Ohio Historical Museum

A few weeks ago, DH and I took the Bachsters to the Ohio Historical Society Museum here in Columbus.  DH and I had been to the museum a long time ago, way before we had kids, so it was fun for us to go back and enjoy it again (with 3 additional little people).

This museum has a little of everything, which makes it a really kid-friendly experience.  We saw fossils, Civil War flags, taxidermy, Native American artifacts, dolls from the 1800s and a camper from the 1950s, to name just a few of the many things on display.  Here are some shots of our day:

I can't believe that mastodons use to live in the Ohio area.  This one greets visitors as you enter the museum:

 
We all loved exploring the Lustron home, straight from the 1950s.  DH and I laughed when we saw the phone book (a real phone book!), and the Bachsters especially loved the rotary dial phone and record player (things they have probably never seen before):

Early Columbus transportation:

Early firefighter transportation:

I loved the handmade quilts.  How proud these quilt makers would be if they knew one of their creations was in a museum (!):

There was a little hearth area that was set up not far from the quilt display that the Bachsters just loved.  There was a butter churner and a spinning wheel, and these kept them busy for a long time:

And to top it all off, you exit through a gift shop that sells Ohio-made products, like maple syrup and wine.  I bought an Ohio-shaped cookie cutter (to make sweet reminders of our fun Ohio-y day)!

-Cheryl

The Ohio State Fair - 2013

A couple of weeks ago, DH & I took the Bachsters to the Ohio State Fair.  It was a very, very crowded Sunday, but the weather was absolutely perfect for it (perhaps that's why it was so crowded?).  We went to the fair last year, too - here's the post.

Our game plan was to ride the rides - and we knew where they all were, and which ones we wanted to ride.  We started with the Ferris wheel - here's the view:

 
The Bachsters each got a wrist band, so that they could ride all the rides they wanted.  They rode the swingy kid-sized helicopters, and went down the giant slide, and rode the caterpillar roller coaster, and the spinning swings:

We saw some interesting fair food:

But the absolute favorite (and probably the one thing the kids were most excited about): cotton candy:

The Bachsters got to pet a kangaroo and ride a pony:

As soon as DD saw the signs to win a hermit crab, that's all that she could talk about.  We told her that we would try to win one at the end of the fair, so that we wouldn't have to carry it around with us.  Turns out, each Bachster won one, so now we have 3 new little unexpected pets:

We'll see you again next year, fair!

-Cheryl

The Farmers Market

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to head out to the Worthington Farmers Market, one of the larger farmers markets here in Central Ohio.  I can't believe that I haven't visited this particular market up until now, as it is my favorite!  (Here is my post from last year's market.)

What fun it was!  As always it was so crowded but in a great way, like this is the place to be way.  It makes me so happy seeing so many people buying from local farmers!

I did the market by myself, and all in one trip - I just didn't feel like making a pit stop to drop things off at my car.  So, by the time I was all done, I was carrying the following: a few pounds of grass-fed beef, a couple of pounds of pastured pork, a pint of blueberries, a peck of peaches, half dozen ears of corn, a big bag of green beans, a big bunch of basil, a bunch of kale, a bunch of beets, a zucchini, a bunch of nectarines, a quart of maple syrup and a frozen cold pack.  I'm amazed that I was able to hobble to my car carrying all that stuff!

Oh, and my camera....I also had my camera:

-Cheryl

A year of COSI

Last year, my parents got us a wonderful Christmas gift: money to be used towards a COSI membership.  We've gone several times this year and have enjoyed exhibits like Water, Adventure, Body Worlds, Lego Castle and Big Machines.  We've also taken a couple of fun classes - one on weather & the other on animals (in which we came home with 3 live hissing cockroaches!).  It's been such a blast, I wanted to share some pictures of all our COSI fun:

Little Kid Space is awesome - earlier this Spring, Little Dude and I went to just hang out together:

 
The Water exhibit, earlier this Summer, was so neat.  We had to hurry through & now I'm kicking myself for not taking our time.  Maybe one day it'll be back!

Outside the water exhibit were gorgeous photographs of the Big Darby Creek, by Mark Romesser (this is my picture of his picture.....I wish I had taken this shot!).  The funny thing is, after admiring his photographs at COSI, I met him at my camera club a month or so later, and then ran into him a few weeks after that!  He is seriously talented and dedicated!

Here are a few from permanent areas: an optical illusion and an area on space robotics:

They have a "wild winds" booth that simulates strong storm winds - if I remember correctly, it gets up in the 70-mph-range:

The following shots were from our fun class on weather.  We made "tornadoes" & barometers and then ate liquid nitrogen ice cream (which was very tasty).  The girls and I loved the class & we want to attend more!

The Bachsters are serious Lego fans, so we absolutely had to go check out the Lego Castle exhibit.  It was a small exhibit, but lots of fun:

I'm not sure what exhibits COSI is planning for 2013, but we'll be there for certain.  We're so lucky to have such an awesome, fun & educational place right in our city!

-Cheryl

Urban Farmhouse

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an ad in our community paper for Urban Farmhouse, a vintage/antique store in a little town not too far from ours.  Sadly, the ad was for the brick & mortar store's closing (the online store lives on).  Vintage goodies....on sale......we are so there.

So, yesterday, Little Dude and I hopped in the car for a little drive out in the country, to Thornville Ohio.  Here are a few pics from the shop.........

There were still lots of dishes left - I ended up getting a few neat pieces for some upcoming food photography:

I sort of regret not buying this old advertisement for canned peaches.  There was also a vintage French chocolate advertisement that I probably should have bought:

In addition to some food photography props, I also came home with a little wooden box to keep on our kitchen counter for the day's mail, as well as this neat little (although impractical) bracelet:

If you are in Central Ohio & love a good bargain on vintage goods, check out Urban Farmhouse (or online if you're not in the area).

-Cheryl

Greenlawn Cemetery

Yesterday was a warm & sunny day in Central Ohio, but not quite hot enough to go to the pool.  So the Bachsters and I went on a photoshoot instead and headed to Greenlawn Cemetery just outside downtown Columbus.  My goal was to get some bird shots, as Greenlawn is known as a good spot for bird watching.  Unfortunately, we didn't see many birds, so we focused our attention on the many beautiful mausoleums at the cemetery.

Exploring Greenlawn prompted a conversation about life and death.....and zombies.  The Bachsters had lots of questions, and it was nice being able to chat about things as we wandered around.

-Cheryl

The Ohio State Fair

Last weekend, DH and I took the Bachsters to the Ohio State Fair.  It's been years since we visited the fair - last time was way, way before our first Bachster was even born.  So it was a lot of fun to go back and try to remember some of the things that we saw the first time.  One thing remains constant: the fair is so huge that it would be very hard to do it all in one day.

A gigantic carved squash:

We didn't get to see the Civil War encampment.  We didn't get to see the knitting exhibition.  We didn't get to see the pig race.  We didn't get to see the butter sculptures.  But we did have a lot of fun and the Bachsters got to ride as many rides as they had energy for.  And there was lots of cotton candy, slushies and funnel cakes.  After about 4 hours, we were all pretty beat.  And that's when you have to come to terms with the fact that you just can't see it all in one day.

There will always be butter sculptures next year!

-Cheryl

Canal Winchester Farmer's Market

Today, we headed to the Canal Winchester Farmer's Market, one that we haven't been to yet this summer.  It was a smaller farmer's market than others in Columbus, but we still found lots of goodies.

The first thing I spotted, as we were parking, was a booth with gorgeous bouquets of sunflowers.  We headed straight there, and got ourselves a beautiful, cheery (and heavy!) bunch of sunflowers:

Of course, I just had to play around with photographing them once we got home:

At the same stand, I purchased mint, which I have some big (sweet) plans for.  I purchased three huge bunches for a mere $2 - such a good price:

We also purchased some cute necklaces for the Bachsters, bratwursts from a local farmer, Ohio corn and these lovely peaches, which the Bachsters devoured as soon as we got home:

I really enjoyed the cozy feel of this farmer's market.  I hope we can go back soon!

-Cheryl