The Ohio Vacation

After Canada and New York, we headed to northern Ohio, where my in-laws rented a house for all of us for the rest of the week.  We enjoyed a lot of adventures, including a short hike in Cuyahoga National Park:

The house itself was really amazing. It had a swimming lake with a dock and kayaks, a hot tub, skeeball, pingpong, a movie room, pac man, and more. 

There was plenty of room for everyone. In fact, it was easy to lose track of people inside the house because there were so many rooms to go!

We also visited the Akron Zoo and some nearby small towns. Nathaniel, Malachi, Pilot, and Kevin enjoyed a couple of golf rounds. We enjoyed group games and family dinners. It was a really nice vacation.

 

Our Lady of Victory Bascillica

After we left Niagara Falls State Park, we headed out in our 2 cars.  Elijah, Emry, and Gyunay were with me, and we made a slight detour to Our Lady of Victory Bascillica near Buffalo, NY. 

It is an amazing church that looks like the ones in Europe.   The boys were all impressed.

To make it even better, the Bascillica was built by Venerable Father Nelson Baker a hundred years ago.  The boys have a comic book about his life, so it was extra special. 

We lit some candles, said some prayers, and visited the nice museum in the basement. 

 It had been storming,  but it cleared up while we were there, so we were able to get some outside photos.

July Harvest Totals

 The garden really got going at the end of July.  

Beans, dragon - 6.6 Oz

Beans, green - 3.7oz

Cabbages - 2

Carrots - 20

Corn - 6

Cucumbers - 26

Eggs - 356

Peppers, ancho - 1

Peppers, pepperoncinis - 7

Potatoes, fingerling - 1.6 lbs

Potatoes, Kenebec- 7.3 lbs

Potatoes, red - 5.4 lbs

Rutabagas - 1

Tomatoes, Eva Purple Ball - 7

Tomatoes, reds - 41

Tomatoes, San Marzano - 83

Zucchini - 6

Plus cherry tomatoes and herbs - basil, dill, oregano, mint, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

I made and canned a batch of salsa for the first time in 2 years.  It's so nice to have ripe tomatoes!

And hopefully,  August should bring cantaloupe!!!

NY Niagara

We rode the trolley in Niagara Falls State Park.

Naturally,  we saw the Falls again.

As you can see, it was quite windy.  We had to cut off the visit, as a thunderstorm was rolling in.  I was glad we got to walk around as much as we did, since it was supposed to storm there all day.

 

Garden Explosion and a Surprise

Time to step away from travel posts for a minute and talk about how my garden took off while we were gone.

I am now getting plenty of tomatoes for fresh eating, and I am close to having enough paste tomatoes for a huge batch of salsa.

On the way to let the dogs out, I noticed something new.  Actually,  I heard it before I saw it.

Yes, while I was gone, my friend came over and installed a fountain for us!  It was a surprise,  and I burst out laughing,  because I knew exactly what had happened.   My dear friend Jennifer had offered me the fountain a few weeks ago, but I didn't think I would get around to painting it and installing it, so I turned her down. So she did it all for me!

The sunflowers started blooming!  And my beloved Mexican sunflowers, too!  Some can be seen behind the yellow sunflowers, and there are some at the end of the picture below:

The sweet potatoes have gone crazy.  They are spilling out everywhere,  including onto the deck:

They are quite pretty.  I hope they are developing underground as well as they are above ground. 

 

Niagara Falls Aquarium

 

On Tuesday, we left Canada and headed to the New York side.  We went to the Niagara Aquarium.

They had lots of interesting jellyfish.

Lydia was so happy to pet the sting rays. We also petted bamboo sharks.

The aquarium was two buildings.   The first was the usual ocean life, but the second was a Great Lakes aquarium. 

The kids enjoyed petting the sturgeon.

Niagara Falls!

 

We just got home from our 8 days away.  First, Nathaniel,  all 6 kids, and I went to Canada.

We had a blast!  We rode on the Hornblower, which is a boat that sails very close to the Falls 

After the boat ride, we ditched the ponchos and had fun in Clifton Falls.  First, we went through the wax museum, which was a lot bigger than I expected. 

I think you can tell that we had fun with it!