Hershbergers

One of our many favorite places to visit in Amish country is Hershbergers Farm. The farm has many animals and the most delicious baked goodies and produce. The kids love petting all the animals and Mark and I love the cinnamon rolls and fry pies. We never leave Ohio without stopping at least once and we've been known to go a few times during our stay. During our most recent trip they had a Family Fun Night and all the pony and buggy rides were free. Gavin and Madison rode the ponies over and over again. They had lots of food and free kettle corn. I saw people loading grocery bags with the kettle corn. It's that good! Dylan and Camryn loved petting the little puppies.

Everyone waiting for their buggy ride to begin.

Gavin had to find the biggest pony to ride. He is getting so tall I think his feet would drag on the smaller ones.

Madison was in heaven! She loves horses so for her to get to go as much as she wanted was a special treat.

Gavin holding the cutest puppy there.

A picture of some of the produce. Most of it is twice the size that we see at our grocery stores.

Mark petting one of the many work horses.

Screamin for ice cream

What's summer without ice cream and we have had our fair share this summer. We went to Ohio's ice cream capital on one of our visits and it sure didn't disappoint. I had the buckeye ice cream which was so good and possibly my favorite. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate. Gavin and Madison tend to choose the ice cream with the brightest colors. Gavin had superman and Madison had bubble gum. They just don't know what they're missing!

Just Swinging

Dylan and Camryn have loved swinging on the swings this summer. We have visited many parks and swinging always puts a smile on their faces! These two are getting so big and crawling all over the place. I can tell these two are going to be hard to keep up with. What one doesn't think to get into the other one does. They definitely keep us on our toes. But their smiles melt my heart and I can't imagine my life any other way!

Sting Rays

We went to the sting ray exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo. The kids loved petting the sting rays. They were nice and slimy and splashed water all over us. Madison was a little nervous at first but towards the end we couldn't get her to get her hands out of the water.

Gavin and Hobbs reaching for the sting ray.

Gavin, Madison, and Hobbs waiting for another one to swim by.

Gavin's Birthday

Gavin Turned 7 years old this year! Boy how time flies! We went to Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D with several of his friends. They had so much fun watching the movie in 3D. Later we had a party with family. He wanted cupcakes instead of cake so I made him a soccer ball cake out of cupcakes. He got a razor scooter that sparks, rollerblades, a cd player, and a new mitt. We had such a fun celebration! Gavin is such a great kid! He is such a good example to his brother and sisters. He makes good decisions and is nice to everyone. Some of his favorite things are soccer, swimming, riding his bike and scooter, listening to music, reading, and making Dylan and Camryn laugh which he is really good at! We love you Gavin!

Gavin is always playing tricks and telling jokes so we got trick candles for his cake. He tried and tried to blow them all out with no success!

The soccer ball cake I tried to make out of cupcakes.

Gavin trying out his new rollerblades.

Ethan, Lawson, and Austin wearing their 3D glasses and watching the movie.

Gavin and Evan watching the movie. What cute boys!

Just a few things...

Mark had a break in school before he started summer semester so we tried to fit some fun activities in before he had to get back to studying. We spent some time in Ohio and went to Kings Island and some of our favorite places in Amish Country.

Gavin and Madison waiting in the bumper cars. This was the ride Madison was really anxious to ride.

The crew on Plankton's Plunge. What a fun grandma! We all had such a great time at King's Island. Gavin was a little more daring than he has been in the past and went on a few roller coasters. We didn't have to wait in any lines so he would stay on the coasters and go over and over again. Dylan and Camryn even enjoyed their first amusement park. They were so content riding in the stroller.

We went to Rolling Hills Ranch to feed the animals. Gavin and Madison were able to steer the wagon.

The Amish don't like you to take their pictures but since Madison was steering it was a great opportunity to sneak a snapshot of our driver Jebediah.

Our first photo with our whole family. My how our family has grown!

When we got home we were able to get tickets to the Cardinals game. We had so much fun. Gavin enjoyed watching the game and seeing Albert Pujols. Madison enjoyed people watching and pointed at about every person there. Gavin and Madison were both amazed at how much beer was being consumed. On the way home Gavin said, "I saw one guy have five bottles of beer". I couldn't believe that he counted. It was a good teaching moment.

We have had so much rain the past few weeks. We had over 9 inches in one day and our street was flooded. Mark couldn't stand not getting in the water. What a great example he was to Gavin and Madison. They couldn't stay out either. I think they changed their clothes 3 or 4 times that day. Which meant lots of laundry for me!

I am enjoying.....

The toothless talk of this cute boy!

The funny things this little girl says. One of our more recent conversations went something like this:

Madison: Mom everybody has armpits.

Me: Yes they sure do.

Madison: Yep, everyone has armpits and Jason has furry ones.

Oh, she makes me laugh!

And last but not least the smiles and laughs I get from these two. They are growing way to fast! It seems like time goes by even faster when there are two of them!