Travels with Grandparents: Kentucky 2011

Here they are, the three senior Muffins all lined up in the backseat of the rental van. The occasion? An outing to Kentucky, with lunch in Indiana. In this shot, they are in Indiana, just before lunch.

And here we have Lydia, also in Indiana, contemplating a cookie that Grandfather made while he was in Nevada.

The bag in Grandfather's hand shows where we stopped for lunch; the hardware store shows the name of the Indiana town we were in.

After a stop at an Indiana gas station to refuel the van and get some ice cream, we made our way to Kentucky. First stop: a rest area. Here's Mom there.

On the way in, Mom noticed some red bud flower trees:

Amanda also had fun checking out flowers; here she is with a dandelion:


Jared and Curtis had fun collecting acorns:

Lydia enjoyed spending time with Grandmother and being out of her car seat:

Despite the kids' love for the rest area, which to them was a giant park, we did actually go somewhere in Kentucky: the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Here's Amanda by the first horse we saw. Like the other horses we met, it liked her hat.

Here are Grandmother and Grandfather bringing the boys to go see the champion horses.

We saw four champion horses during our visit, Mr. Muscleman, Funny Cide, Cigar, and Da Hoss. Funny Cide gets to be on the blog because he won the Kentucky Derby on the day Mom and Dad got married, May 3, 2003.

Mom thought it was pretty cool seeing the champion horses, but the boys we're quite as thrilled.

Soon enough, though, the little show ended and we were off wandering the park. We saw this very large horse:

And we saw and got to pet this not-as-large horse. The horse is Emma, a six-year-old Haflinger. Considering Emma's somewhat smaller size, Mom wondered if "Haflinger" was related to "Halfling," but it turns out the name is based on the place in Europe where the breed originated. The lady holding the horse had something in common with Amanda, aside from an affinity for horses: her first name.

Here's Lydia contemplating life while looking around the breeds barn, where they keep the horses they use to show off different breeds. Note, though, that the stalls are only part time dwellings. The park also has lots of pastures where the horses get grazing time.

Here's a friendly horse we found in the breeds barn. He humored the kids by letting them feed him straws they picked up from the edge of his stall.

Back outside, we found a much smaller horse:

Here's the horse again, with Curtis and the fence for size reference:

Also at the park are a couple of museums. This picture is from the International Museum of the Horse, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

Here's a view looking into the park that shows the setup of pastures and buildings; imagine this scene repeated a few dozen times. Mom got this picture our way to the other museum, the American Saddlebred Museum.

The kids' favorite part of the museum were the giant rocking horses. Here's Jared:

Mom found something fun, too: a little William Shatner shrine. (Yes, Mom is a Trekkie.)

Finally, it was time to go. We had a good time and felt that we got our money's worth, especially since there was no admission charge for kids six and under, which all of Mom's kids were. Here's Lydia with Grandmother on our way back to the car.

Travels with Grandparents: Michigan 2010

While they were visiting us in October 2010, Grandmother and Grandmother decided that it was high time little miss Lydia got out of state. After all, she's a Muffin, and Muffin tradition demands it. So, we decided to go somewhere that would add a state to the other Muffin's lists, too: Michigan. Destination: Monroe, home of shocks, the Raisin River (and accompanying battle history), and La-Z-Boy. (We saw the river, by the way.)

We decided to start our Monroe visit by checking out the local tourist center. However, the point where Mom and Jared got out of the car turned out to be a little further from the place than they'd thought. No matter. On the way, we found a nifty monument for a prominent numismatist, appropriate, given Grandfather's numismatic (i.e. coin collecting) tendencies.

We also found these cute scarecrow decorations all along the main street.

We had lunch in Monroe at a little local diner. Grandfather ordered the 1lb eat-it-all-for-a-free-dessert burger.

Behold the burger, with Amanda for size reference.

And, yes, he did finish it, much to the delight of all who finished off the chocolate silk pie dessert.

After lunch, it was on to Lake Erie, where it was cold. VERY cold. The kids were still fascinated, though, despite being glad to get back in the nice warm car.


Curtis, alas, was asleep at the time of the lake outing, and spent it being guarded by alternating grown ups. To make it up to him, he was the only Muffin who got to go into Macy's in Toledo in search of Saunder's candy.

That, plus a treat from Dairy Queen a few miles down the road, seemed to make him happy.

We saw a double rainbow on the way home. Fortunately, home was not over it or at the end of it, but rather right where we left it. So, yes, we've now been to Michigan! Thank you, grandparents!

Circleville Pumpkin Festival 2010

Disclaimer: This post was initially published rather late, partly from procrastination, and partly from vanity, since it seems like everyone else Mom knew went to this event, too, and posted about it. :)

October 2010 was quite a month for grandparent visits: both sets came, and their visits overlapped. During the time all the grandparents were here, we took a Saturday outing down to the Circleville Pumpkin festival. However, despite the preceding advertisement about two sets of grandparents, only one set made it to the pictures. The Muffin clan was so large that day that we took two vehicles, and Mom and the camera went with Grandmother and Grandfather.

It was a very popular festival, we could tell from the start, as we found a parking place a few blocks away. Grandma and Grandpa had gone to the festival years before, which is why we decided to make the pilgrimage this year.

On the walk, Mom had fun checking out the architecture. Castle, anyone?

And now, a confession: Mom didn't take any pumpkin pictures at the festival. Too many other people in line trying to get shots of the prize pumpkins. However, Mom did get pictures of kids on rides. Dad and Amanda went on this one:

Grandmother kept Curtis happy while Dad and Amanda were riding. Jared, meanwhile, was on a giant slide (not pictured).

Jared also got to go on a little helicopter ride, which he enjoyed immensely. Meanwhile, Mom went with Amanda on the Ferris wheel, to Amanda's delight and Mom's chagrin. Too bad Mom didn't remember until after the fact that Grandmother is a Ferris wheel fan. No pictures, but Grandfather did get lots of video.

After the festival, Mom took pictures of some fun pumpkin carriages she'd seen in someone's yard. So, there you have it: pumpkins in Circleville, albeit not at the festival. :)


Back in the car. Mom got to ride in the backseat with these two cuties, Curtis and Lydia. Note the free balloon Curtis got from the festival. It brought him much joy, especially with no older siblings in the car to snatch it from him.

We decided on the way back that we were VERY glad to have made our festival visit in the morning.

Mom's group got in a little extra fun: we stopped at Renick's, a family farmers market/pumpkin patch. It was fairly busy, but not as busy as the festival had been. Plus, it had a slide that Curtis could ride all he wanted for free.

Some things at the market: Indian corn (top) and assorted pumpkins/gourds (bottom). Grandmother and Grandfather picked up some mini pumpkins for Halloween decorations for us, and we also got a loaf of bread with cheese baked in for a snack on the way home. Despite its yummy-ness, we even managed to save a little for the folks in the other group.


However, all pumpkin fun considered, one of the best parts of the day in Mom's opinion was watching Dad play with the Muffins at home.

Travels with Grandparents

The world is full of advertisements for all the big, fancy, impressive, expensive places people "need" to go to have fun. However, it doesn't cost anything other than gas and perhaps snack money to have a semi-exotic little adventure away from the usual routine. That's what it's like for Mom and the Muffins when Grandmother and Grandfather come to town. Now, we do occasionally end up at an official Destination, but for the most part, the adventure is about spending time together and seeing new things. Thanks to digital cameras, we can even share what we've seen. And so, dear readers, if readers there be, stay tuned for a post or two concerning adventures with grandparents, some recent and others a bit less recent.