Busy, Busy

The last couple weeks have been so busy. I am going to break this down into 3 topics: Amish, 50th & Zoo.

Amish (Sept. 14&15): Last weekend my friend DeAnn and I went down to Harmony, MN to tour the Amish country down there. It was AWESOME. We had so much fun. We got there Sunday night, checked into our hotel and then drove around to find something to eat. Harmony has NO fast-food! So, we decided to try Lanesboro. I took a wrong turn and we ended up driving by amish farm after amish farm. We even saw a couple amish out in their horse and buggies. The first buggy we saw, DeAnn freaked out and I thought I was going to hit something. Then she pointed out the buggy and then I freaked out. "Do we wave to them?"Well, we waved to them and they waved back and then we were really freaking out. We FINALLY found Lanesboro and found a cute little place to eat. On Monday morning we were up and ready for our day of touring. We started our 1st tour at 9 am. You purchase this CD and it gives you directions and tells you different amish homes to stop at. So, we did this and I was so nervous to drive up to their house and interact with them. But it was all good. They are so nice and after the 1st couple stops I was having so much fun.  We were out early enough to see all the children walking to school. They walk to school year-round. Yes, I said WALKING. And it wasn't just down the street it was further then I would want to walk in the middle of winter. Anyways, the kids were so cute and they all waved to us. By the end of our 1st tour we had the back of my van filled with stuff that we had bought. Everything from pumpkins, to homemade bread, rug, veggies and much more. We had another tour we signed up to do at 1:30 pm so we headed back to harmony with our van full and set out for another tour. It was good but we stopped at some of the same places and I am so obsessed with the amish that I pretty much knew everything our tour guide told us about the amish. I had so much fun and I can't wait to go back. I am looking into more amish tours in WI and maybe someday I will make it out to Ohio or Lancaster County to tour the amish country.

50th (Sept. 20): This last weekend we celebrated my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. We started the day out by going on a 90 min. train ride in Osceola, WI. Pretty much the whole family was there and it was a lot of fun. My mom has 3 bro's and 3 sis's so it is always fun when we get together. I always have fun with my cousin's. After the train ride we went back to my aunt's house in Hudson and we had extended family come over. We had food, hung out and got to play sand volleyball. It was a great day celebrating my grandparents and their 50 years of marriage. 

Zoo (Sept. 21): Lana and I went to the zoo yesterday for a class called Dolphin Magic. We got to learn about dolphins and we even got a behind the scene look at the dolphin area. We got to see the kitchen where their food is prepared. We got to go pool side and get pretty much face to face with a dolphin. However, we couldn't pet them which was a bummer. But we both had so much fun. We have another class we signed up for on Saturday. This one is titled Horse Sense. 

I will post pictures later today. 

Amish

On Sunday I am going to Harmony, MN with my friend DeAnn. We are going to do a couple different tours of the Amish country in Harmony. I am SO excited. You see, I secretly want to be Amish. I guess it isn't a secret now. But I am so excited. It all started years ago when my in laws lived in Sparta, WI. We were driving around the beautiful country around Sparta and we passed by some amish farms. Then the love got rekindled when I started reading these books by Beverly Lewis. I started reading them on our trip to Alaska and I have been hooked ever since. I have read 7 of her books since the end of June and I am on my 8 book. Plus, I bought an Amish cookbook. 

I will write about my trip when I get back from Amish Country. 

Okay, okay

So, I have been told by 2 of my friends that are pro's at this blogging thing that it is time for me to do another post. 

Well, let's see school has started and Lana can't stop talking about when she goes to school next year.  The other day she woke up and said, "Mommy, I had a dream that I was going to school." She has a lot of friends at church that are in school and kids in the neighborhood. So, we talk about it a lot to prepare her for next year and to also get me prepared. It is not for another year but I have learned that time really does fly by when you have kids. We didn't sign her up for preschool cause well, I wasn't ready. Selfish, I know. She was in dance last year and that really seemed to help and she starts dance again this Thursday. She will have a new teacher this year named Jenny. 

Josiah is doing okay. He has his 1st molar coming in so he has been pretty crabby and he woke up today with a runny nose and he keeps sneezing. I really hope and pray it is just from teeth coming in. He is walking all over the place now and says "Hi" to everybody. He loves balls so whenever we are at the store or anywhere that has a ball he sits and says "ball." He also LOVES wearing shoes. He gets this from his father. If he doesn't have a pair of shoes on he will walk around the house and find a pair and then come and hand them to me so I can put them on. I can't wait for him to start talking, I am hoping his girlie screaming will go away once he has words to put with what it is he wants. 

Tonight we start up our Kids program at church. I am in charge of tonight. Scary. It is a good thing that we have A LOT of great helpers. Cause I couldn't do it with out there help. We are playing games with Jell-O. The kids will put their feet in Jell-o and have to pick out marbles with their feet and then suck Jell-O out of a cup using a straw. 

Ryan is still working. Pray for him over this next month. For his physical health and spiritual. And please pray for the kids and I as we miss our hubby and daddy. 

I put up 2 pictures of the kids. They are both at my grandparents house. The one of Lana is with her Great Grandma.