Mini golf

Part of your admission to Dutch Wonderland was a free minigolf game.  Our Aunt Ann, Uncle Dave, and cousin James met us at mini golf, and we had 5 free games, so we shared some golf as the grown ups talked.  We then headed to Texas Roadhouse and had a good time eating and talking before going back to the hotel to go swimming and catch-up on each other's lives.  The boys enjoyed playing with Bubba , (James).  It was also the first time Madison has met that side of the family. 

Lancaster

 We traveled to Lancaster this weekend.  The main reason was to go to Sight and Sound to see Jonah, which was awesome and is highly recommended if you have the time!!!   Also we planned on going this weekend, because Thomas the Train was in town and is only there a few times a year.  Being the good Mom that I am, I figured let's go on a Friday, it will be less crowded, since I am off on Maternity leave, I can go whenever.  I forgot however, that Luke would have school!!  So his perfect attendance is ruined, but he didn't seem to mind.  The next reason was to eat at Isaac's Deli!!  Wonderful restaurant with Pretzel Rolls, again if you get to Central, PA you have to try their sandwiches!!!.  Lastly, we were going to go to Dutch Wonderland, a kid friendly amusement park.  We had a great time doing all these things.  The boys enjoyed Thomas and seeing him. They also enjoyed Dutch Wonderland.
                                                                                                                                                                                          
 

 The most memorable time for all has to be the Tilt a Turtle.  If anyone is a fan of the Tilt a Whirl, they would enjoy the tilt a Turtle.  Everyone wanted to go on it, well no one objected I should say.  If there are any Amusement park fans out there, they know that weight plays a good bit on the Tilt a Whirl and how good of a Tilt you have.  Well Graham just picked our Turtle out and Erin and I got in with Graham and Eli.  We were not trying to make it spin, despite Joe thinking that was the case.  But we must have had the weight just right with 2 little ones in the middle and us on the ends, because we were spinning very, very fast at times.  Eli started off by saying "I no like that", that shortly turned into all out screaming--AGHAGHAHGAGHAGH (which could be heard from miles around).  We were going so fast at one point, that he couldn't even scream because it just took the air out of him.  Erin and I were trying to be sympathetic, but there is nothing you can do, so we laughed.  I kept trying to reassure him, but I don't think he believed me as we kept going around and around and around.  Needless to say, Eli didn't go on that again, but Graham went back on it again!!!

 

Our Visitors

We had some visitors this past week.  Matt and Becky Preece came and spent a week with us as they are traveling around the US as missionaries. Becky was my friend from Texas and then went to Papua New Guinea after residency with Samaritan's Purse to serve as a Missionary there.  It was in PNG that she met Matt, a Mission Aviation Fellowship engineer.  They have been married about 11 months.

They are taking time in the US to travel around and see supporters, friends and family.  They got to experience life in the Nash household with 3 very active boys.  I don't think they were used to the 6 am wake ups (but we tried to keep them quiet and made up the whisper game!!)  Graham became Matt's buddy and was often found sitting in his lap as Matt did various things on his laptop-checking emails, playing a star wars game, watching his MAF videos.  Becky enjoyed the boys as well, but she had met them before.  After about 4 days we headed to Lancaster, PA.  We saw Jonah as the Sight and Sound Theatre, ate at Isaac's Deli, went to Dutch Wonderland, and then ate at the Texas Roadhouse.  Matt even got to go to his first MLB game, Brewers vs. Pirates.  All in all they had a good week with us.  They are off now for the rest of their east-west tour.

Washing Machine

About 2 weeks ago Erin mentioned seeing a water spot on her ceiling in her room downstairs.  We did some exploring and didn't find any source, just lots of pipes up above that went to the laundry room and bathroom.  Last Friday, I was doing laundry and when it was done I noticed that the machine hadn't emptied.  So I put it back on the spin cycle and we went to get Luke off the bus.  I didn't think about it until after dinner, and I checked and sure enough still water.  So I hit the spin button again and then went and n the washing got the kids ready for bed and came back, still water.  Not good.  So I decide to run the washing machine again without clothes in it to see if it will drain.  NOPE.  I send Joe downstairs to check Erin's room to see if there is any problems, and sure enough about 3 ceiling tiles were soaked with water.  We moved the dryer and washing machine away and found lots of water on the floor, but don't know where it is coming from.  So after cleaning up the water, getting the wet ceiling tiles down and putting plastic and storage bins under the pipes downstairs, we went to bed with visions of either a) having to call a plumber and fix the broken pipe, 2) having to buy a new washing machine, or 3) both.  Saturday was the day Joe ran in the 5k race and got 8th place (way to GO!!!), and then were was a festival in our town that the kids enjoyed.  So after getting the kids to nap, we went and saw that the floor was dry, there was no leaks from the pipes after running water down all the pipes.  So it had to be the washing machine.  Joe figured out it was a problem with the water pump (pumps water out of the washing machine). However, you  have to order this part and can't run to Lowe's and get it.  So we did some laundry at a friends house, and prayed the part would come and would solve the problem.  The water pump arrived on Tuesday, and while Joe was at work we had a Missionary Engineer who happened to be staying with us for the week put in the part, and it worked!!!!  So we have been doing laundry like crazy to get caught up before our trip to see Jonah and Thomas this weekend!!! 

Jonah

Photo Shoot

We decided to try a photo shoot before Erin left for the next 2 years with all the kiddos.  Madison wasn't too excited to get her picture taken and wasn't always cooperating, but luckily there were 3 other kids the photographer could focus on while she was having a meltdown.   We got some good photos and a good one of the kiddos and Aunt Erin.  

Cat food

When your 2 year old tells you that he fed Rocky (the cat), it might be wise to see how much he actually gave him!!!

To Obey

Luke came home from school the other day with a saying they had learned, "Obey all the way, right away, everyday with a happy heart."  I thought that was a good saying so we started to say it around the house to obey right away.  Then Luke and Graham would always throw in, with a happy heart.  Well Eli, not to be left out, decided he needed to add something as well.  So now when we say Eli obey, he says "obey, HAPPY MEAL"  I am not sure where this came from as we don't go to McDonalds all the often, rarely actually, but that is his common saying.  So if you see him around and ask him to obey, you will probably get back "Obey Happy MEAL"

Soccer

We started soccer tonight!! Luke is playing recreational soccer thru our park service this fall. He was hesitant to play at first, as Joe wasn't coaching, but once he got there he looked like he was having fun! All the kids got to practice at goalie (Luke shouldn't play there if their team wants to win!). The other boys ran up and down this hill next to the field for the hour we were there. They should all sleep well tonight!!!!

Where did all the icons go??

This is what happens when you leave your 2 year old alone with the computer. While he is trying to play a song on the computer he somehow gets all the icons off the desktop and I am having problems getting them back!!

Zoo

At the zoo

It is my work picnic and this year we are at the zoo!!! It is raining a lot, but the rain boots and coats are helping!!!

Narnia come to life

 As we continue to explore Narnia, the boys have decided to be King Peter (Luke) and King Caspian (Graham) for Halloween.  We have started to listen to the Narnia books on CD in the car since most of the stories don't have video's yet.  However it is like 10 seconds of listening, followed by 2 minutes of question asking, and then we start again.  It makes for a long car ride, but it is fun.  We have also started reading the stories at night.  However, we have some who are afraid of Puddleglum the Marshwiggle from the Silver Chair, so we may have to stop that story.  Eli, will be the classic Frog (we call him Kermit) to get him excited, and Madison will be the giraffe, all the Nash kids have been a giraffe for their first Halloween. 

Happy 60th Birthday Dad

 My Dad turns 60 today.  We had a small party for him at our house this past weekend.  His 2 brothers made the journey down as well.  It was a great afternoon of hearing stories of life growing up with 3 older brothers, and celebrating his life today.  Happy Birthday Dad, we love you!!!