A Winery in Ohio????

A winery in Ohio??? Those were my thoughts exactly! But actually there are quite a few around here. Surprising I know! A couple of months ago, I read about a family owned winery celebrating 40 years in the wine industry called Valley Vineyards. I loved the history of the vineyard and especially the fact that it is a third generation family run operation. Plus, it just happened to be about 15 minutes from our house so I knew the next time our babysitters, the grandparents, were in town this was going to be our "Date Night" destination.

We arrived at sunset, this was the only decent picture of the vineyard.

On the weekends they have wine tasting of all 18 wines and a weekend cookout. How this works is, you taste the wines and then select a bottle to accompany your meal. You have a choice of steak or salmon then you grill your meal. The sides and salads are inside after you've grilled. Sounds like alot of work on a night "off" but it was so much fun. We selected Red Reflections as our wine. After dinner and dessert, I could not leave without tasting their famous Ice wine. Ice Wine is when the grapes are harvested when they are 32 degrees. This wine was really, really sweet, but I was glad we tasted it. We had the pleasure of meeting the owners who helped us select some great wines to take home. Kevin and I enjoyed our date night at the Valley Vineyard. Who knew Ohio wine could actually be good? On a side note, I told Kevin that he had better not think this was going to take the place of our trip to Napa, hmm he just laughed! But I just wanted to make sure he knew!!! We will have to make another trip back to Valley Vineyard really soon!

Another Visitor and a BUSY Weekend!!!

Sadako, Grammy, has been here since Wednesday and then Friday Leroy, Dad-daddy arrived. I think Dad-daddy did not realize how much "stuff" Grammy would bring to us each week! Now, he had a car load of detergent, paper towels, chips, wipes, and so forth! Can you tell we are spoiled!

Saturday, we continued our farm tour...just kidding we are not on a tour but it does seem like it though! This week we visited Windmill Farm Market. They had the usual pumpkins, kid corn maze and tunnels, but I have to say they had the neatest Amish play sets! One was like a castle, then there was a pirate ship, train, windmill, and a couple more. They were a hit with the boys. But I think the highlight for everyone was the hayride. They had people in costume that would jump out and scare everyone on the hayride and not to mention the MUD!!! Yuck! But just look at the grandparents, don't they look like they are having a blast! Here are some other pictures from our morning at Windmill Farms.

On the way home we stopped at Lovely's Farmers Market. Another quaint market full of Amish foods and fresh vegetables. We ate our lunch outside and the boys loved the country music playing and the leaves! You would think they had never seen them before. I guess it really is the small things that count.

Another fun fall day shared with the Grandparents. I think they had just as much fun as the rest of us did!!

Look who came to visit

Guess who came to visit??? Sadako, better known as Grammy! The boys were so excited to see her! First, they enjoyed a picnic lunch together, then they fought over who was going to sit in her lap. As you can see they compromised, both were able to share a leg! While Rylan napped, Holden and Grammy made Halloween puppets, didn't they turn out cute! Then it was on to the sports! Grammy played basketball, Holden decided he was going to coach her and Rylan, baseball, tennis, and even enjoyed a bike ride! (I forgot to snap those pictures!) And like all guest have to endure, bedtime stories cuddled in the bed together. Grammy's trip has started off as a busy one, but I know she is enjoying herself and does not have a problem with being showered with love!