Lost Sea

Have you ever been to the Lost Sea?  Yesterday was our first time. 

First you travel deep underground through this yellow pipe. 

There is a bit of a hike from one rock formation to another.  Then the tour guide turns off the lights to let you experience total darkness. 

And then the grand finale - the largest underground lake in North America. Caleb's in the boat. I thought you might be able to see the murky white water and long fish swimming along. Creepy!

A grand time was had by all. I highly recommend that you visit!

Fall Break

We are having a lovely fall break. 

Chris's parents have come to visit. On Monday we bought a lovely assortment of plants to landscape around the log cabin. 

Here we are enjoying the garden center. 

Today's project was a bit louder - replacing the exterior door in the laundry room. 

Our old back door was a hand-me-down straight from 536 Mayfield Avenue, so it was a little sad to see it go, but it was getting so warped that it broke Chris's key and was starting to lock me out entirely sometimes. 

Chris trimmed around the door nicer than it has ever been before. 

And most importantly, we gave Eleonora her first-birthday present, only 1 1/2 years late. A cherry tree!

Eleonora & Evelyn

The menfolk were off on a motorcycle camping adventure recently, which led to these two buddies joining the ladies at Craft Night. 

I've mentioned before that I was found inspiration for Eleonora's name in a 'Reminisce' article about best friends named Eleanor and Evelyn. These two are such good buddies. 

Friday Night Lights

Pocket Wilderness

On Saturday we decided to take a little family hike in our local Pocket Wilderness. 

We had perfect, crisp, early-fall weather. 

Eleonora still had a little hitch in her giddy-up from a trampoline injury, so she happily spent most of the hike on her daddy'a shoulders. 

Happy 9th!

Happy 9th birthday to Josiah!

Here he is coloring the sugar to decorate his birthday cake last Saturday. I'll have to show you the rest of the party pictures when I get them off the big camera. 

If you've never tried making your own colored sugar with food coloring, it's a good time!

Happy Happenings

The boys' Lego creations have finally found a happy home. I found these great sturdy bookshelves at a yard sale a while back. I bought one and so did Jenn. Then I realized that she wasn't using hers and I could achieve symmetry and have more storage space if I had both, so she happily sold me hers. 

At the beginning of the summer I gave the boys a Lego-mania challenge- to build all their sets at the same time. They got them all together just in time for Josiah's party. I even joined in and helped build a few, and it was a surprisingly good time!

The Craft Night girls and I have been doing a little housekeeping/healthy eating/exercising challenge since school started back up. Eleonora is loving the mopping!

Eleonora's best buddy has a fun new swing set that the girls got to enjoy during their mommas' latest canning campaign. 

More to come soon!