saturday out and about

papa loves donuts almost as much as the kids do so we took him to one of our favorite bakeries for breakfast. they even got to see one reason the kids love it - frosted fingernails!

the second reason the kids love this bakery is that the donuts are huge. and delicious. very delicious.

we had planned a train ride with papa and nana (they both love trains) but the weather was not looking great and we hemmed and hawed so long that they all sold out for the day. in researching other options we found out that it was "national bowling day" and free bowling was offered at a local alley. when we got there it looked closed and the posted hours on the door said that it was closed. i insisted matt check anyway and low and behold - it was open. and free!

not only was the bowling free (we had to pay to rent shoes), but we were given t-shirts too! a total win. it was a surprisingly fun outing and made for some great pictures in our shirts. (we were just about the only people in the place.)

matt beat me, but i was killing it with strikes.

the kids bowled with bumpers

and a group shot too

our next stop was a free tour of a local castle. this was on our bucket list this summer because mason has been really, really into castles lately but we never made it. and it was "sold out" when we got there! none of the information said that there was a limited admission available. i was so very bummed (mason was too).

but as a consolation, we spent some time at the car show going on at the same location instead.

this car is from the same year as papa

this kids thought that this one looked like "bumblebee" from transformers. manning is just making a silly face for the picture.

we all thought that these windows were pretty cool. mason blended right into the building.

and i was there too!

it might not have been the day we planned, but we all got to see and do some new things together. love.

saying good-bye

our whirlwind weekend is at an end. at least i remembered that i didn't have any pictures with my parents! they (the pictures) are better than nothing. (i am wearing my brand new "short and sweet" t-shirt from the smucker's store.)

we had plans for brunch out. since maddux' dentist appointment (getting a spacer for the molar he had pulled a while ago) was right across the street from our restaurant, we took the whole gang to his appointment.

big pop and manning snuggled up on the couch for a little minion movie viewing.

sharing the love.

this kid just loves using utensils and is pretty impressive with a knife and fork.

now that we were (very) full, we went over to the mall to walk it off a little. big pop works for a company in the sears family and gets a discount so i asked if we could borrow his discount for a little back-to-school shoe shopping.

big pop helped maddux come up with a hands-free way to carry around his shirts and he was only too happy to help manning out.

the kids were pretty excited for a night of vbs (at the preschool) after we dropped off big pop and grandma at the airport. manning couldn't wait to wear his new shirt.

and just a few more pictures before they left.

even with me!

we loved having them visit. they haven't been here since last thanksgiving so we were due. love.

driving and eating through amish country

we planned a low-key day today. matt had to work and then a dinner meeting so we had the whole day open to us. we spent a casual morning at home with breakfast, snuggling and cartoons. but i broke up the party and loaded everyone up to take big pop and grandma for a drive through amish country for their first time.

we started at the warthers museum. we didn't go through the museum this time but the property is so beautiful that we walked around a bit before heading to lunch.

we didn't take any pictures in the restaurant (der dutchman). grandma loved the family style round table (and the salad bar!). the food was wonderful too. it was a hot and sunny day but we tried to take pictures anyway.

we stopped at the amish heritage center this time and learned so much about the amish beliefs and history. they played us a short movie explaining their history and way of daily life. grandma was ready to convert. i think she would miss the beach.

another staple in our amish visits is legman's hardware. so much fun browsing and the kids (read: grandma and big pop) did a little toy shopping.

maddux scoping out our next stop

another first for us was stopping at the smuckers farm/store. it isn't really much more than a store. they also own a division of pillsbury which grandma also reps so there were some cute photo ops.

we did some more shopping on our way to dinner and then finished up at the barn restaurant. again, we didn't take any pictures at the restaurant (we were too busy eating!). before loading up for our long ride home we spent some time feeding the ducks (manning was in heaven) and enjoying a beautiful evening.

we had so much fun driving, shopping, eating and learning. they really enjoyed seeing the countryside and we look forward to doing it again on a future visit. love.