Year 3, September 14th-16th, 2018: The World of Machines

Whether it be the hamster wheel you're on or the car/appliance that needs fixing or something actually fun like a whole entire festival dedicated to old and new machines, there are machines everywhere!  But first, let's discuss Friday.

Friday we finished up school (sort of) and ran some errands, including a park date, woot! Woot!  It ended up being older kids and moms, which was great for me because we talked about teens, boyfriends/girlfriends, jobs, college, etc.  I was able to share some insights and also to listen to these women, too.  And the kids had fun of course, especially Abishai with his bare toes chasing squirrels.  But because I actually sat down and talked, I took no pictures for once!  Shocking!  We dropped some clothes off at a ministry that helps young women get out of the sex trafficking trade and shopped at a garage sale AND an indoor kidz' stuff sale for some clothes for Keturah and cheap bookcase/storage for the house.  The wheels in my head have been turning like crazy with what to do with them, but I think I have a plan now.  But I promised myself to tackle the leftover summer projects first, just as soon as we have some time....  Keturah and I ended the night with family movie night at church, except I did Latin worksheets and reading for school, that's how short on time I am.  Don't worry, she sat with her friend Baleigh.  No big deal.

Time?  Who has extra time?!  Not us! But we went to the Festival of Machines at Conner Prairie anyway.  For 4 hours.  In 85 degree heat.  In the middle of the day.  And we survived.  But I'm beat.  I'm beyond exhausted.  I've pushed myself way too far, sleeping far too little, and after being out in the sun for 4 hours and walking 9,000 steps up and down hills, my body has said enough is enough.  Everything hurts, I can't think straight, and I feel so "off."  Not sick like with a head cold but run down, nothing feels right sick.  I've got to listen to the boundaries I know are there but I push right through them anyway.  It's hurting everyone, especially Jared when he waits up for me.  And unfortunately, Benaiah now has a similar pattern of working too much and not resting enough.  We know better than this.  But I digress.

Festival of Machines was awesome!  There were so many new and different things we've not played on or seen before.  And we used our medicaid Access Pass and got in for less than $10!  Conner Prairie just by itself is anywhere between $13-$18 per person.  And it was all included in this festival.  We packed a lunch and had a grand time!  I had a plan about what I wanted us to see inside Conner Prarie, including breaks in the air conditioned building, and for the most part, we worked the plan.  We got up close and personal with helicopters (seeing one land and one take off!), vintage fire trucks, classic cars from the 30's, steam tractors, RC airplanes and drones, gas powered tractors, drills, santiation trucks, an RV, a steamroller, huge farm combines, and the new Indy car with logo for the 2019 Indy 500.  We pretty much did that, ate lunch, and played on the 4 story treehouse.  We had thoroughly immersed ourselves in a lot of the pioneer areas last year when we went on one of their homeschool days where homeschoolers can get in on the public school rates, and teachers are free.  Therefore, we didn't worry about doing all that again.  And if anything, my kids really have seen so many pioneer village type museums based in the 1800's in their lifetime that I think they get a lot of it.  Their eyes glossed over when Grandpa was mentioning New Salem in Illinois, close to Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln had a store or something.  Remember, a lot of PEI museums also revolve around the mid 19th century to early 20th century.  It was a time where settlements were really being established all over in the new world. So, here's what today's world looks like from our perspective.

P.S. Sunday was a normal, busy day and I'll explain any deviations in the pictures I took.

Friday:

It's a cookie sandwich!  But how dare you take a picture of it! #preschoolers

First of all, the cushions are not supposed to be off the couch but Abishai has been using them as American Ninja Warrior stunt pads and I don't have energy to stop him when he's trying to use up his energy.  Second, Socks has never been allowed on any furniture except the boys' beds.  Not sure why or how or who invited him up there, but he managed to get up there.  I don't really care much because I know he probably would like a softer place to sleep now that he's older.  We've never had room for him to have his own pet bed.  He's still a beautiful dog, inside and out.  Eight years old and still going strong.

I think I might have sent a little bit to an Indian reservation or something because I got this solicitation in the mail the other day.  Yes, ALL of this came with a letter asking for donations.  That's a TON of upfront money.  I'll need to investigate this particular organization a little deeper, but, my mom loved knitting socks to send to the Indian reservations so I might send along a donation in her honor. I'm going to use this opportunity to show the kids this package of cultural things and how Grandma Howell loved that stuff.  Although we don't believe in dream catchers, I'm still going to hang it somewhere because it will remind me of Mom. 

Wearing boots that are too big for him, he managed to jump and kick a ball on the trampoline.

The things preschoolers do.

He loves playing soccer on the trampoline!

Still wearing boots while at the park.  He wanted his boots, not the sandals we brought, because he needed something bigger to stomp on the sticks and break them.

Where'd he go?

We ended up with this costume and a pokemon jumpsuit for $30 total.  It's a tad big for Abishai, but since he's into watching Lego Ninjago again, it was great timing!  It has gloves that look like Lego minifigure hands!  And the helmet is heavy plastic, so it won't break to quickly.  The specific character's name is Lloyd Garmadon, son of the enemy Lord Garmadon.  But the Green Ninja (his other name) is actually the leader of the Ninjago team, so he's a good guy!  Yes, I wrote all of that from memory.  I've watched the first couple of seasons.  We now watch it on Amazon Prime Video.

Boyhood's work schedule.  It's 30+ hrs a week and it's too much.  The cool thing is that this is a screenshot from the scheduling app.  I can just sign into his account on it and then I don't have to bother asking him when he's working.  That part is working well!

Yes, I found a bunch of random photos from 2010, not the full albums, but just a handful of pictures on an old SD card.  I'm sure I've backed some of them up already in multiple places but these are ones that need 100 backups because they are pictures of my parents, including a video of my Dad talking as the kids put together a puzzle.  I can still sort of here their voices in my head when I hear certain words or phrases, but still, those video clips help the memories stay there.  There were also pictures of Socks when he was a puppy.  Keturah was only 2 yrs old, Justin was 5 and Benaiah was 8.  Jared had hair, too!  Precious, precious photos!  And they weren't on Facebook with the others in that time period.  So I loaded them up!  Oh and there were pictures of Justin and Benaiah in the same musical that Keturah is doing this semester!  How crazy is that?!  I know the musical director for the kids' choir is recycling these older productions on purpose, but it's fun to see the old vs. the new.  Here's one of the pictures below.

Justin was 5 years old and is on the front row all the way to the left.  Benaiah is up near the back row on the right.

It was called, "Mystery At the Manger" and has now been changed to "Mystery of the Manger."

It's a hard knock life for Babbleshai when you get to run around the park for 2 hrs.  Precious babies grow up too fast!

 Saturday: Festival of Machines!  I had to limit myself on the number of pictures I took because we are running out of space on the SD card for the DSLR.  I don't reuse SD cards because I use them at the original backup files.  The one I get is typically on sale for $20-$30 and I probably buy two or three a year.  So, I have less than 150 photos to comb through!  That's amazing!  Here goes!

I'm kind of sad I didn't get more pictures, because there was so much to see!  And we could get in and touch a lot of the vehicles in "truck petting zoo" area in the main parking lot of Conner Prairie.  I think my brother Paul-Mikael used to drive these kind of army jeeps from Indy to Camp Atterbury.  It's a process because it can only go so fast.  However, all 5 of us got in it!

Wearing the heavy army hat, too!

I'm so glad that we got to bring Jared along this time!  Abishai was thrilled to have Daddy come with us and thanked him for coming.  I love having my partner in crime experience what we get to experience and help carry the backpack.

I thought that the mixture of the type of vehicles was very unique!  From huge tow trucks with cranes to maybe lift up train cars or something to drills to big sanitation vacuum trucks to combines to old steam tractors and little engines to RV's to Indy cars, vintage fire trucks, classic cars from the 1930's, a steam roller and asphalt machine, a skid steer, rc cars and drones and planes, carousel music boxes, dump trucks, helicopters, oh my oh my, a little boys dreamland!  And the crowds weren't too bad because it was all outdoors and spread out.  It was also very, very hot.  Well worth the 40 minute drive and $8 we spent!

Fun rims on the crane truck.

So what does this crane tow truck thing do?  Pick up train cars and semis?  Probably!

In front is the biggest flat bed tow truck I've ever seen.  Ok, maybe I've seen them on the road with the other big machines on them.  But the boys did walk up and down on it.  And in the back in the super tow truck with crane.

Looking in the dump truck!  All these vehicles were new or very, very clean.

The kids loved the RV of course!  They really haven't been in a RV before.  We did got in a friend's 5th wheeler when we were in upper Michigan walking across the Macinkanck bridge in 2009.  The kids were thrilled to find TV's in  the bunks!  This one fits 4 people.  I know of families with 5 kids that homeschool and live in an RV year round.  Some help at a campground on PEI for the summer and then travel to Texass for the winter.  Another one has been setting up shop in a few different places but for like a month at a time.  My parents thought about doing this and parking the RV on one of us kids' lawns for a few months at a time.  I think it's a grand idea to take one and go around the country, but I would have to put stuff into storage.  I couldn't just get rid of everything.  RV's are pretty cool!

Of course he found the RC car obstacle course.  I was trying to steer clear of it because we can do that at home.  Thankfully he was just returning it.  Also, you won't see Benaiah in the pictures because he was at work.

Brand new combine!  There's a big Reynold's tractor supply store near here, so I suspect some of this equipment came from them.  We went there last Christmas or the Christmas before to see their Christmas light display.  It was incredible!  And free, or maybe a donation.  I love our little communities!  We were actually in one of the suburbs, Fishers, just northeast of Indianapolis.

Look, Mom, I can climb a tire!

Now why wouldn't they do this at the state fair?  Little girl is getting bigger and can barely fit inside the biggest tire you've ever seen!  Oh, and Jared said the weights on the front of the combine equals 2,000 lbs.  They are just weight plates so the combine doesn't tip.

Reynolds' supply sign on the coveted Conner Prairie hot air balloon.  The balloon ride costs extra though.  It's tied down to cable so it floats straight up and then back down.  There's a round cage around the cable, so it's as safe as a balloon can be.  And the engine/throttle/etc is enclosed in the balloon so you don't hear a whoosh of gas or anything.  They also have an exhibit explaining how it works and how the original designer took mail from Indianapolis to New York, I think.  It was the first time that mode of transportation was used for that purpose.

How deep does that hole go?

This deep!

I love this shot of the balloon and this huge drill and my family looking up at it in awe and wonder.

Nice!

Lots of old tractors and engines.  Just waiting for a tractor parade.  Abishai tried sitting on them all of course, while Justin, Keturah and I wandered over to the RC plane and drone area.

Jared asked some good questions about these RC model airplane about how fast they got (70-140mph) and how much money it took to build.  The more expensive models just come out of the box ready to go.  They could also watch a screen that was showing the images that a drone would see. They had a full obstacle course for the drones and planes to put them throw.  So cool!

The steam tractors were amazing!  They worked and drove up and down the little hill.  And they had tooting battles, too.  All I could think of was Thomas the Tank Engine and how, yes, the whistles are really that loud.  I think the kids and I both didn't realize it!

Expensive to maintain like this, bur oh so wonderful!  We've seen the steam powered saw mill one at the state fair several times, but not actual tractors like these.  Incredible!

One of their favorite spots was the indoor playground, blankie fort, and various pretend play things.  It's a great place for kids under 8 (the sign says, whoops!) to play and cool off.  While they played, Jared watched and I went to the bathroom next door to take care of a bloody nose!  This time, it didn't last long, thank goodness!  There is another indoor exhibit we could have explored but we spent a lot of time there last year and wanted to move on to other things.  At least this year Abishai didn't need help climbing up on the playground.

It was lunchtime about 1 hr after we arrived, so we sat on a bench near the hot air balloon ride!  The balloon is surrounded by this awesome circle of covered benches and walkways, and one side you can purchase food and work your way through an exhibit about the balloon, especially the first of it's kind mail run between here and the east coast!  Abishai of course had to show off his monkey skills.  The walkway on our side was quiet and no one told us we couldn't eat there, so it worked out well!  There are some picnic tables a little further on that are under shade, but it was more fun to watch the balloon ride go up and down.  It's always attached to the ground by a cable and will sway a bit but it won't go far.

Lunch!

They have this nice (and hot) playground between where we had lunch and the picnic tables.  There are also bathrooms nearby.  Super quiet over here, too.  We had to pull the kids away from the playground of course.

While the kids played, I sneaked around the corner and found this grave.  Must belong to the original property owners! I'm sure it was bought by whoever runs Conner Prairie but I also saw some smaller graves within the actual pioneer town that looked real.  Conner Prairie does have a lot of mature trees and wooded areas and trails, too.  I love how rustic it feels and not so contrived.  It's been here probably 40 years or so, too, so that helps.

Nice gyroscope type playground thing.  Under all those tents are the 1930's classic cars.  They looked incredible!

This is the amphitheater where they have the "Symphony on the Prairie" concerts.  I'm thinking there's a regular concert fee to get into the concert that may or may not include admission to the pioneer town.  Food is allowed and it's lawn seating.  Sweet!

On the other hill, there was the first of three helicopters!  At first I thought this was the search and rescue helicopter that was advertised, but it was actually a private one.  It was taking off shortly after we got up there.  But they said a Huey was coming in (that's the search and rescue one) and maybe even later a third one.

We've never been near a helicopter taking off or landing, so we all got to experience the ferocious winds they produce!  I had to hold onto my hat as I was trying to take pictures!  And it was so loud, too!  Cool!

Keturah pointed out the old fence line.  And this is a great example of the peaceful woods that are on the property.

Part of the pioneer town with the blacksmith and store.  There are more buildings on the other side that I wanted to explore today but didn't have time to.

Following the trail to the Treetop Playhouse!  Wait for me!

This is an incredible, well thought out play area deep in the woods!  There are things to build forts with, plays to dig in (with shovels that are literally attached to the sides so no one can take them), cool instruments, 4 levels of play with all kinds of educational materials, an outdoor kitchen.  Definitely straight out of a children's museum.  Incredible!

Looking down from the top story!  Some of it is wheel chair accessible of course.

Lots of signage helping kids to look for certain things in the woods.

Playing telephone with Justin!

It's a wonder that these stay here in the tree house because they aren't tied down and no one is watching them.  Real huge turtle shells?  Snake skins? Tons of different rocks?  Incredible!

This is a great example of the quality of the educational elements here.  Ah, it makes my heart sing to see these things!

Cool modern artish type musical instruments!

So interesting!

It didn't take long for Abishai to learn how to pull on the rope hand over hand!  And he quickly realized he needed to completely let go of the rope before his hands got burned.  But he pulled a little leather bag up about 15 feet all by himself on the first try!  And those bare toes!  He took off his shoes to play in the sand and we didn't bother put them back on again.  There were signs to be careful of poison ivy, but we stayed on the cleared out areas, so he was fine.  He's definitely the 4th kid where we definitely pick our battles carefully and why not run around bare foot?  It's proven to be very beneficial in order to keep you literally grounded.  Try it!

Just another rope structure to play on and take a nap!

The secret tunnels under this 2nd play structure, which is brand new to me.  Sweet!  These things are so needed to help kids expand their imaginations and explore!

Here come the search and rescue helicopter!  Again, it's so super loud and windy!  We've never experienced anything like it!  We've seen them on the ground, but not actually land or take off.  I think I was more excited about it than everyone else.  Abishai and Justin had run down the hill to the amphitheater and were making their way back up and I had to send Jared to scoop up Abishai before he crossed the path there into the cleared area where the helicopter was going to land.  The security guards and I were not very happy about it.

Oh wow, oh wow!  And there's an older lady riding in full gear right there on the side of it.  She must have served in Vietnam or something.  These are the search and rescue helicopters that may or may not help out in large natural disasters like Hurricane Florence which has destroyed the east coasts of North and South Carolinas this week.  So awesome to see it in the air!

Boom!  Landed without an issue! And so much wind!  And when I touched it, I couldn't believe that this thing had just been up there in the clouds.  Amazing!

Huey Landing

First in line to get a picture!  Just like this one:

3 yr old Benaiah.

Awww.

5 year old Benaiah and 2 year old Justin.  They grow up too fast!

There's the lady I was talking about.  She had a jumpsuit on and then just took it off because it was so hot.  But I would be so scared to be sitting in those seats while the door was open and the helicopter was in the air.  Scary!  Abishai wanted to explore the cockpit, but they quickly squashed that idea.

Some details about this particular aircraft.  Nice!

I love the floor windows!

Abishai couldn't get enough time just hanging out in the helicopter.  No one seemed to mind because there were plenty of other kids getting in and out and the line kept moving forward.  However, I felt bad because he was tired and just wanted to sit and soak it all in.

Very nice.  That's the lady's gear there on the ground.

Not much to sit on.  I hope they didn't have to sit on it for hours!

Huge blades!

We walked quickly through the classic cars because we were exhausted at this point and overheating.  However, Jared and I did point out a few things.  I also got to remind everyone that my grandfather was an auto body guy that started his business probably back when these cars came out.  His shop is still there with a plaque with his name on it (I believe) but I'm not sure if they just do auto body or other mechanical repairs now.  And for one car, my grandfather Koski took the front end of a 1958 car and attached it to the back end of a 1959 car and then they couldn't decide what model year it was and how to register yet!  The dates are probably wrong, but it was way, way back then.  It might have been some firebirds or something.

Incredible pieces of history.  A huge association for these enthusiasts.

Sweet!

Vintage fire trucks!  Justin and Keturah were very whiny at this point, but we had promised Abishai we would see the fire trucks.  He was tired and didn't care as much as he would have if we had done it early.  But we got to see them at least on our way to the van.

Preschool truck driver!

Doesn't this one look like "Red" from the Cars franchise?  Sweet!

I don't usually get in the vehicles since I'm the one who is usually supervising and taking pictures, but I'm glad Jared was able to interact with the kids, telling them things, and getting in the vehicles, too. We don't usually get to experience fun stuff like this with him, but I'm glad this was on a Saturday so we could do it together.  And again, the crowds weren't bad at all!  Jared hates crowds, so he doesn't like to go to many events.  This even was spaced out well and was so much fun!

Fireman "Sam" aka Fireman Abishai!  (Fireman Sam is a British based cartoon show about a firehouse and the firemen.)

iPhone pics from Saturday:

Trying to wake up the big boy so he can go mow before work.  And then he forgot to take his work shoes with him and he doesn't have a house key so grandparents had to buy him new work shoes are he would get fired.  Sigh.  At least they could help with transportation so we could be gone on our field trip all day!  Thanks!

Ninja-go-Keturah!  Isn't this the neatest costume and we got it for $15!  It's going to last a long time!  And the hands are to die for!  We can use those for all kinds of costumes!

Ready for our field trip!

Me in the jeep.

Fixing up the blnakie fort.  Thankfully it wasn't too full, otherwise I would have felt worse that I let the big kids play in the little kids area.  No one told them to leave though.   I hate breaking those kinds of rule though because they are in place to protect the young ones.

Taking a nap in the blankie fort.

Justin and Keturah worked hard on this for about 15 minutes.  I'm glad that there were not many others wanting to play with it.  There are more blankets and pegs in the other corner, too.  There's also an art studio and reading nook in this area.

Ta da!

Beautiful balloon sponsored by Reynolds' farm equipment!  A staple up here on the Indy's northeast side.

The private helicopter taking off.

Playing on the outdoor instruments.  I love taking the bigger kids to places that are meant for the younger ones because it keeps them young.  He may be 13, but Justin loves this stuff!

There she goes!

Drums!  Of course!

Just me and a cool looking search and rescue helicopter!

Yes, it's actually a term we use in Lilla Rose when we want to showcase our different hairstyles and flexi clips.  This clip came out last August right before we came to Conner Prairie the first time, and I did wear it then, too.  It is my souvenir from that trip.

Trying to keep logging those steps.  But some days, I'm just home all day and don't get to walk long distances.

Sundays are big step count days because of the long distances between rooms at church.

Wednesday I purposefully paced the room while I was babysitting at church so I could get my step count up.

Thursday we were at home and Friday we went to the playground.

And then comes field trip days.  Sigh.  I wish these numbers would translate into calories being spent.  But it's made no difference.  And this is also why my body feels awful, especially my knees.  Conner Prarie is a bit hilly so that makes a difference.  Oh well, it's good to exercise!

Sunday Funday

At church, we had a "get to know your team" baseball theme going on where the volunteers dressed up in their favorite baseball shirts and we handed our "rosters" of everyone that volunteers in a particular service in a particular room.  We could put what ever we wanted on the sheets like phone number and email if it was ok for the kids' parents to contact us.  Most of the time in the shuffle of kids in and out of classrooms, you don't get a chance to know their teachers.  So, I found this old t-shirt from PEI that looks like a baseball tee (I had one that said Cornwall softball on it but I can't find it.  I must have put it in the box with the other keepsake t-shirts).  I also got to break out the new flexis we have that features one of 4 sports and 7 colors of your choosing!  Lilla Rose will never sponsor a particular team or company but they do listen to their customers.  I can't wait to sell them at the craft fairs these next two weekends!

So exciting!

They had this photo booth area and free popcorn at church in the kids' wing today.  Yes, popcorn got eveywhere, but it was fun!  And I made the kids take this picture.  Abishai wanted to keep the baseball prop though.  Whoops!  And Benaiah is sporting his new Chick Fil A zip up fleece he bought himself.  He didn't have to, but I guess he likes working there enough to invest even MORE into the company branding, lol.  It's humbling to work fast food, but somebody's got do it!

I think we have an Aldi's convert!  Gary saw these in the Aldi's ad and tried to find them at the Southport store with no luck.  That's the smaller location and yes, they do not stock everything in the ad.  Therefore, he had to go to the bigger nicer store on Washington St. and was very impressed by it, especially the price of milk.  It doesn't matter how much money you earn, you can still shop smartly and utilize stores like Aldi's to stretch your money even further.  I warned him that these aren't super high quality but they will last a good long while if you take care of them.

It was white out night at Crave!  They had black out night a couple of weeks ago and had fun going down a gigantic slip and slide.  Of course they have these themes with a purpose behind them, darkness to light, sin and washed clean, etc.  Benaiah didn't participate directly in either one though.

The color is colored cornstarch I think and used on the "color runs."  It washes off skin and hair easily and most of it comes off of clothing, too.

What a cloud of colored dust!

I love the clouds here!  This was done directly outside the east hall doors.  They also had free shaved ice for the kiddos.

I had Abishai with me to see the colored powder toss and then he and I booked it to the north end of the church where we caught the last few minutes of a water balloon during the middle school life groups.  I'm telling ya, our youth programs are some of the best out there!  From baseball themes for birth through 5th grade, water balloon fights for 6th-8th grade, and colored powder for 9th-12th grades all on the same day!  Our youth leaders are exhausted!  But they love every minute of it and have tons of help.  And it's all done purposefully, too.  There's always some kind of lesson or teaching time or reason behind it all.  There's no doubt about it.  These kids are known, valued, and loved all the way through their childhoods.

Slingshotting some water balloons!

Abishai patiently waiting for Justin to be done.  He was very concerned about finding the "boys" aka Justin and his friend Wolf, who had spent the afternoon with us.  He loves the kids that come over and hang out at our house and Justin is his favorite sibling.  It's very cute.

Helping baby Rosie crawl through the grass.  Rosie is our nursery director's 1 yr old and Abishai sees he very often during the 4:30, especially when he's been in the room during Team Huddle time.  That's when we gather before serving and pray for the kids and each other.  They do it in the elementary and preschool wing as well.  Rosie's a cute, pretty happy little girl, too.  She's the one who had a Wonder Woman birthday party a few weeks ago.  We love their family!

What a fun filled FULL weekend.  I'm glad we got to spend a good portion of it outside despite it being over 80 degrees again.  One more week of that and then it's supposed to cool off for good.  We'll be getting the remnants of the bakc end Hurricane Florence this weekend.  Good night!