The Wilds.....

Today was an adventure in the wilds. Mom, the boys and I headed east to see what all the talk is about.  I was WOWED..... The scenery was beautiful and the animals were awesome.  We took the 2 1/2 hour open air safari. It's the best way to enjoy and it all.  Our tour guide Ronnie was very informational and funny.  We can't wait to go back and take Daddy....

waiting on the tour to start....

Reading my nook.....Love it

Baby Rhino

See the baby agar laying down (born this morning)....

Ohio River Catfishing

While we were back at Grandma and Pappy's house the boys wanted to catfish.  On Saturday we headed out on the hunt for bait.  After a day of running around on dirt roads,  we ended up with a half a dozen bluegills for cat fishing.  In the evening time we got dressed and head down to the river.  The boys enjoyed watching Daddy put out the poles, exploring the river bank and building a fire.  Luke was disappointed that Mommy didn't have marshmallows.  Kurt did get to fight a catfish and landed him.   

Marmom Farms...

Stacey told me about this farm out near mad river mountain.  It is were you can walk around the farm and check out the farm animals and feed them.  Luke would have nothing to do with the goats and the pony, but had no problem with feeding and petting the deer. They played basketball in the barn and climbed up on hay barrels. They also saw a big bass in the pound.  They had a really great playground barn area.  We did not ride a pony today but maybe next time.

 

Tycoon Lake...

When we were down at mom's.  Rick found Tycoon wildlife area on the map.  So off to have lunch and then out to find Tycoon lake.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed exploring other wildlife area of Ohio.

Cabela's Catfish Tournament

This pasted weekend we went down to my hometown of Gallipolis, Oh to the fourth annual Cabels Catfish Tournament.  There were 60 anglers from 6 states.  The boys stayed near the big tank were they held the catfish after the weight in.  West Virgina  ODNR took each catfish to measure them and some other data before putting them back into the Ohio River.  Kurt talk to the ODNR officer during the weight in about the catfish.  He told me he now knows all the secrets about catching big catfish. Here are some pictures of the big cats...

Kurt with ODNR officer

The winners....I wonder why?

Checking out the catfish

Getting their information from the catfish

Anthony-Thomas

The boys and I went on a tour of the Anthony-Thomas candy factory.  It was a nice and clean factory to see.  While we were there, they were making chocolate eggs for Easter time.  We could not take any picture of the factory because they do some contract work for other candy companies.  The chocolate eggs they were making was for snickers.  It was neat to see the process from the beginning to being pack up to ship. Mandy different stages the boys got to see. 

After the tour, we HAD to go shopping in the store.  The boys picked out candy for Daddy, Mommy, Nana and Grandma.  Don't worry they didn't forget about themselves.

However they didn't get to take home the big buckeye, but after the tour we got to sample a little buckeyes. Yummy

Road trip....

It was time for another one of Daddy's adventures. Around 10:30 Saturday morning we loaded up the van and headed west.  First stop on our road trip was the Freshwater Farms of Ohio.  At this farm we were able to view the spring water ponds with gold fish, frogs and tadpoles.  We also got to feed the rainbow trout.  In the building they had catfish, snapping turtles, Fluffy the alligator, and big sturgeons. We were able to pet the sturgeons.  You can just imagine how excited the boys were.  They loved seeing, feeding, and  petting the fish.  The boys were talking a mile a minute the whole time.

After an hour and half our next stop was the Urbana airport cafe.  We got to see a "little" airplane take off and eat really good food. We took a look at Urbana University. On our way to a wildlife area we came across Ohio Caverns.  So we stopped to take a tour.  This is the best and most colorful caverns hands down.  It also stays 54 degrees all year around.  So it felt really good to us.  The boys enjoyed looking at the cave and walking through.

After a couple of hours at the caverns. We headed to the wildlife area that ended up being closed.  The next stop was Buck Creek State Park.  Kurt wanted to do some fishing.  So we stopped at the boat rump area to try our luck.  While Daddy and Kurt were fishing Luke was building a campfire ring with rocks.  Around 6:30 we got dinner at the marina. It was surprisingly good.  Kurt needed to go fishing again before we left to head home.  The boys headed back down to the lake to fish.

Fishing report: Luke two blue gill, Kurt one blue gill.

 and Daddy 0 fish.  It was 10:30 pm when we made it back home from a long but fun filled day.  Already looking at putting other road trip together again soon.

Ohio State Fair...

We had a great surprise last weekend.  Jason, Jayna and the girls come for a visit.  Grandma and Pappy also come up.  So what else is there to do but to go to the fair.....Cousin at the fair having fun...