Our Trip South

This Easter we were with Susan and Jay, visiting them at their home in Russell, Kentucky.

We arrived in Kentucky the Friday before Easter, but Susan was working that day so we took our time getting there and did some sight-seeing. One stop was scenic Georgetown, Kentucky, where we did some antique shopping (SO fun) and had lunch.

Above: Old buildings preserved in Georgetown's colorful downtown. Lots of wonderful antique stores and reasonable prices. I scored a vintage framed print of a rooster and hen, a blue and white (flow blue china) saucer, and a new cut paper silhouette for my collection :).

We even managed to leave the interstate and take a drive off the beaten path. The road we ended up on was gratifyingly scenic and so we were shameless tourists (much to the consternation of the occasional driver behind us). This river, with waterfalls, was to our left...

And quiet, idyllic farmland was to our right. We saw old stone buildings and a few houses that looked like mini-plantations. An impressive old stone fence girted the left-hand side of much of the road.

When we arrived in Russell, we were happy to find that Susan had got done early (having assisted in five surgical procedures that day). We enjoyed the pleasant weather outside on her porch and got settled into her home, which had much more furniture in it than last time we were there. At right is the comfortable guest bedroom where Jon and I slept.

Sitting room where kids played board games

Susan's craft room

New couch in the living room

Jay has been working for a local recording studio, and that night had to do the sound for a blues band playing at an outdoor street festival and car show. Sounded like the perfect outing for us! So we attended... a city block in the downtown was closed to traffic, and we had fun listening to the music and checking out the car show. As you can see in the photos, there were balloon rides for the kids to jump on. A distinctly slimmer Susan (she's been working out for the wedding) joined in on the fun...




 

The next day Susan and Jay went with us to Charleston, West Virginia, where we met David and Logan. David had to work the next day so couldn't come stay with us, but we had fun with him for a few hours while Cindi and Vincent shopped (they drove the boys to Charleston to meet us). We spent a good chunk of the time playing frisbee in a park. Then we went for ice cream and browsed a local bookstore. We said goodbye to David but took Logan back to Kentucky with us; he had spring break so was staying with Susan all that next week. Michael and Emma had a blast playing board games and video games with him back at Susan's house.

Leila channeling Susan

The next day we drove with Susan, Jay, and Logan to nearby Ironton, Ohio, for a walk in an historic neighborhood that Susan had recommended to us. There were many large, unusual old homes to see. Here's pictures of a few of our favorites:

We also went to the Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area in Ohio's Wayne National Forest. We went on a long, hilly hike along the banks of the river. There were plenty of large rocks and cave-like features for the kid's to explore. As you can see in the last picture of this group, we saw evidence of beavers.

It was really a wonderful trip. It's always hard to say goodbye to Susan, but not so much this time... since we'll be seeing her again this weekend! My sister-in-law Jill is hosting a wedding shower for her, so Susan's making the trip here.

Just a few quick notes about the rest of the family and our lives here in Colfax. My 11 year old, Emma, recently competed at the state D.I. (Destination Imagination) tournament in Stevens Point. Her team took 4th place out of 16 teams in their category. If they'd only scored another ten points out of 400 some, they would have gone on to the national competition in Tennessee. We're very proud of her (and her team's) hard work preparing for the competition; they did great!! Emma also spoke recently in front of a large group of kids and parents at her 5th grade DARE graduation last Friday. She was nervous but did well. Jon was able to see these events too because he was home on vacation this last week.

13 year old Michael is in track now. It's his first year and so far he really likes it.

Leila turned four the day before we left on our trip to see Susan. She has been thriving in preschool. We met with her teachers last week, and they said if they had an award for "most improved" student, it would go to her. She has made tremendous progress in her ability to follow directions, interact with other children, and work independently. She still has one more year of preschool next year, so we have no doubt that when it's time for kindergarten, she'll be ready.

Jonathan turned 28 yesterday. We had him and Jack over on Sunday for lunch and birthday cake. He's excited because he and Lindsay and Jack will be moving in to their first apartment together on June 8th. They've found a nice place and he's been saving money and stock-piling furniture for some time now.

I'll close with a couple of pictures of our farm life. Happy spring!

One of our cows had twin calves

Leila with our neighbor's border collie pups