Sunday, May 29, 2011

Gramagramps!

This time last year when Mark's parent's came to visit, Abigail renamed them Baba and Gargar ... this year they morphed into one and were forever referred to as Gramagramps!!! ;o) That was only one of the differences of their trip. This year with Naomi's arrival we warned them that if they were to book flights at this time ... they should consider it a 'working holiday'. They obviously took this to heart as soon after they arrived they asked for a list of things to do ... which we were very happy to give ... just as well their love language is 'Acts of Service'!!! Amongst other things ... Mark's dad completely revamped a bench we were given for our front porch which now looks as good as new, he fixed our hoover and our mower ... the list goes on! Mark's mum got up to a lot of mischief in the garden and made Abigail three gorgeous dresses (see below for one of them!) as well as cooking dinner every night and many other things!
Between them they kept Abigail amused every afternoon too so Jenny could get a sleep in while she got used to having two little munchkins as well ... very much appreciated! Baking cookies, going on adventures round the house, having tea parties, going to the play in the park, helping in the garden etc etc etc ... Lots of silliness and fun!
We also had some fun as a family both playing in the back yard when the weather was hot ...
Going out for dinner a few times ...
A couple of day trips to Amish country and the Zemba Brothers Family Field Day where Abigail enjoyed pony rides and going on a digger and Naomi very nicely slept for the most part!!
Just before they left we even had a day out at Columbus zoo ... successfully avoiding the forecast thunderstorms ... while we were out at least!! Abigail was having a progressive photoshoot around the zoo ... sitting on every bronze animal statue!! Here she is with Mark on the Manatee!
Naturally 'Gramagramps' also got their fix of some Naomi time too ... even though she's too little to rename them yet herself!! In the few weeks they were here we were able to see change and growth in the littlest member of the family too!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Party Animals!

A couple of weeks ago Abigail's buddy Bri celebrated her 3rd birthday with an afternoon at Hershberger's Farm and Bakery up in Amish Country (http://www.travelhost.com/ohamish/hershbergers-farm_bakery).
As well as looking cheeky and giggling a lot, the kids had a chance to feed the animals, milk a goat and pick up some rabbits and puppies.
Abigail was really hesitant to touch all these small, fluffy, cute animals ...
... but when we suggested a pony ride ... she couldn't have got there quick enough ... and ended up having 3 rides over the course of the afternoon!! The logic behind loving the ponies and not the little animals is beyond us!!
As the pony rides were such a hit ... we suggested that she try one of the BIG horses with daddy ... and again she surprised us with an immediate yes, rushing over to the horses and loving that experience too (although the look on her face in the photo below didn't catch all the smiles)!!
There was also the chance to ride in an Amish buggy around Hershberger's so Amanda, Bri's mum, went with Abigail, Bri and her big brother Zach for a ride!
After all the fun with the animals we enjoyed cake and ice-cream and present time ... see the birthday girl below with her cake!
It was a really fun afternoon for all of us who were awake ... and Naomi was an angel sleeping the whole way through the festivities in her buggy!!

Monday, May 09, 2011

Back in the newly refurbished hangar

Having added this blog post about a week ago ... we were disappointed to find it had disappeared ... so here is something very similar to what we originally wrote ...
When Naomi was 10 days old, Mark took all his girlies into the hangar plus several boxes of doughnuts for the guys ... to celebrate the newest member of the family and to have her first aeroplane photo ... of which there are destined to be many more!!
Having spent some time at home to look after all three of the women in his life, Mark returned to a newly refurbished hangar. After a successful 'raise the roof' campaign for MMS, Hangar A now has a brand new roof and door. This was for the original MMS hangar, built years ago and desperately in need of these updates!
See below some photo's of the roof mid-process ...
Here's the main door ... or should we say ... here is where the main door should be!! While the work was being done there was both snow and very cold weather and also a tornado warning ...
... but now the work is complete and as you can see below looks great. The new door is a hydraulic one piece swing door ... replacing a very heavy folding concertina door to each side ... this will allow for bigger planes to be worked on in the hanger enabling MMS to serve flying missions worldwide more effectively.