Our Adventurous Weekend.....

Ok, so Friday was the kids' last day of school for the year. Here they are before getting on the school bus for the last time until August:

Then, Ashton's teacher presented an end-of-the-year slide show of his kindergarten class, so Chris, Malia and I went to watch it. And yes, I wiped away a few tears during the show! I can't believe my little Ashie is out of kindergarten already! Here are the boys after school while we waited for Shana to be dismissed:

We had planned to surprise the kids by taking them up to Michigan, where we were going to stay overnight and then visit Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum on Saturday. So after leaving the school, it didn't take them long to realize we were not going home. When they asked where we were going, I told them that since it was the last day of school, I thought we would celebrate by going out to eat at Olive Garden, since we had some gift cards to use up. At one point, Ashton wondered why there was a suitcase behind the back seat, and I said, "I think we took that suitcase on our trip a few weeks ago. See if there are still cruise tags attached to it." He discovered that there were indeed cruise tags attached, and that answer seemed to satisfy him. I guess he thought that the suitcase was still in the van from our last trip. (Aren't I a bad mom?) Anyway, pretty soon they wondered why in the world it was taking so long to get to Olive Garden - why didn't we just go to the one near our house? So, we finally arrived at the restaurant, and after the waitress took out orders, we told the kids the real reason we drove 2 hours to go out to eat. They were so thrilled, and Malia kept giving me huge hugs and kisses.

Adrian and Malia at the restaurant:

The kids had fun in the pool at the hotel that night:

We found some sort of a strange little bug in our room - oh wait, that's just Ashton.

Saturday, we had a great time at the museum and village:

Here's the 20 million dollar car (a 1931 Bugatti Royale, just in case there are any car buffs out there):

Civil War Remembrance was the special event going on this weekend. There were soldiers, tent camps, horses and cannons everywhere.

Malia and Shana had fun trying on old hats at the Millinery:

More soldiers:

Orville and Wilbur Wright stood on the front porch of their boyhood home and talked to us about making and flying the first airplane:

Afternoon tea:

Ice cream - yum!!!

This charming English cottage was built in the early 1600's. Later, it was taken apart stone by stone and transported to Michigan, where it was rebuilt stone by stone.

This marine officer wanted to enlist Adrian, and gave him this sword to hold:

Malia held her ears during the cannon demonstration:

Carousel ride:

We had a great day! Then as we were driving home Saturday evening, it started to rain. We were following a semi, and all of a sudden as he reached a curve in the road, he lost control. He took out the entire guardrail, and his truck flipped completely over on its side onto the riverbank. If it hadn't been for the tree that stopped it, I think the truck would have landed in the river. Chris called 911 since we had witnessed the whole thing, while I ran to see if the driver was ok. Thankfully, he was fine, and we found out that he had been hauling a load of french fries. Chris and I stayed and helped direct traffic for close to an hour until the state trooper finally came along. It was a little scary, though, since we were right between two curves. Plus, it was dark and raining, and we didn't have any flares or lights. We were so thankful to finally make it home that night!

We didn't go anywhere for Memorial Day because Ashton was sick with the flu. :-(  But it was nice to stay at home and relax. We enjoyed picnics and swimming in our pool for the first time this year!

Hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend!

Sometimes There Is Just Nothing To Blog About,

sometimes there are very important things that need to be blogged, and at other times there are only random bits of information to share. Today's post falls into the latter category. So, without further adieu, here is a little randomness for your day. 

1. Summer vacation is almost here!! Tomorrow is the last day of the school year for our kids, and I'm not sure where the time has gone! We're planning to pick them up at school tomorrow afternoon and take them on an overnight trip to celebrate (thanks to Chris's Marriott hotel points, we have lots of free nights to use! Yay!) And.....it's going to be a surprise for them, so shhhhh! Don't tell! ;-)

2. It is (drip) very (drip, drip, drip) soggy here in (drip) Ohio. (drip drip) It has been raining every day for the past couple of weeks!

 3. A flock of geese has been enjoying the water in the fields behind our house, and I think they've decided to stay as permanent residents. They've been around for several weeks now, and we can hear honking at any given time of day.

4. Yesterday, some terrible storms came through, and this is what my brother-in-law's yard looked like afterward:

 Crazy!!!

5. We have also seen some interesting cloud formations:

 

 6. Adrian is taking guitar lessons from one of our friends. This is a normal scene at our house, although I wish he liked to practice more!

7. Shana finally got her new glasses. She has been waiting very impatiently for the past week and a half!

8. Two families received referrals from our adoption agency this week, so we are moving right up on the waitlist! I believe we are now at #3 for siblings, #3 or #4 for boys, and #9 for girls. (These figures are for the main waitlist, which includes infants. On the toddler waitlist, we've been sitting in the top spots since December! Crazy!)

9. I can't believe that this was Malia's last year at home with me during the day! She will be a big kindergartener in the fall! We had a lot of fun together this year, and I know I'll miss her when she starts school. Every day she says things like, "Mom, you're the best mom in the world!" or "Mom, you're the best mom I've ever had!" or "How are you, my lovey?" (as she showers me with kisses) or "I love you so, so much that I can hardly tolerate it!"

Well, that's about all of the randomness I can come up with for now. Hope you all  have a great day!

Today We Are Celebrating....

....Ashton! He turns 7 years old today!

Happy Birthday, Ashie! We love you so much, and are so glad that God has blessed our lives with you. I can't believe that you're growing up so fast! Time sure does fly! It seems like just yesterday that we were taking these pictures:

We hope you have a lot of fun being 7!

Lots of love, hugs, and kisses,

Daddy and Mommy