Exploring Farmlife

The girls recently had a couple of days to explore their great-grandmother's barn lot and they fell in love.  They've been regularly coming here their whole lives but this was the first time I let them out completely on their own to explore and they discovered new things every time they went outside.

Their favorite part of the yard was the pond, I think.  We spent the most time there, walking around in circle after circle and searching for the giant bullfrogs.  They are so loud that we would hear them clear across the farm and would come running to try and see them before they jumped into the water.

This is my grandpa's woodshed where he worked cutting things out for us to paint when we were little.  I still have a lot of things he made for us and after we explored inside of it I found some more hidden items, too.  I can't wait to clean them up and stain them so they all match.

The big red barn was where my brothers and cousins and I would play.  We would open up that big door in the front and climb up the ladder into the hayloft.  Unfortunately, it's fallen into ruins inside and I told my girls they couldn't even step foot inside it anymore.

We raised pigs here in the pig barn and no matter how many years it's been empty I still sniff the air when I get near it because the strong pig smell is so ingrained on me when I see this yellow building.

Out in the back of the yard is a pile of old rusty farm equipment.  I think it's a giant pile of tetanus waiting to happen, but they have been obsessed with this corner for weeks.  Their favorite thing is the old truck of my grandma's.

My grandma's cat (the girls named him Carrots) loves to get on top of the buildings and look down at you.  The girls thought this was hilarious.

My grandma was born and raised in the mountain township and her dad took care of their farm for them.  I've never asked if the old equipment she has in the yard was some of my great-grandpa's or if it's just stuff she bought at estate sales.  We have pictures of him using a horse drawn wagon just like that first one though.

They had such a good time having adventures at their great-grandma's.  I love it when they come in all dirty and grinning and exhausted.  The dirtier the kid the happier the kid.

My May Book Pile

I was finally able to move jobs towards the end of the month and my reading immediately started to pick up speed again.  Being in a hostile workplace was not conducive to enjoying my free time so it was a miracle to me when I actually finished a book.

So if you're wondering why there's mainly children's books in here it's for that reason.  The bigger books took me ages and I wanted more of the lighter, easier reads.

I want to watch the new BFG movie but when I mentioned reading the book I was disappointed that Bug had already read it in school so I ended up having to read it by myself.  It was honestly the worst book I read in May.  It was boring and didn't make a lot of sense and I don't even understand how it would appeal to anyone.

Broadchurch by Erin Kelly was my top pick for the month and it was also my favorite book I've read since 11/22/63 back in January.  The writing started off a bit choppy but by the halfway mark I was hooked and I hope I can watch the miniseries it was based off soon.

Glen O. Jones Lake

Bug and I recently went to Glen O. Jones lake and had a great day just the two of us (Goose was in school or she would have been our sidekick, of course).

Glen O. Jones Lake is a great place to go if you enjoy camping and fishing.  There's really not a lot else to do.  There's a jungle gym at the top but it's small and the lane to get to it is pretty steep.  We passed a couple of hiking trails but they didn't look very well taken care of and were completely deserted which is a no-no for us three girls.

I couldn't get a lot of pictures since it was packed with people but I got a couple of pretty shots.

The lake was beautiful and sparkling.

I wish the Tecumseh statue would have been in a better spot than the corner they have it in.  It's all the way at the top of the drive, far from the lake, and it's dark up there.

The lake is located in the Shawnee National Forest and is actually just minutes away from the area where my family is from.  I used to go to my great-grandparents home all the time and I remember it being so much fun to be in the 'mountains'.

My April Book Pile

 April was a long month for me.  Between Bug's numerous doctor's appointments, end of school antsiness, and my general hatred of my job, there wasn't much for me to enjoy about reading.

I know I usually talk about my favorite and least favorite of the month but I honestly didn't have any real standouts in April.  If I really had to choose I would say Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King was the easiest read.  I wish I had known in advance that it was a thriller and not a paranormal type book.  It might have made me like it better, but I was a little disappointed when I was expecting typical King.

The overall least favorite for the month was pretty easy to choose.  Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas was so boring I felt my hair grow.  It took me ages to read this book and the only thing that finally pushed me through was the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  I stayed up late reading on it and finished it the next day.

I realized recently that I think I've only had one 5 star read this year so far and that was 11/22/63 way back in January.  No wonder I feel book burnout.  I haven't had a great read in months!

Evansville Zoo

We love going to the zoo.  Our favorite is St. Louis but the Evansville one is a lot closer and it's easier to get to without having a panic attack on the interstate.  Bug had a big procedure in St. Louis last Friday and woke up on Saturday morning feeling miles better than she had been so to celebrate we woke up on Sunday and decided to do a spur of the moment trip to celebrate.

The zoo unfortunately isn't free like St. Louis, and to be honest, it does not deserve the high price tag.  Usually it only takes between 2-3 hours and we are done with everything.

Goose was our designated photographer for the day and she enjoyed taking pictures of everything.
Literally.  Everything.

 

My mom and I would visit this zoo almost every summer while I was growing up and one of my favorite and most cherished sentimental memories of this zoo is the monkey ship.  I can vaguely remember when the monkeys were on it and once when I was in high school we brought my nephew and he was able to do bumper boats around it.  Right now it sits in a sad and empty concrete pool and needs a lot of TLC, but it still is one of my favorite things to see in the park.

There was a new bear there that was right out in the open and easy to view which made the girls happy. 

Goose's favorite animal is the red panda so she spent a lot of time checking them out.  

And Bug's favorite is forever the zebra.  When she left their exhibit she told me she wouldn't bother me the rest of the day since she got to see them.

One of the newest animals at Mesker Park Zoo is the komodo dragon. 

I've decided that we are only taking zoo trips in cooler weather from now on.  We realized that during our STL trip last fall.  The breezy and cool weather means almost every animal will be out and about instead of hiding from the heat.  We saw everything on this trip, like animals that I have only witnessed there a couple of times (prairie dogs) and even some stuff we've never been lucky enough to spot before (the wolves).

When we left the zoo we did some much needed girl-time shopping at the mall.  Goose wouldn't pick out a Build a Bear so Bug picked one out for herself and for her new baby cousin.  They discovered the LOVE Fazoli's and we found out where the Barnes and Noble was.  They were thrilled when they seen it was two stories and the highlight of the store was riding the escalator. 

We were gone all day together, just us three, and it was fantastic.  I'm a happy mommy.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon part two

My second attempt at the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  You can see my first try last year HERE.

This one didn't seem quite as productive as the first one but I was still pretty proud of what I wound up with.

 My first goal was to get a big chunk of Twenty Years After by Alexandre  Dumas out of the way.  This book is 800 pages and it is so boring I feel myself falling asleep when I pick it up.  So I was extremely glad that I was able to do 300 pages of it.  It left me with about 100 pages left to finish it up which wasn't near as daunting as it had been looking.

I also picked up Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer from my library just because it had a pretty cover and was short.  It was a little dry and I don't see my ten-year old reaching for it (which seemed like the right age group for this kind of book), but I did learn a little big more on the Salem trials so it wasn't bad.

My least read book for the Readathon was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.  Bug and I are reading through the Narnia books and this is our next one.  She let me read about a chapter and a half to her and it made her ready for bed.

I did about 425 pages overall which is about the size of one largish book so I think this day was pretty successful. 

Pictures Taken by Goose

Goose won't get off my back to make a new blog post (Hi there cutie face), so here are some random pictures she's taken lately that I wanted to show off.

A snake that Panda killed and dragged into the backyard for us:

Our favorite man looking so dignified outside:

Some pretty tree shots at her Poppy and Nana's house:

My girl loves taking nature photos and even has her own nature Instagram.  I'm proud she's found something she loves and I hope she keeps it up.