We left Kendallville on Saturday morning & headed to Sandusky Ohio.  Our destination... Cedar Point!  We checked into our hotel at about 4:30 pm, grabbed dinner & headed to the park!  Our family took advantage of the after 5pm discounted rate.  The park was open until midnight, so that gave us about 7 hours in the park.  James had a goal… to do ALL of the roller coasters in the park before we left on Sunday.  We were able to get onto Top Thrill Dragster early in the evening.  First James & his dad rode, then the kid pulled the child swap on me & I had to go too!  It wasn’t that bad.  I couldn’t open my eyes though because I was afraid to loose a contact lens!  In our 7ish hours he had 8 of the 16 done!  Kirk rode most of them also, and Luke enjoyed the many rides geared towards kids his age!  Halfway to the goal & completely exhausted we closed out the park at MIDNIGHT!

  We woke early to meet my parents, grandparents, uncle, & aunt back at Cedar Point.  My mom wanted to get a picture of four generations on the “Cedar Downs” ride.  “Cedar Downs” was previously known as “The Racing Derby” at Euclid Beach Park.  When my mother was a child she visited Euclid Beach every summer & the “Racing Derby ” was a favorite of her & her brother.  I’ve heard about Euclid Beach all of my life & ridden the “Cedar Downs” on several visits to Cedar Point.  This was the first time that my mom had been on the ride with her brother since before the park closed in 1969.  It was really fun to watch! 

  We spent the rest of the day completing James’ list of coasters!  We even got to ride a few of them twice!  They have some great rides located throughout the park for kids Luke’s age too.  The crowds are SOOOO small this time of year!  We rode rides multiple times that would normally have 2+ hour waits!  We walked right on most of the coasters.  James even walked on Top Thrill Dragster with NO wait for his FOURTH ride by early evening.  The park was only open until 8pm on Sunday, but it was plenty of time considering the low attendance! We even got a little souvenir shopping done!

Charles & the boys at the Ohio border.

Me & Charles at the Ohio border

Kirk at Cedar Point

James on the Scrammbler.  Luke LOVED this ride!

James bording Top Thrill Dragster.

Charles James ready for launch on Top Thrill Dragster!

Cedar Downs

Charles & James

Me & James

Getting ready to leave at the end of the night on Sunday.

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  On Friday we spent the day with our Indiana friends.  Monica lead us down to Ft. Wayne to DeBrand's Fine Chocolates.  It was delicious!  They offer open tours of their factory on Tuesdays & Thursdays.  Unfortunately, we were there on a Friday. L  It looked like it would be a fun time though!

  After we left DeBrand’s we decided to visit the Mid-America Windmill Museum.  When I asked Monica what there was to do in Kendallville, she laughingly told me about the museum!  At first I thought that my husband was joking when he said that he wanted to visit it!  The first part of the tour was a surprisingly well done video about the history of windmills & how weather makes wind.  I’ll admit, when I heard there was a film, I expected something REALLY cheesy! I was pleasantly surprised!  After the film we went into a barn that houses a hands on exhibit of windmill fans. The kids (and their parents too) were able to push buttons that simulate the wind and the fans then open as they would when they’re working in a windmill.  We left the barn to tour the exhibit of outdoor working windmills.  The kids had a good time visiting & learning about how the different ones worked & what they were used for!  If you live near Kendallville, or ever passing through on a visit, I would definitely recommend this as a field trip!  

The kids in front of DeBrand

At the chocolate counter.

Me (on the left) & Monica chatting over chocolate!

On the steps of a windmill.

The kids in the windmill.

Charles teaches!

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  On Wednesday(9/20)  the boys vistited the Studebaker National Museum with Dad while I attended a workshop at Granger Community Church.  Here are a few pictures.  They seemed to learn alot from the trip .  They had lot to tell me at the end of the day!

  After I finished my workshop we drove to the Michigan state line & the back into Indiana.

Early Race Car with TOP speed of 65 mph!

The boys with a Skyliner

Fire Engine

Back to Indiana

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  Yesterday (9/19) we visited Amish Acres.  It's an 80 acre former Amish farm located in Nappanee, IN.   It was a great field trip!  Lots of fun stuff to learn!   We saw a documentary about the history of the Amish that explained how and why they came to the colonies from Europe.  Then we took a walking tour of the farmhouse followed by a wagon tour the grounds.  After the wagon ride, we walked the grounds to get a better look at some of the buildings. 

The boys pose in front of Amish Acres.

One of the bedrooms in the farmhouse

This shot was James' idea.  It turned out pretty good!

James loves everything trains.  This used to be a railroad watchman's shack for the B&O railroad.

Luke & Kirk pet the sheep & goat.

James playing with a bull.

Luke & Kirk pet a sheep.

James watching the turkeys

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Kirk on a swing on the threshing floor of the big barn

Luke & Mom swinging.

The men of the family on the threshing floor.

Broom making.

Amish school house.

Look how thrilled they are!

Amish school "bus" that was used until the early 1970's.

After dinner, we walked over to a covered bridge.

The boys on the bridge.

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  We left Tampa International Airport on Monday 9/18/06.  Luke (5 years old) was very excited to take his first ride on an airplane! James & Kirk were pretty excited too!  The last time that we flew James had just turned 6 & Kirk was just 3.  Since Kirk doesn't remember that flight, it was all new to him!

Luke waiting for the flight.

James (13) & Kirk (10) on the plane.

Luke with Dad.

James, Kirk, & Luke just after we arrived in South Bend Indiana.  Luke was a little loopy from being cooped up for a WHOLE the 2 hours & 15 minutes!  This is why we flew instead of driving!  LOL

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Normally I'll be blogging about field trips that our family takes around our home state of Florida,  but  we're currently on a family trip to Indiana & Ohio.  If you've homeschooled for more than 3 weeks, you have probably figured out... It's ALL about the field trips!  Any time that we can actually get out of the house AND in the process learn something with our kids it's a good day!!!  My entries will probably consist mostly of pictures of our trips & some information about learning opportunties at each location.  Enjoy & please share you opinions of a location if you've been there also!

I hope to post my first pictures tomorrow night after my huband shows me how to get the pictures off of the digital camera & onto the laptop that we've brought along for the trip!

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