Sand, Surf and Sanibel Sunshine

We're off to Sanibel, Florida soon for some much needed sun! Good thing since the first official day of Spring was last week and it seems that Ohio did not get the memo.

This will be Cam's second time on an airplane and first to Sanibel. It's gonna be a lot of fun since he's walking now and can dip his little toes in the sand and surf. I anticipate some great Kodak moments!

3 years and 9 months

A few days ago, August 1, Dave and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! How'd we celebrate? Well, we spent the day in Pittsburgh tracking down details of David's family history at town municipal buildings and the county courthouse. Might not sound fun to you but we love this kinda stuff! Then, as a treat to me since Dave HATES this place, we topped it all off with a visit to Ikea! Playing history detectives and shopping at Ikea- sounds like a perfect way to spend an anniversary to me! :) As for gifts... he got me a fab Dooney & Burke leather saddle bag and I got him his much coveted Zoku quick popsicle maker. Posts on these amaze balls items to follow soon!

Weekend Recap

Hello bloggy friends. I'm slowly working my way back into tip top blogging form. My short sabbatical has already somewhat re-generated my interest in blogging and has sprouted a few new ideas for posts.

Saturday the fam and I went on a bike ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We rented bikes and a trailer for the baby and had a great time just peddling down the beautiful Towpath Trail! The weather was perfect for it, overcast and much, much cooler than the 95 degrees that has been the norm the last few weeks.

Memorial Day Recap

Hey everyone! Had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was super hot and humid, a perfect kick off to summer. Of course our A/C decided to kick the bucket on Friday. Well, it didn't really completely die. It seems to kind of work a little, enough to keep downstairs a respectable temp. It's still warmer than we'd like but not so bad. Now upstairs is a different story. The A/C doesn't seem to work at all up there so it's been hot, hot, hot. Calling the repair people today!

Saturday we went to a birthday party in Pittsburgh. That night Dave and I went to dinner and a movie (the Avengers in 3D = 3 hours of non-stop explosions). It was our first "date night" and was a lot of fun. Cameron got up at his usual time (5 a.m.) so we watched the sun rise over downtown Pittsburgh. The view from my in-laws condo on top of Mount Washington is amazing!

Cameron basks in the glow of the morning sun.

On Monday we went to the Memorial Day parade. It was Cameron's first parade! I thought he'd be scared of the loud drums from the marching bands but he didn't bat an eye. The next three photos were taken by my mother-in-law.

 Cam made a new furry friend at the parade.

Our neighborhood pool opened this weekend so we checked that out for the first time after the parade. It was a lot of fun and not ridiculously crowded like we assumed it was going to be. I'm excited to have such easy access to a pool (right down the street from our house), especially for Cameron since he loves the water so much!

Cameron contemplates his attack on the kiddie pool.

 What kind of madness have you brought me into?

In between all of that Dave finished mulching the front yard (there were a few plant beds left), mulched around our mailbox and Cameron's playhouse and re-seeded a patch of grass. Phew! That's a lot of hard work in very humid, 90 degree weather! It all looks so, so, so nice though.

Amish Country!

I've been so obsessed and busy with posting my May Photo A Day challenge pics that I almost forgot to post about my trip to Amish Country! It was sooooo much fun and we learned so, so much about the Amish people and their amazing way of life.

These pics are all courtesy of my friend Paige. I don't know what happened but I think I must have just been in such awe that I only took a few measly pics on my own camera! Paige took some really great ones though so all was not lost.

The info and facts are also from Paige. She's an amazing 5th grade teacher so she's filled with so much great info and she's really good at sharing it!

There are approximately 200, 000 Amish people living in the US today. The highest population of Amish are currently living in Homes County, Ohio but a close second is Pennsylvania followed by Indiana. As the land in Holmes County and surrounding areas is diminishing, the Amish have relocated to Colorado, and even Australia.

From the time they arrived in the US around the 1700's, all Amish families owned and operated a farm. Since religious persecution pushed them into rural areas in Europe, the Amish have always nurtured the land and are known to be excellent farmers.

Today only about 15-20% of Amish families consider farming their source of income. Farming has given way to other industries like construction, furniture building, crafts, etc...

 

The Amish only attend school through the 8th grade, while the Mennonites usually continue on to high school and sometimes college. Before 1950, most Amish children attended public school. In 1972, The US Supreme Court ruled that the Amish children could end their formal schooling at eighth grade. They don't feel that further education is necessary to live on the land and farm.

Giddy for our Amish buggy ride!

Mr. Kline! He's an Old Order Amish. He was very friendly and was as interested in us as we were in him. He asked us questions about Los Angeles and movie stars. (Funny huh?) Mr. Kline worked his family farm for 26 years before retiring and turning it over to his oldest son. He started giving buggy rides soon after retiring and loves meeting and talking to new people every day. After the buggy ride we stayed and talked to him for about 45 minutes. He answered all of our questions truthfully and even elaborated on a lot of the questions giving us a real peek into the lives of the Amish.

We LOVE Mr. Kline and often wonder what he is up to!

We left Amish Country around 6 pm, right when most of the Amish were getting off of work and headed home so we were stuck in a sort of Amish traffic jam. It was awesome!

A typical Amish home.

Love this photo! Even Amish girls like to coordinate with their husbands. Ha!

Children are not part of the church until they are about 20 or 21, until they decide IF and when they want to become part of the church and obey all of the rules. At this point they would be baptized. They feel that giving their children the right to choose their faith, strengthens their willingness to obey and live the lifestyle. During a time known as Rumspringa which means "Running around", kids aged 16-20, may choose to dabble with dating, modern clothes, buying a car, watching TV, dating, and even trying drugs. Typically about 85-90% of their youth join the church.

 Since they do not use electricity, the Amish create extensive drying lines that are set up on a pulley system and can be as long as 200 yards.

 This is an Amish cemetery which must be constructed on top of a hill. There is no grieving in the Amish faith and they believe that the cemetery should be plain with no flowers. They simply feel that this is the end of God's path for them so there is no sense to be sad

Love these signs! They dot the road as you enter Holmes County.

The long and winding road home. Beautiful!

Amish all around

Isn't it strange how you never notice something until it's something that has just come into your life?
Lately for me it's been all things Amish! Every where I seem to turn there's something Amish. Last week my BFF Paige and I took over Amish Country (read about our adventure here!). It was sooooo amazing. Since then I can't seem to get away from it. Yesterday I was scrolling through a bunch of funny ecards and came across this.

Then I discovered that just a few houses down from ours there are a bunch of Amish men working on a house in our neighborhood. To top it all off Paige called me yesterday to tell me that a new documentary series on the Amish was airing that night!

 Part of the cast of Amish: Out of Order

The series is called Amish: Out of Order and airs on Tuesdays at 10pm on the National Geographic channel. Featured on the show is Mose Gingerich a 31 year old ex-Amish who was featured years ago on the reality show Amish in the City. Anyone else beside Paige and I remember that? The premise was basically a big brother concept: lets see what happens when we put a bunch of Los Angeles kids with Amish kids in one house. Oh how we loved that show. Wish it were available on demand. I'd love to watch it all again. I just remember how at the end of the show Mose had carved each of the L.A. housemates a toy out of wood! So good- you just can't even write stuff like that! Anyhoo- back to Amish: Out of Order.

 (Mose Gingerich on the right)

The show follows the lives of a few young men and women who decided to leave the Amish and start anew in Columbia, Missouri a town that has become a refuge for ex-Amish. Some are fresh off the farm having left only a few months before and some have been out for years. Mose is the patriarch of the ex-Amish community in Columbia helping to mentor and guide kids as they make their way in a foreign world. The quality of the show, as far as filming, sound and editing is a bit weak but the content is great! Can't wait to see the rest of the episodes. I'm setting my DVR right now!

Oh My Amish!

So. Excited.

Just booked a two hour historical tour of Ohio Amish Country for me and my BFF Paige who is coming to visit this week! I know, whatta buncha nerds huh? For some strange reason we've both always been obsessed with all things Amish.

So since she's coming to Ohio for the very first time we thought we'd go big and take over Amish Country! I've been there a couple times since moving here 3 years ago but have only did some shopping.The tour includes a ride in a buggy. Soooooo exciting! A ride in an Amish buggy, I mean it just doesn't get any more Amish than that!

They actually have tours where you can have dinner with an Amish family in their home and then after dinner you get to hang out and ask questions! Now that would be so amazing! Unfortunately though that tour doesn't start running for a few weeks so we had to settle for the historical tour. Will put up a post of all the amaze balls pics I hope to take and of course a summary of what we learned and our sure to be hilarious and crazy adventures in Amish Country!

**Read the post about our Amish adventure here!**

Santa Barbara... our go to event/party/vacay spot!

In July I headed across the country (6 months pregnant) to Santa Barbara again for a bachelorette party. Santa Barbara seems to be our (me and my friends) spot for all events, parties and vacations. In the last several years I've been there many times, one of which was for my wedding at Firestone Winery! So of course SB holds some really great memories for me and I'm always glad to go back.

I must admit I was really nervous about traveling at 6 months pregnant. I'm not sure why since my doctor said it was perfectly fine. But having never done it before I expected (of course) and prepared for the worse. I wasn't sure if I was going to get air sick (which I've never been before), if the 5 hour plane flight would be totally miserable or if I'd be too tired to keep up. But all of those concerns were happily unfounded as I soon discovered I was just fine!

We stayed at our tried and true Hotel Mar Monte, where we always stay when in SB. It's a great mid-range hotel that's recently been updated and is located right on Cabrillo Blvd, right across from the beach. Conveniently there's a trolley (it only costs .25 cents!) that picks up right in front of the hotel (on Cabrillo Street) that'll take you to State St. where all the shopping and restaurants all.

We booked the wine tour through EOS, a transportation company that does wine tours to the Santa Ynez valley about an hour north of Santa Barbara. The price was very reasonable, they provide you with a gourmet sandwich lunch, pick your group up at your hotel and even offer a cheaper price for those in your group who may not be drinking- like me and our friend Donna who are both pregnant.

Anyways, enough about the deets... onto the fun photos...

 Good ol', trusty Hotel Mar Monte! Our go-to spot in SB.

 Part of the girls...  me and my burgeoning belly!

 The bride-to-be flanked by her beautiful sisters.

 Me and Donna with the Stork wine glasses I made for us. More deets on that after the photos!

 Two prego mamas on a wine tour- he, he!

 The whole gang.

 Can't get enough group pictures!

 Firestone Winery! My FAVORITE stop on the tour but I'm biased

because I was married there in 2009!

Stork/Baby Wine Glasses

It may seem like an oxymoron- stork/baby and wine glass but I thought I'd paint these wine glasses for me and my friend Donna to use while on the wine tour so that we would have something to drink water out of and to hold up in all the pictures I knew we'd be taking! I didn't want us to be left out!

I purchased two cheapo wine glasses at the 99 cent store and a small, paint pot strip of acrylic paints at Joann's that cost $2. Not being a particularly great artist, I perused the internet for clipart of a stork and baby that I could use as a template. After finding what I wanted I printed it out and taped it inside the glass to use as a guide as I painted.

I also purchased a black, fine point paint pen which I used to outline everything and to write on the glass. After painting in the solid parts of the birds body and adding a white banner where I'd later put the month and year we each were due, I let the paint dry over night. (Depending on how much paint you put on it could take longer to dry) The next day I when in and outlined everything, putting in the details on the stork and baby and writing in the initials and due dates.

Of course I coordinated the color of each glass to the baby's gender. On the sack with the baby 

I later wrote in the initial of the baby's last name.

 

 I decided to paint the bottom of each wine glass filling in the middle with light blue and outlining it with white. I did it freehand so it was perfectly proportioned but that just adds to the whole "handcrafted" feel.

It was as easy as that! Simple and quite fun to do. Donna loved the glass and we both had something to use during the tasting, hold up in the photos as well as a keepsake of the trip and our pregnancy.