play kickball

20. What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?

Go to Disney World.

Happy birthday Jacob! We love you! 

We went to Malabar Farm State Park

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Today, I am working on school with the kids and getting ready for the week after we had a busy weekend. 

Saturday Bill, the kids and I headed out to explore Malabar Farm State Park. This is an Ohio state park and was once the home of author Louis Bromfield. The property was also the site of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's wedding in 1945. Various areas of the property were also the sites of filming for the movie "Shawshank Redemption." 

Never having seen the movie or really knowing very much of Louis Bromfield, I just saw this as an opportunity to explore a new to us park. *One of the positives of living in a pandemic is that I am looking for more natural areas to explore locally that I might have overlooked before. 

When we arrived we parked next to the visitor center (which was open) and we went in to get a map of the property. (Quite honestly the maps were a little misleading and not very clear). Inside the visitor center they have a lovely parrot that supposedly says Hello, but he never talked while we were there. 

Then we started walking around the grounds. We went through the barn area and came across a couple adorable pigs 🐷🐷🐷🐷 and some goats 🐐🐐🐐. 

We also went around "The Big House" which was not open for viewing due to COVID. We also got to see some of the animals out to pasture.

 

After we started walking toward trails. At one point we went the wrong way while trying to follow the map, but we eventually made the way to the trail we were looking for. We ended up walking up one of the horseback riding trails first before we realized our mistake and then backtracked to the Butternut Trail. This trail takes you to a cave that you can enter and explore. It was really neat to see!

After we got done hiking, we headed back toward the barn so Ben could see the animals again. As we were walking we came across a tiny snake in the grass. 

When we got back to the barn, one of the pigs was awake and let me tell you... those pigs were SO CUTE! I have decided that I want a pig! LOL Maybe one day.

 

We then headed to our van to drive up to the top of Mt. Jeez. This overlook offers spectacular views of the valley. Seriously the views were GORGEOUS! 

Malabar Farm State Park is a great place for our family to enjoy. We will definitely be going back sooner rather than later! 

Well, Ben needs some help with his Zoom meeting! I hope everyone has a great Monday!