The Eberly Journals: Memorial Day, and other things

Ricky was lucky enough to have a 4 day weekend for Memorial day so we decided to have another weekend away. We drove up to New York state this time, to my friend Amy's family's campground. They have a very nice spot on a secluded road with an outhouse and a solar shower and a fire pit.

We got there Friday afternoon, set up camp and then decided to go on a little hike to the stream. The kids loved playing in this little pool.

Joanna found a little frog and loved it and Chase found a Salamander that was too quick for us to catch but really neat to see.

In the evening Amy and her family came over for a campfire and we were able to catch up with them a little.
Saturday was a full and busy day for us. In the morning we awoke bright and early and went to the Windmill market. It's a little flea market/ craft fair kind of place that Ricky and I used to like to visit on occasion when we lived up there. We walked around a while and then decided to let the kids have a pony ride. Joanna was besides herself excited about it.

After that we decided to find this park on the lake shore that Amy had told us about. There was a playground for the kids and it was a beautiful day. The water actually felt pretty nice. I was wishing I had brought the swim suits along with us. The kids had fun wading anyway and I enjoyed sitting, soaking up the sun.

Did I mention that Bolt came with us this time?

She had a fun weekend too. She spent a lot of time exploring the woods and digging up worms and bugs, and scavenging for food droppings. She even got to sleep on the air mattress with Ricky and I :P

we went back to camp and had lunch and naps and then went down to the creek again for a swim in the COLD water.

It was a hot day and even the big guy stuck his toe in the water :P

It was really cold but the kids didn't care, they had a blast! We found some pretty good size holes but I couldn't work up the courage to dip my head under. We didn't stay too long because the bugs were really bad.

after that we went to the little go-cart track in Penn Yan. We were all able to take rides, even Katy! It was a lot of fun.

After go-carts we went to the ice cream place right next door and had dinner and then proceeded to our Mennonite Friend's house for a nice long visit. They have a pretty big farm with lots of animals and we always have a great time catching up with them. Joanna and Chase both found friends among their 10 kids and were quickly running around, having a blast.

Sunday We didn't do a whole lot. I spent a lot of the day trying to get the shower water hot, and then giving all three kids and myself a shower. We also visited Amy's family's new house and their homestead :) they just got 4 little piglets that were very cute.

Monday we packed up and headed home.

At one point in our trip we had stopped at our favorite little store up there. It's where I got THIS book. It's owned by a husband and wife and one side is all hunting stuff (his stuff) and the other is all antiques/knickknacks (her stuff)... like I said, cute :) Anyway, I found this metal tray that I really like and this book, Grow a Butterfly Garden. It's just a small pamphlet but it gave me some great ideas for additions to my garden. I've already added Asters and Ecchinacea and next week some time I am going to take a trip up to my Grandma's house for a lilac shoot.

I need to do another "what's in bloom" post soon but I'm so happy with how my garden is turning out this year. I found this really neat spider the other day. It's body is actually silver! If you are not freaked out by spiders click on the picture so you can see it better.

There are others that have neon yellow bodies as well. Apparently they are Orb Weaver spiders and can be beneficial to gardens.

I found this little bench at an antique store before I left. I think it's prefect there :)

Last Wednesday My friend Ronda and I took the kids to Zoo America in Hershey, PA. It was a fun day. I was surprised at how many people were actually there but we still had fun, I don't think Ronda minds the crowds as much as I do :)