Habegger's Amish Market

Habegger's Amish Market; one of my favorite annual summertime traditions.  Our first stop in Amish country is always the market itself.  We get our baskets and shop for specialty candies, preserves, and vegetables.  I am so fascinated with the low-key, simple life of the Amish.  There are times when I seriously wish I could be that off the grid, but I know I wouldn't last long at all.  But I admire people who can be that self-sufficient and not rely on modern technologies like I just have to have.

The fresh deli sandwiches at the market at out of this world.  Barbecue ham and every fresh veggie imaginable on homemade bread...yes, please! 

None of our trips to Habegger's are ever complete without the kids getting to play on the wooden, child-size horse and buggy.

We followed this horse-drawn wagon down the road for a bit.  All of their farm equipment is pulled by horses; it's just amazing how they do what they do.

This area outside of Scottsville is a large area where lots of Amish families have settled near one another.  You can actually get a map when you stop at the market, where several Amish produce stands are sprinkled throughout the countryside.

We stop at the same stand each year and stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies. We love this annual "field trip," as Hadley calls it, and can't wait to come back next summer! 

Louisville Zoo

Now that Justin has officially started his Assistant Principal duties, he got to attend the KASA (Kentucky Association of School Administrators) convention in Louisville.  We got to tag along for the fun, staying at one my very favorite hotels ever....the Galthouse.  When I was in Jr. High and High School, our BETA Conventions were always held at the Galthouse so I have tons of fun memories from there.  Plus, it's just a cool, historic hotel.

Somehow we even got upgraded to a fancy, two-room suite on the top floor of the hotel.  While Justin was in his meetings, the kids and I swam, explored the hotel, and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe.

Once his meeting was officially over, we stopped by the Louisville Zoo on our way out of town.  Why we picked one of the hottest days of the summer to visit the zoo, is beyond me.  Even most of the animals had better sense than to get out in the hot sun and stayed put in the shade or under water.

We are equally as close to the Louisville Zoo as we are to the Nashville Zoo.  The Louisville Zoo has much more open concrete area, while the Nashville Zoo is much more shaded.  Both are great zoos, but on really hot days like today, the Nashville Zoo would provide more shade.  But we weren't in Nashville now were we?  So the Louisville Zoo it was!

Yes, the animals such as the seals and polar bears had the right idea: stay underwater.  It's amazing to me to see just how massive these animals really are.  I really could sit and watch them in action for hours.

The polar bear was the most fascinating to us because it played with a log in the water for the longest time.  It would try to climb on top of it and just roll around and around with it.  When you would see that huge bear come up and then dive deep down in the water, it was just amazing to watch.

The gorilla exhibit was really cool, too.  The gorillas weren't super active on this day...guess they sensed the heat, even from their indoor home. But it was interesting to watch them snack on their cabbage leaves and other roughage.  Every now and then one gorilla would stare down Canaan, who would just laugh at the shenanigans.

I love and loathe Canaan's new "cheesy" smile for the camera.  It's terrible but oh so cute at the same time.....well to mama it's oh so cute, right?

When we had taken all we could of the scorching heat, we opted for snow cones on our way out of the zoo.  It was nice to sit for a few minutes and have a cold treat.  Even though we took in the zoo on a super hot day, we had a great time finding out interesting facts about so many animals and watching them play and interact with nature.  Thankful for experiences with my family, whatever the temperature may be!

Happy Birthday America!

We arrived back from vacation just a day before our annual 4th of July festivities at Uncle John and Aunt Lorie's house.  We always look forward to being with our Stinson family, eating great barbecue and homemade ice cream, and watching the fireworks from all around Monroe County.

We are so thankful for these sweet cousins to get to play with at Ma's on Sunday nights, as well as other family get togethers.

Love these two little blondies so very much.

Hadley loves her big cousin Larissa.  

John John has an awesome red tractor that Canaan is just fascinated with.  He really wanted to go on a ride, though.

We ended our night with a fabulous fireworks presentation courtesy of Logan and Landon, but then got to enjoy the panoramic view from people setting off fireworks from the rest of the county.  We love these sweet times with family!  Happy Birthday, America!

Last Night Beach Pics

So let's talk about how crazy our beach pictures turned out.  I had planned out our coordinating outfits to take our very first nice beach pictures and realized how nice it would be that we wouldn't have to ask a stranger to snap a couple of pictures, since Ronnie and Cathy were along with us.  Little did I know what would ensue when we were posing for some pictures.  A complete stranger happened to be walking by with her husband, when she stopped and immediately whipped out her fancy camera and started snapping pictures.  I was a little taken aback, wondering if she was going to ask for money or what in the world was happening.  Her husband told us that they were from Atlanta and frequented PCB often for weekend get-aways and such and that his wife loved doing this for families from time to time.  He gave us her email address and, sure enough, this kind stranger emailed us all 150 pictures she took of our family, totally for free.  That's right....150. Talk about a random act of kindness; she totally made our day.  Fortunately for you, this blog post does not have all 150 pictures, but just some of my favorites.