Growing

 

The potatoes have been looking great.  Most are flowering now.  I just hope they look as good underground!

Also growing at the end of the potato row is a mound of volunteer cushaw plants.  I had a cushaw go bad, and I threw it here in late winter.  I hoped it would sprout come spring, and it did:

Speaking of growing, these kids have grown quite a bit:

We enjoyed our annual Memorial day weekend, but alas, the kayak trip was cancelled due to severe storms.  We were happy to have a beautiful day Monday, though. 

Some of the shenanigans were moved to my inlaws' new house.  It is 8 minutes away, so pretty convenient, and much bigger than our house, so we had plenty of room for games.  (Did I mention that they just moved here?  Yeah, that happened this month.)

I also broke out the shrinky dinks for the kids, and they were a hit.  Here are two of Lydia's snails, one before and the other after baking:

Finally, we had a field day on our last day of school.  The boys loved it!

End of Year Happenings, O My!

 Lydia has been really busy this month She had another display of her pottery in the art gallery at her school, which all of us and all four of her grandparents got to see.

 She had her first violin solo recital:

And a concert with a band:

Plus, she had a strings only concert last night, and Malachi was able to play along on the final song.  He was elated.  That boy loves to play orchestra.   He will get to play with some old classmates on Thursday, and he's looking forward to that.

Lydia also made a Victorian sponge cake, according to an 1800s recipe, as part of her presentation on Victorian cooking for her history class.  The cake (and presentation) went over well!

The history center barn started their weekend programs, and the boys were happy to grind corn again:

They also have a pulley set up to raise a bale of straw.  The boys are encouraged to try to pick it up without it first, then they get to use the pulley.  Gyunay was able to raise it all by himself.

Emry has no trouble using the pulley; we just have to tell him to go slow!

They also enjoyed using the little water pump.

Malachi and Pilot have been enjoying having some time at home and seeing friends between working their summer jobs.  Elijah is still working fast food but will have a change soon.

R.I.P. Harry

 

I am sad to announce that Gyunay's favorite animal in the world, our turkey Harry, died Friday night. 

He died in his sleep, tucked in the coop peacefully, with no prior signs of illness.  He was just over 2 years old.  Obviously, Gyunay was devasted.  I already miss the fun noises Harry would make every morning as I let him out of the coop.  Rest in peace, Harry.

 

Book Review - The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche

The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche is a trip down Route 66 while the characters go on trips down memory lane.  I enjoyed this book.  Ultimately, it is a hopeful story, and the characters are fun to get to know and see develop.  It did feel like the author was trying to put all the forms of trauma she could into one story, though.  It seemed too much of a stretch (and this is coming from someone whose immediate family presents many types of trauma!).  Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this book.  The three separate timelines were all interesting to me, with one set in the present, one in the 50s, and one in 2003.   The descriptions of the route itself are interesting, and the road is almost a character in the story.  

I received a copy of the book from the publisher, Revell, but all opinions are my own.

Mammoth Cave

 In part two of our weekend away, here is our trip to Mammoth Cave.  Emry, Gyunay, Nathaniel, and I went on the Frozen Niagra tour, while Elijah, Malachi, Pilot, Lydia, and the boys' friend Roman went on the Domes and Dripstones tour.

Our tour was very short, but it was cool.  Everyone enjoyed seeing the cave.

On our last day, we went to Mass, hurried back to check out of the house, and then headed to Abe Lincoln National Park.

Emry and Gyunay worked to complete their Jr. Ranger requirements in the museum.

And I tried to get a picture of Nathaniel by the sinkhole, but as you can see, it turned out very weird!

Kentucky Down Under!

 We went away for the weekend.  I rented a house for us all, and we explored the area around Mammoth Cave.  First up, we had a fantastic time at Kentucky Down Under:

Emry, Malachi, Lydia, and I enjoyed feeding the lorikeets.  The others just watched.  Perhaps they didn't want birds on their heads.

Then, the main attraction: we got to pet kangaroos and wallabies!!!

This little shy albino wallaby loved Lydia and spent a lot of time with her:

See the baby in the pocket below?

I think Nathaniel's favorite was the baby cow, though:

And Lydia was especially excited to see their Coati:

We had a fantastic time at Kentucky Down Under.  We were there for about three hours, and everyone enjoyed it.  More posts from our mini vacation coming soon!