Chautauqua County Fair

On Friday, Jonas and I went to the Chautauqua County Fair with Duane, Brynn, and Bransen.  

We spent some time in the barns seeing the animals.  Jonas even got to pet a cow and see a litter of pigs feeding from their mother.  

They also had an area with zoo type animals, and Jonas' favorite was the big tortoise.

The kids really enjoyed the play area where they got to pretend to milk a cow and play in a corn table full of tractors.

We were able to go on a train and see the different cars.  The bell was fun to ring!

The rides were included in the price of the ticket, which was great.  The kids went on a bunch of rides, although I only got pictures of a couple.  I think Jonas' favorite was probably Zero Gravity, a super fast spinny ride.  

Jonas really enjoyed the shows.  We saw a team of escape artists, and a family who rode unicycles and juggled.  We also saw a little bit of a dog show, and a dirt bike stunt show.  Jonas couldn't decide what his favorite one was, he loved them all!

We had a great day!  We got home late and tired, and Jonas woke up in the morning and headed to Black Lake with his dad.  Hopefully we'll have pictures soon of his trip!

Quality Cousin Time

I babysat Hayden today, so he and Jonas got some one on one quality time, which doesn't happen too often!  We spent some time on the trails in Losson Park, and went to see the Bubbleman at the Lancaster Library.  I love what a good big cousin Jonas is, and it was great to see him enjoying his little cousin so much.  

Jonas spent most of his time on the trails making sure Hayden was keeping up and helping him with the "hard" parts.

We might have to have our own bubble day soon.  Jonas wants to try some of the tricks he learned from the Bubbleman!

Gak!

Aunt Lisa helped the kids make gak last night.  It was super fun (and kinda gross), which made it awesome.  It kept all 4 kids very amused for the evening!

Let's Go Buffalo!

We went to the Bison's game Monday night with the whole crew.  The Bison's lost, and it rained a little, but that didn't stop us from having fun.  We got $1 ice cream, and Jonas got to wear his new Bison's jersey for the first time.

This might be the first time Jonas has paid attention to any of the actual baseball game, but by about the 4th inning we were resorting to amusing ourselves with bunny ears.

Sophie

Our guinea pig, Sophie, hasn't made news in the blog lately, but this past week warrants a "Sophie" post.  We took Sophie over to Grandma and Papa's house for a visit.  While she was there, Sophie went outside to munch on some grass, and made a break for the pine trees.  She burrowed herself under the pine needles under the tree, and it took Grandma, Papa, and their neighbor 2 hours to find her and get her out.  Bad Sophie.  

I also read that guinea pigs can swim.  So we tried it with Sophie...

And then tried it again when Jonas was home:

I'm not sure Sophie appreciated any of it at all, but we sure had fun!

Bowling

I signed Jonas up for the kids bowl free program this summer.  We went out on Friday to do some bowling...for the first time this summer!  We have sure been busy.  Jonas was even starting to put his fingers in the holes, which is a first for him.  Maybe he'll be a bowler like his dad one day.

Water Day

Yesterday our activities centered around water.  We went to the splash pad in the park, and out on the boat with Uncle Mike.

Jonas was really more interested in sitting around and watching all the other kids rather than playing in the water this time.  He still had fun though, even if it is unusual for him.

The water turns off every 5 minutes or so, and it was a big deal to be the first kid to the button to turn it back on.  Jonas finally did it!

The boat didn't work quite right when we took it out, so we ended up just taking a slow, leisurely ride around the river before bringing it back in.  Hopefully next time we'll be able to have a bit more of an exciting ride.

Niagara Falls

We spent the afternoon at Niagara Falls today.  It was HOT, but still beautiful.  We enjoyed a picnic, a walk around Goat Island, and some ice cream afterwards.  I love enjoying the wonders of God's creation! :-)

Geneva on the Lake

My family just got back from a long weekend trip to Geneva on the Lake.  The weekend was great:  the weather was beautiful, we were with wonderful people, and the accommodations were fantastic.  

A lot of time was spent in the pool in the backyard of the house.  Of course, this was a HUGE deal for the kids, and it made our lives a lot easier, too.

The adults had a lot of fun in the pool, too, and made up lots of fun contests and games.

Geneva State Park was only a few minutes away, and they had a really nice beach that we also took advantage of.  I think Jonas ended up with more sand in his bathing suit than was on the beach.

Of course, we brought the boat and had some fun on that.  We even broke in the tube!  There is a severe lack of pictures from the boating adventures...but we were really wet.

We visited a local playground:

We also went mini-golfing, but I had misplaced my phone that day, so no pictures.  A huge "thank you" to Jon and Miriam for letting us use their vacation house.  By the way, if you are ever in the market for a vacation to Geneva on the Lake, let me know and I'll connect you with them to rent the beautiful house we stayed in!

One last picture, all the kids! (and Aunt Mary)