This week, we had our annual vacation bible school at church. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings, we gathered for dinner followed by lots of fun and fellowship. Highlights definitely included bubbles, tie-dye shirts, crafts, donating money for 2 mosquito nets, and more.
Here’s a review in pictures:
This year, VBS was only 3 nights instead of 5 and it was the best one yet! I think it helps that the kids are getting older and are really starting to be able to do the activities.
Saturday, we attended a graduation party for my cousin Jake. Shortly after we arrived and had dinner, the kids enjoyed making snow cones. It was very exciting. It was perfect for the hot day!
Shortly after eating and socializing with family, it was time for the main event. The stage was set for The Blue Ribbon Bluegrass Band.
We have some talent in our family. My uncle plays the Banjo, my cousin plays the Mandolin and my brother plays the Fiddle. We enjoyed the music.
My cousin is the official photographer. I made sure to snap a few photos since she’s not usually in the photos. Sally sure enjoyed all of the attention.
The adults listened. The kids danced, and danced, and danced. Nick and Sally were nonstop during almost the whole set.
Soon Sally was so tired, she just laid on the grass. We left during the break between sets because we didn’t want the kids to throw a tantrum leaving during the music.
Nick was still sad to leave. I told him it was already late and he needed energy for Sunday. He said he had 100 energies and could keep dancing.
Neither of them slept a wink on the way home and at 6AM Sunday, they were up!
It was a great party. We were so glad to share it with our family.
Yesterday was the official opening and planting day for the community garden. Stephen and I spent some time planning out our garden this week. After we firmed up our plans, we redrew them so they would be legible. Then, I took photos of them and printed them out so we’d have a copy that could get wet and dirty at the garden and a dry clean copy for our records. You can click on the photos if you want details. We planned out one of our plots with the square foot gardening method along with a 8×2 aisle. Since that wasn’t going to be big enough for everything, the other plot is just pumpkins, cucumbers and overflow tomatoes. We were gifted a few tomatoes so we made sure to plant them. We planted a mix of seeds and plants. We have a staggered planting schedule for some items and will have a couple more small plantings in future weeks.
We arrived at the garden just after 9AM. It was going to be a hot day in the sun.
Nick and Sally got to work playing in the dirt. Others got busy planting.
Once we had our square foot plan strung, we got busy planting too.
Nick and Sally took turns helping out. We were the only ones with small children at the garden. They got lots of attention.
Turns out water was a bit of a problem. The plan was to use water from the community center, but the distance was impractical for carrying water. So, the mayor and a council member went and got a rain barrel, filled it and brought it out to the site.
Here’s 3 view of our planed plots and one of our neighbors. Most of the other plots seem to be filled with plants. That was to be expected with the late start, but we are hoping our plan and calculations with the fall crops will yield us good results with our mix of seeds and plants.
Soon we got busy watering. It took a few trips, but we left with everything wet.
We ended up being at the garden for almost 2 hours. We planted a pepper plant, tomato plants, pumpkins, and marigold plants. We also planted the first round of seeds for cucumbers, spinach, beets and carrots.
Planting was winding down when we left. We returned last night to water some more. We want to give our seeds and plants the best shot even though it’s really hot and dry this week. We got email this morning that the water fairies came and watered today. We’re still going up to check on things since we don’t think our seeds would have been watered.
The kids are super excited about the garden and have already asked when we’re going today. It’s a good thing it’s only 2.3 miles from our house.
On Wednesday, the kids and I headed out to Mike’s Berries in Lagrange, Ohio. I had never head of Lagrange until I looked it up. Google showed it 1 hour away. I don’t usually travel that far for U-Pick, but it met my hour maximum for travel and they have the only “non sprayed, no pesticides” U-Pick strawberries that I found. Since most of our farms for U-Pick spray, I really wanted to check out this farm.
Right after we arrived, we met Mike. It was a perfect photo opportunity! He was quite personable.
When you don’t spray, you get weeds. This is probably the last year for this patch as it’s getting quite overgrown and will probably be tilled at the end of this season.
Nick and Sally loved investigating the field as they looked for berries.
Soon, they were finding red berries right and left.
The berries taste great, but it wasn’t the best picking. This is just a really rough year for strawberries everywhere. Most places have limited U-pick with small berries and are having a very short season.
We ended up picking about 3 quarts. Grandma Carol and Mike helped us top them off to make an even 4 quarts for $10.
Carol weighed them to make sure we had the full amount we paid for. A quart should be a pound and a half. We picked our berries in these quart containers and used their carrier in the field. Once they were weighed, I put them in a container that I had in the car so they could keep their containers for another customer.
Besides strawberries, Mike’s farm expects to have tomatoes, potatoes, late season berries, and lots of different varieties of garlic this year. Due to the distance for us to travel, we probably won’t be heading there often, but we really enjoyed our visit and would recommend this farm to others, especially if you live on the west side.
Yesterday, we drove out to Monroe’s Orchard to meet up with friends for strawberry picking. This was our first time visiting this farm. We were greeted by great signage. It was easy to know we had arrived.
After pulling in the driveway, we saw this sign and followed around to the market building.
We had the option of bringing our own containers and having them weighed before picking or buying containers. Small quart sized containers were 20 cents. Larger containers that held 8 quarts were $1.25. I didn’t bring picking containers for myself, but I did have buckets for the kids. So, I bought one of the large containers. Debbie was working in the market and she was extremely nice to us. This time of year, not much was going on in the market. I suspect it would be much busier during apple season.
Then, we drove behind the building to the grassy area to park and head to the field. Ella was there to greet us, demonstrate how to pick berries (for the kids) and assign us to a row. The picking was pretty good and the berries were plentiful. We didn’t think the berries were very sweet. The field we were picking in was the Jewel variety which are a tarter berry. Also, the weather this year has not been ideal for strawberries. Many farms are having small berries, limited picking, and delays with ripening due to the weather.
Nick had to use the port-a-potty not once, but twice during our hour of picking. Luckily, it was close to the picking field and very clean. I’ve been to plenty of public bathrooms that weren’t as nice as this port-a-potty. Two trips is better than accidents any day!
This is a typical shot of the kids. Sally is busy eating a strawberry and Nick basket is empty. He is always in search for the perfect berry and rarely finds them. Many times, he ends up looking at weeds and running around the nearby fields.
We ended up with just over 5 pounds of berries. They were $1.65 a pound + $1.25 for the container. We ended up paying $10.00 total.
These berries were washed, hulled and then frozen whole. They will be used in jam or smoothies. I made sure to clean them last night since we had more picking planned for today.
On Sunday, Nick went to a birthday party. It was the first one where a friend picked him up and he attended without a parent. It sounds like he had a great time. After Sally woke up from her nap, I told her that we needed to water the plant and we could water her too.
She loved the idea of the sprinkler, but she wasn’t sure about it at first. She’s usually a bit apprehensive the first few minutes.
Soon she was running and laughing and even getting a little wet.
When we moved the sprinkler over, she really liked splashing on the concrete.
After 20 minutes or so, she was done and happy!
The temperature has been very sprinkler friendly this week. I suspect it will get even more use this weekend.
On Saturday, after the Roxboro Arts Festival, we headed to the Asian Festival. Everyone was tired, but Nick didn’t want to miss it. It was hot and we were exhausted, but we went anyway.
Stephen works less than a block from location of the Asian Festival. We decided that we’d be able to park in his lot. That turned out to be a great decision. Our trip to the Asian Festival started out with naps.
By the time we got from Cleveland Heights down to E.30th and Payne, both kids were totally asleep. I pulled into the shade, rolled down the windows and snoozed a bit myself. I didn’t really fall asleep, but the calmness and quiet of the breeze was awesome. It turned out to be a refreshing 45 minutes for everyone.
Once the kids woke up, we headed down the street to the festival. Nick was excited to see the road closed for the tents. The festival was well organized with a food court area, entertainment, kids area, and marketplace. There were also lots of volunteers available to answer questions.
The kids were excited to see inflatables. We entered the festival near the slide and the kids took a few minutes to wait in line for it. After their trip down, I realized that many kids and wrist bands and maybe we were supposed to pay for the attractions. We were hungry and headed to food anyway, so it worked out ok.
The kids were excited to see the Goodyear blimp flying overhead. Usually, I spot it in the car, but it hides behind a building or tree before they can spot it.
After a quick pastry wrapped hot dog to eat, it was slush time. It was at least 85 degrees in the sun and a cold drink hit the spot. It was fun to watch some of the food tents from behind. These ladies were frying up pot stickers. Each griddle had 50 or so of them cooking away.
This vendor was frying up egg rolls in huge propane powered woks. Each wok held at least 20 huge rolls. There were also two tents with performances. We took a minute to check out these dancers. Sally likes everything musical.
Nick has heard of book-mobiles before, but this was his first time seeing one up close. He loved going up into the bus to check it out.
We really didn’t stay at the festival very long. Everyone was tired from the busy day, but it was important to make a stop there since it was on our list. Nick and Sally really like schedules and plans. (I wonder where they get that from?)
On the way out, we had another peak of the blimp and the marketplace. I’d definitely try and make it to the festival again next year. I look forward to trying out some different foods and taking in more of the culture of the festival.
On Saturday, after we went to the Horsefest, we headed to Roxboro Elementary School for their Arts Fest. Our friend Shayna invited us since she was going to have a booth. We used our Google directions and ended up parking at the middle school and walking over. It wasn’t crowded in that lot, so our parking situation was nice. Unfortunately, it meant we approached the festivities from an awkward direction. At first it was a little overwhelming, but as we approached, we noticed Shayna’s booth. Nick was inquisitive about the glass products as soon as we arrived.
Many of these pieces were done by Shayna. She also had a few things on display from others who share the Superior Glass Studio.
Shayna showed us were restrooms were and pointed us in the direction of tickets. Basically, you buy a $2 button for each child to enable them access to the crafts. Then, you buy tickets to purchase things like food, drink and Rocket Car rides.
I spent $22 on tickets and buttons. We each had a slice of pizza, shared some fruit, had a beverage, and a Rocket Car ride.
I can’t tell if Sally is happy or worried. Then, we headed to the craft tables. They each made a paper whale. I wanted to take them to more crafts after that, but they wanted to play on the playground.
The only problem with the playground was the heat. It was all in the sun and much too hot. Soon after that, the Cavalier’s Scream Team was on. They were loud, rowdy and full of moves. It was fun to watch them, but Nick and Sally didn’t want to dance.
We checked out the Lego table. It was hard for Nick and Sally not to touch.
By now, everyone was exhausted and we headed back to the glass booth to say farewell to Shayna.
It looked like she was able to sell a few pieces.
For a PTA fundraiser type of event, this was extremely well done. I’m not sure if we would go back again, since it occurs on such a busy weekend. There is so much to do in Cleveland!
Yesterday, the kids and I visited Horsefest at Lake Farmpark. We had never been to this event before, but from the looks of the schedule, they were expecting a big turnout. The weather was perfect. We were sure to pack our hats, sunscreen, and water.
Nick and Sally were excited to see the horses hitched up to the wagon.
The wagon ride is usually one of the highlights of a visit to Lake Farmpark, but usually it’s powered by a tractor instead of horses. We rode over to the arena area.
We were greeted by this church group who were stamping names into horseshoes as souvenirs. The kids liked watching them work.
We watched the horses inside the arena for a bit. There was a color guard (on horses) and the national anthem for Canada was played. After that, a girl sung the US anthem. Nick heard it on a commercial today and remember the Star Spangled Banner from yesterday. Now he wants to learn it pronto. I see some patriotic music in my future when we drive to Maryland next month.
After we walked around the arena, we headed back outside where Nick got to try his hand at leading a horse. This is the type of set up that you’d see for plowing a field. I can’t remember the breed of house, but he was a beauty.
Nick had help, they didn’t let him lead the horse on his own. But, they showed him how to get Fred to move by making a kissing noise. It was so cute.
Sally’s turn was up next. I was surprised that she wasn’t afraid. She just went right up to the horse.
By the time she circled around, her hat had fallen down and she couldn’t see a thing. I was sure to readjust the hat as soon as she was done.
As we wondered around, we saw all kinds of horses and carts.
In addition to the arena activities, there were food trailers, vendors, and displays, including a children’s activity tent.
On our way out, Nick and Sally were happy to see that the courtyard train was running.
We left before music in the courtyard and some of the other activities started. As we exited, there were quite a few people in the lobby coming in. The admissions staff was well prepared and staffed for a busy day.
We barely touched the surface of things to see at the Horsefest. But, the kids and I have a short attention span and our visit was just right. We had arrived about 9:30am and left around 11am to head to our next stop.
Today, the kids and I planned a super ambitious day. Stephen is still out of town and it’s so much easier with Nick and Sally if we are busy and out of the house.
We decided to start our day at the Willoughby Farmers’ Market. The market is in downtown Willoughby. It was not hard to find at all. We parked in a nearby school parking lot. It was easy to access. Nick and Sally both enjoyed the fountain located near the gazebo on the way to the market.
At first glance, this is like any other market. An open area with booths of vendors set up.
Many people were buying flowers and plants. Since it’s the middle of May, it’s time to plant tomatoes and other things in the ground. We were happy to see Rainbow Farms at the market. We’ve done some U-Pick at their farm. We bought some lettuce and Nick purchased a cucumber. Sadly, this was the only local farm that I was able to find at the market.
The booth that amazed me the most was the semi truck parked behind this huge row of tables of “fresh” produce. I don’t think any of it was from any farm in Ohio. It was obvious that they had just picked up skids of food at the Cleveland Food Terminal or a place like it. They had pineapples and lemons and bananas! ARGH. I really hope that people realize that this is not supporting our local farmers. Many of the workers at this booth were Amish, so in respect, I didn’t photograph much of it.
I will admit that we bought a watermelon. When Nick and Sally get excited about vegetables and fruit, I don’t want to squash that enthusiasm. We ate some tonight. It was ok, but nothing like the fresh, local, organic melons that will be in season late summer.
The rest of the market was mostly crafts and some home produced baked goods. There was also some local cheese and honey.
The market was right next to a church and they had a sign that the restrooms were open. I thought that was nice to know. Having two little kids, restrooms are always on our mind.
If you’re looking for a quaint walk through Historic Willoughby on a Saturday morning, it’s worth walking through the market. But, if you want a true Farmers’ Market, we have some great ones in the area – just not in Willoughby.