Nicholas and Rebecca

Nicholas got his football equipment tonight. They are learning the basics and it was quite a workout- he was soaked with sweat when we took the pads off! He says his head hurts from the helmet and slamming into other players.
Rebecca is back in the saddle. She has been asking to take lessons again for quite a while. We finally got it worked out and today was her first lesson at a stable in Warsaw. She really enjoyed it so now we have leverage to get her out of bed in the morning!

Avis Acres Fine Cuisine

Everything on the plate, with the exception of the bacon in the green beans, was produced here at Avis Acres! We were very excited about this plate and everyone ate lots! Chris really wanted the chicken fried and claimed he had never done that. So even though it feels like a lifetime since I had, I did pan fry it. He had a great suggestion to use potato flakes and flour for the light breading and it worked great. Right now I have a whole wheat black bread baking in the breadmaker and oatmeal soaking to prepare in the morning. I feel very healthy and productive!(with the exception of the fried chicken and bacon, of course!)

Working Weekend

I worked this weekend, which wasn't all bad since it was unseasonable rainy and cool here in Indiana. I hope the weather holds for our annual family reunion over Labor Day weekend. We had movie night last night and watched Days of Thunder (TC before it all went to his head and he started jumping on couches!) That movie was made in 1990! How can it be that old! There was a lot of language for a PG13 movie, but it was still much tamer than anything we have now that is PG13. Wonder what we can find to watch tonight?

The kids went back to school this week.
Nicholas was excited to learn a cursive letter his very first day of third grade. If the class behaves during the week they can earn an extra recess on Friday, that sound like a great way to build teamwork!
Rebecca was pleased to learn she is in the pre-algebra Math class instead of 7th grade Math, due to her ISTEP scores. She's also excited they only have ISTEP once this year, in the spring.

Nicholas starts Junior Football League this week. It is the first time he has played, but I'm sure he's going to love it. Rebecca really wants to start her riding lessons again. We'll be looking into that this week. I thought the summer schedule was busy, looks like school year is going to be just as busy! have to keep those weekends free for rabbit shows, though! We entered Hollands, Netherlands, and Silver Fox in the ISRBA Convention show in Sept. Rebecca is going to compete in their Royalty programs, as well. It is very similar to the 4H Ambassador program.

Chris is trying to keep up with the garden- green beans and squash galore. I'm looking for new ways to use zucchini and summer squash if anyone has them! He's also busy making appts to reduce our animal numbers before the fall and get some beef, chicken and turkey in the freezer or sold.

I've been experimenting with the whole wheat flours and natural sugars. I'm having a terrible time with the bread in the breadmaker, everything is either underdone or overdone and none of it is as light as I would like it. I will try another recipe tonight. I made some zucchini bread using whole wheat flour and molasses. I thought it was ok, but very different. Chris loved it!

Holiday World Was Packed!

When we planned this weekend we did not realize it was the last full weekend Holiday World was open for the season. We figured it out about 9pm Friday when the hotel and campground were packed full! We decided just to enjoy the beautiful weather and our time together and not worry about the crowds. It was a little difficult to coordinate 3 different "levels" of fun- seekers, but I think we did pretty well. The roller-coaster crowd got to hit a few of those, the toddler crowd got to hit their rides, and those of us in the middle got the best of both worlds! Except for my poor sister Jessica, between the 3 yr old and the 4 month old I think she only made it on one ride! I still really enjoy the water park side- their are so many great slides, wave pools, lazy rivers and splash areas. I am just happiest sitting in cool water and watching other people.

We went out to dinner at a German restaurant in Jasper Friday night. Saturday night was a Mexican restaurant in Jasper. Breakfast both mornings was at a cafe in Dale. Lots of good food and good company. Not to mention all the good things we ate at Holiday World. Here are a couple photos of the group.
On the way home we drove past the exit for Marengo Cave- and made a very spontaneous decision to stop and see it. I am so glad we did, it was really neat. Here are a couple photos from the cave. Anybody ever experienced true total darkness? It is very disorienting when they turn out the lights down there!

A very sad goodbye

Before I can post anything about our weekend, I have to say thank you and goodbye to a very special person. My dear friend Rebecca Hollenbaugh passed away Friday morning. She fought the bravest 3 year battle against stomach cancer anyone has ever seen. She was 35 years old and leaves behind a husband, a daughter, and a son, as well as a dedicated and loving family.

Anyone who ever met Rebecca was touched by her in some way. I wish I could join all her friends and family at her service, but I am not ready to say goodbye. I am glad she is no longer suffering but I am too sad to feel that relief. We will all miss her so much.

Holiday World

We are off to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN tomorrow. My sister Jessica, her husband Dave, Marielle, Beckett, my sister Julianne, her husband David, my parents and my family are all meeting there for the weekend. I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully we will remember to get some pictures! We always forget that when we are together. We just have too much fun! Thanks again to our friend who watches our animals so we can get away.

State Fair Honors

So on the hottest day of the summer so far we spent 12 hours at the Fair! It was too hot to enjoy all the poor food choices I was looking forward to making. Rebecca had to be at the Rabbit Building to register at 8am. The Rabbit Ambassador Competition started at 9am and we could have no contact with her until she was finished. So we dropped her off, hooked her up with a friend who would calm her nerves and Chris and I were off to explore. Nicholas had spent the night with my sister in Noblesville. I have to thank Jessica- it was great to be able to concentrate on Rebecca for her big day.

Before we knew it my sister called and said they were parked and she was headed in with Nicholas, Marielle and Beckett. We checked in on Rebecca but she was still busy, so we headed off to show Marielle some animals. By the time Rebecca was finished around noon, we had already eaten and seen all the animals and it was really HOT!

Rebecca said she felt pretty good about the competition- the test was shorter than it had been at the county level. She thought it was sneaky that all the rabbits they used for the Breed ID portion were black rabbits! She still felt her showmanship was her downfall- something for her to work on. So we headed out into the heat again so Rebecca could see what she wanted to see and get something to eat.

About 300pm Jessica and the kids were over-done so they headed home with Nicholas to get into the AC and rest. We stayed at the Fair with Rebecca and tried to stay cool until the awards program at 6pm and release of rabbits after that. I didn't do a very good job- it seemed like a no win situation- it was too hot outside, but going in and out of air-conditioning wasn't a good idea, either. I think Chris just wanted to leave me somewhere- I had a migraine by 5 and was so nauseous. But we all survived and by the time the program started I was feeling better, thank goodness.


The Awards Program

We had 4 girls from Whitley County competing

Novice Grades 3 - 4 (28 total) our competitor was Runner Up
Junior grades 5-6 (28 total) Rebecca was in the Honors Group
Intermediate grades 7-8 (29 total) our contestant was in the Honors Group
Senior grades 9-10 (22 total) our contestant was 5th
Master grades 11-12(20 total) we didn't have a competitor

All in all a fantastic finish for Whitley County! We are so proud of Rebecca for taking this opportunity and doing a great job.

We left the fair at 730pm, picked Nicholas up, and ate diner at Olive Garden once we had cooled off and got our appetites back. We had a very kind friend and neighbor taking care of all the animals at home for us. I had to be at work at 730 this morning, but Chris didn't mention losing any animals in this horrible heat. We can't thank our friend enough. We wouldn't haven't been able to get Rebecca to Indy to compete if it weren't for her capable care at home. Thank you everyone!

Wowsa Weekend

Let's see- what's first. The goat's came home from the fair with snotty noses and coughs so we are giving them injections of antibiotics once a day for 7 days. The rabbits are passing around an infection so they are each getting one injection a week for 3 weeks and we have to bleach all the cages at the beginning of treatment and at the end. The cows are really being bothered by the flies so we are spraying them every day.

The garden is really getting going now- we've had green beans, zucchini, summer squash, red potatoes, carrots, and just this weekend corn!Saturday night we went to the Tin Cups game at Fort Wayne's new Parkview Field. It was so much fun! The facility is beautiful. It was a good game with them pulling off a win in the bottom of the ninth inning. Sunday we took some pictures of the 2 week old Holland Lops. They just opened their eyes and are starting to get out of the nest boxes. They look so cute at this age.