Our Last Visitors in Ohio!

Last week we said goodbye to our final visitors in Ohio. We've had 17 visits from friends and family over the last three years ... many of whom had never been to the States before. It's been a great opportunity to show them what life is like for us and for them to get to know what was our 'new' home town.

Mark's parents flew back to the UK on Wednesday after a few weeks of fun! As well as a break at the lake we got up to a lot more mischief together. Their first weekend we got to celebrate the completion of a friends aircraft project for Missions Beyond Aviation. They are third generation missionaries to Mexico and this is the beginning of an exciting time for the Shields family, so we're glad we were able to be there to share that.

The annual week long Coshocton County Fair also took place during Grandma and Gramps's first week. We had fun on the rides at the fair (from above & below) and bumped into some friends for one ride too! We checked out most of the animals, craft exhibits, agricultural show entries and much more. We also worked the gates for one morning, stamping hands and used our free tickets to go on a 'date' to the rough trucks while Grandma and Gramps looked after the girls!

We went up to Amish country with Grandma and Gramps once and they went without us a couple of times too! There is a small area that looks like you're in the Swiss Alps with a cheese factory. As you can see we 'did the tourist thing'!

We also took a trip to the Zoo with them (We love our annual memberships ... so many free fun days there this year!). We enjoyed face painting, watching a scuba diver in the aquarium feeding the fish, lots of animals and much more!

While they were here, we set Grandma and Gramps a license plate challenge. Something we've been doing on long journey's. Trying to spot a license plate from each of the 50 States. We knew that Alaska and Hawaii might be a little bit much to expect while they were here but on the way back to the car that day we found an Alaska plate ... this car had obviously travelled a long way for a visit to the zoo!! 

Lots of silliness went on at home as well ... including Grandma's antics on the trampoline!

Grandma also kept a close eye on Naomi and her play doh ... it was only the second time she's played with it and so far, she just likes to pull it apart into little pieces rather than make something. At least she's stopped eating everything she picks up now! Abigail made something a lot more edible with Grandma later on that day!

The girls enjoyed having Grandma and Gramps here, as well as the fun stuff, snuggles on the sofa were also on the cards ... 

... that is until Gramps started playing silly's again (which happened often!). For the record, the photo below is one of our favourites from the whole visit!!!

We were able to make some trips to the park. Sometimes all together or sometimes Abigail went off with Grandma and Gramps on her own for some fun! Naomi is getting so much more confident, trying to follow her sister everywhere. She even went down the spiral slide, again and again even though it seemed to freak her out each time ... obviously going to be a real thrill seeker later in life!

Gramps made us a pair of Cornhole boards while they were here. It's a garden game we discovered during our time in Ohio ... and to make your own set is WAY cheaper than buying one! It kept Gramps out of trouble for a little while, doing something he loves ... wood work! Then we had fun playing it. It just needs a lick of paint and it will be ready to pack up with all our belongings to ship to Tanzania!

On their final weekend here, we popped out to a friends wedding for the afternoon. Abigail's best buddy was the flowergirl, so she was happy to spend time playing with her. When we got home Abigail stole Jenny's shoes and Naomi stole Abigail's ... and the pair of them acted like fools in the living room!

That same weekend we also enjoyed another cultural festival in town, the Apple Butter Stirring at Roscoe Village. It was fun to wander up and down to see all the stalls and handicrafts ... and the giant pumpkin caterpillars of course!

As you can see we had fun during Grandma and Gramps's time here. Their last visit Stateside. Now that they have gone and with only a couple of months left, we can start the task of packing up our lives in Ohio. It seems very strange to write that but it's the reality of the next stage of our lives.

A Break at the Lake

Last week we were able to enjoy another short break up on Lake Erie at a friends cottage. We were there just over a year ago for Naomi's 1st family holiday but this time we got to bring Grandma and Gramps along for the adventure!

The weather was a lot more iffy than it has been ... sometimes cold, sometimes wet but sometimes sunny too and the lake itself was just a few minutes walk from our front door!

On our first full day, we took a trip over to Put-In-Bay Island. Abigail was very excited to be back on the car ferry ... Naomi as always, once she's in her carseat, was totally indifferent to what's going on in the outside world!! Not sure if Grandma and Gramps are looking excited or nervous about the prospect of a day out with us!

We started at the Butterfly house, having enjoyed an abundance of our own butterflies this summer at home. Abigail was a lot more wary than we thought she might be and some of the butterflies we saw were incredibly friendly! 

This butterfly took a particular liking to Mark's mum and wasn't going to budge ... it stayed on her head for the longest time!

The rest of our day on the island was filled with lots more goofiness ... as you can see. Although it was quite cold and blustery we definitely enjoyed ourselves, playing in the playpark, having lunch and driving the length of the island in under 5 minutes!

The one downside of that first day was at the end of the return ferry journey. The car just wouldn't start! We ended up being pushed off the ferry and literally dumped on the side of the dock. While Mark and his Dad were able to make it work again temporarily ... we did have to find someone to tow it away and a garage to fix it before we could drive home.

This meant we were a vehicle down for most of the holiday and so couldn't go anywhere all together ... except for places we could walk or if we stayed at the cottage for some games or silliness!! In the evening's we watched movies, played games or did jigsaw puzzles.

The nice thing was there were lovely places to walk right by the cottage so it wasn't a hardship to be 'set adrift' without transportation at all!

Right by the lake front there was also a great play park with a sandpit ... much loved by the youngest generation of the family! As you can see the oldest generation also enjoyed themselves there a lot too!

Gramp's and Abigail's little sand castle creation ... the closest we were going to get to the beach!

The other fun thing (right next to the play park) was the crazy golf. We learnt from last year that it would be shut unless you took your own equipment, so this time round we brought our own putter and balls and Abigail was especially goofy going round the course!

All-in-all it was a great week ... much more relaxing that we had anticipated because of the necessary car repairs but that wasn't a bad thing! Thankfully the afternoon before we were due to leave, we got our car back ... so some would say it was a total success!!