Wednesday Wee-Wind

 

A flashback to the Kotynski kids and our kids hanging out together back when they lifted outside of Asheville -- before they moved here in 2018. Wow! What a group! Gabe is now getting married. Ana is in college. And Genevieve, no longer has a binky :)

Game night with the Kot’s!

We do life with this family but rarely spend TIME with them outside of running to and fro. John was working, but we still found time for a game night! We included the two significant others: Micah (who goes with Ana) and Maryah (who goes with the Gabe.) I am just so happy that I have this family living ten minutes from me!

Ballet videos

Abigail just finished her first week of ballet intensives. Following a week of very hard work every day from 11-5, the girls (and some guys -- including Isaac who helped partner!) put on a performance. I managed to get videos of the dances that had a lot of people who are special to us in them. I don't share links to dances of other kids without permission, but because these were already performed in front of an audience, I feel they are free for me to share. Here are the links! 

Modern dance (includes niece Ana and our dear friend Maryah)

Partnering (includes Abigail, Isaac, and our niece, Kari)

Ana and Partner (our niece Ana partnering with a young man from ballet)

Gabe with Partner (nephew Gabe partnering with Ay-la)

Class dance (features Abigail and niece, Kari)

Kari (group dance)

Ana dance (includes Maryah)

Abigail's group dance (includes friends Johnna Beth, Ella, and Sarai)

Older girl group dance (includes Ana and Maryah)

Cedar Point

I LOVED wearing my prAna dresses at the park. They are SOOOOO comfortable and have totally changed my mind about wearing dresses. I could wear both of them with tennis shoes and a hat. I was SO cool and SO comfortable!

I brought a book and read while waiting in line or while sitting outside while my kids were on rides.

What a great amusement park! They had GOOD beer!

The birding trail that the two kids did.

This ride was CRAZY!

My three main amusement park people. Abigail will ride some rides. But Sidge just isn't very interested. 

Our team!

Virgin strawberry daiquiris on the beach. They kids LOVED this.

One extra kid in the car wasn't AS easy. But we made the 9 hour drive each way work. On the way there, we stopped at a thrift store famous for their HOT WHEEL car booth and Isaac spent about tan hour picking out what he wanted.

While we aren't into HOT WHEELS, we all found some other very interesting items at the thrift shop.

Our hotel. Waiting for our room. Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready until nearly 6pm. 



We had promised our Isaac a "Big 13!" However, COVID derailed those dreams. So instead, we told our kids they could all have a "Big 14!" Isaac had wanted to go to Cedar Point. It is one of the biggest roller coaster parks in the USA. He also sweetened the deal by telling JB that there was a very popular birding migration route/festival that went through that area. (I had no idea this park was in such a beautiful place. Right on Lake Eerie. It was SO amazingly beautiful.)

Unfortunately the BIG birding time did not correspond with the dates the park was open so we had to settle for not-so-good birding in order to get the park. 

We stayed at THE BREAKERS right next to the park. We opted to not take our RV because, truthfully, gas prices meant it would take a long time to tow and cost a lot of money, and we would have trouble with getting back and forth to the park while simultaneously getting birders where they needed to be. The hotel was nice albeit expensive. I also am just not into the incredible prices of everything! I mean a chik-fil-a sandwich in the park was $10! Highway Robbery! 

We drove up on Saturday. Our room wasn't ready on time on Saturday. (Apparently they don't guarantee room ready time due to the type of hotel they are?) So we took the kiddos to a HIBACHI grill inside the hotel. This was the first time Gabe had ever been to Hibachi, and my kids hadn't been since they were small. Here are some pictures from the dinner!

On Sunday, I took Isaac and cousin Gabe and little sister Hannah to the park. John took the birders, well, birding. Later in the day, he actually got back in time to join us at the park so we did it together in the evening as well. 

On Monday, we all went to the park together. We took some breaks in the heat of the afternoon. The kids also enjoyed the pool and hot tub. 

And on Tuesday, we drove home.

I have realized that I am just not very into amusement parks. 

• Crowds are ... crowded. 
• Heat is ... hot. 
• Lines are ... long.
• Food is ... expensive.
• People are ... odd. 
• Concrete is ... not grassy.
• Rides are ... scary.

That should sum it up. I loved getting to see my boy Isaac do what he loves. (Although, at 14, they have to play it cool so you don't get to see the excitement as much.) I also loved to see how into the rides Hannah was. In fact, she was the one who "forced" Gabe and Isaac to do the drop tower -- something neither of them was very interested in doing.

In the end, Isaac got to ride every single one of the 16 coasters that were open. (The big grand-daddy coaster DRAGSTER RIDE that the park is famous for was not open. In fact it is down for the entire year.)

We had a wonderful time. A highlight was riding the SNAKE RIVER EXPEDITION with John and our three youngest kids. This is sort of like Disney's RIVER CRUISE. While we were on the ride, a boat in front of us actually broke down and the riders had to be removed from the ride. As a result, our actors had to ad-lib an extra 10-20 minutes of material, and they were really good at it. I also find pleasure in watching people do things they love (like act, sing, perform, play an instrument) despite not being Brad-Pitt level acting.

We are home now. More and more I think to myself: I love being with my family, but I feel like I have travelled enough for a lifetime. I really just love being on my farm!

2022 "Snow of the Year"

We don't get a lot of snow around these parts. Usually we will get 2-3 snows a year maximum that are sled-worthy. Three inches is considered ... considerable when it comes to snow. 

Last night was the night! On Sunday evening we were at ballet and the snow started coming down. (We also had to get stitches for one of the Kotysnki kiddos, but I'll update that later.) We headed home and it kept snowing until mid-day today. Probably about three inches in total, but plenty for SNOW. Zach and Zoey, Geneveieve and Eoin, and my youngest four all sledded and also had fun making snow wars. Here are some pictures and videos courtesy of my sister wife, Erin!

I love Abigail's hair here! It's so "Elsa". 

 

Housewarming for Uncle Ed and Aunt Jan

Tonight, my Uncle Ed and Aunt Janet (my mother's sister and her husband) had a little "blessing" and "housewarming" for their new house in Greeneville. We are so blessed with how many amazing family members have chosen to make their life near us here in East TN. Since we bought our farm, the following people have joined us:

• John's parents (on our farm!)
• My first cousin Eddie and his family (About 7 minutes away)
• Eddie's parents (the people this party was for!)
• My parents (2nd home in Greeneville)
• Shane and Linda (military family with this as a home-base house)
• Anni (and her little-soon-to-be-sweetie-pie-daughter)
• John's sister, Katie (bought property that borders our farm; will move here early next year!)
• Erin (Only temporary but wonderful!)

Tonight, after living in the area for a year, the house they were having built was completed, and Ed and Jan are officially here forever! They are still working as linguists through Wycliffe after having spent decades in Indonesia. 

Here are some pictures from the evening: