Lewis/Hall Vacation... Historic Village Time

If there is a historical village in the area, the Lewis family will be there!

 and since the children were literally climbing the walls... off we went...

 Seven of the nine Hall and Lewis kids!  Missing Will Hall and Seven Lewis.

 I'm a sucker for a pretty garden

 The General Store

 Required picture of a spinning wheel for Grandma Lewis

Required outhouse picture 

 Aren't you all glad we don't all have to live in only one room?

Trapper's cabin

 Church cemetery

Neither Bill nor Will Hall thought this grave marker very funny.  Six year old Will asked his dad..."Am I dead?"

 The little church

 Would make a cute little wedding place

 Bill and Heather keeping their marriage healthy

 It was very hot and humid

 I want this garden

 The raspberries were so good and the corn tall

Relaxing in the shade

Lewis/Hall Camping Vacation!

Three teens and a tween playing cards

Deep in the woods

Oh, the things you can do with rocks

I don't go anywhere without my sippy cup

Dutch oven meat loaf cooking

Morning fresh

Where I've been

Sand dune riding!

Spending time with visting Grandparents

Fighting disgusting tomato hornworms!


Doing ropes courses

Rock hounding

Camping

River swimming

Between vacation, my parents visiting, and regular day-to-day stuff my time has been occupied. We also had computer issues- I'm typing on a new lap top and the kids are currently playing on a new desk top- two new computers are OUCH on the budget. So that's where I've been. (I've been playing hookie this summer and just having fun.)

But now I'm getting back to normal life. The kids are starting homeschool on Monday and I'm back to homestead activities. (Read: cooking from scratch, prepping and planting for fall gardening, u-picking fruit etc. and preserving it and numerous other projects.)

My DH and I took a break from weight loss from the end of May to the end of July so we are starting back up on that. Back to daily exercise and kicking out the junk food. The good news is that during our "break", we didn't gain any weight- we just didn't lose any. (It's all that summer ice cream!) Expect blog posts on our progress.

Also on a back road country bike ride we found a very nice property that is up for sale. We would love to purchase it but we currently have too much debt to make the purchase. The good news on that is... it has kicked us in the rear end to get ourselves out of debt once and for all. Even the kids said they would stop "wanting" stuff if it means we could get into that or some like it. They and the DH and I are willing to cut way, way back and get frugal. So expect some blog posts on this effort.

Frugality is great but to hasten the mission of getting out of debt, the kids and I are going to be trying to make some $$ from home. So lots of posts about this are going to be coming soon too. I've got lots of ideas but right now I'm praying and seeing where the Lord leads in this regard.

So that's where I've been and where the Lewis clan will be heading. Barring any unforseen

happenings (which happen frequently when you five children) I hope to get back to daily posting. Comments really motivate me so please "talk" to me!

My Finished Greenhouse and more gardening

We eat a lot of pistachios in our house. They are a healthy snack and if you buy them unshelled it takes a while to eat your snack so you can't just scarf them down. This helps stretch out your snack and help you with portion control. Afterward you can compost your shells or you can use them for pathways in your garden or do what we are doing and use them for flooring for our greenhouse. We will just put them in as we have them and cover up the dirt and grass.

Our garden getting layered with 3 cubic yards of compost. (A combination of manures, plant material and clay) We had it delivered from a little local nursery. It was much cheaper by the truck load then by bags. You might be wondering about the clay in the compost but we are very pleased with it. Our soil is essentially sand with a bit of dirt thrown in for color. The clay will help the garden area retain water rather than it just draining straight through the sand.

The start of our no dirt potato garden. The cardboard is down and we have the straw to put the potatoes into. I had already purchased some seed potatos and the DH picked up some more but with the increased size of our garden we need to pick up even more. I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many potatoes. We are big potato eaters and if stored properly they will last a very long time.

Our garden is in the backyard and there wasn't a way to get the delivery truck any closer to it then the front driveway. So here we are filling our little Red Flyer wagon (from when I was a child) with compost. One child would fill, one would travel the wagon back and forth and another would rake the compost out on the garden. I weeded while all this was going on, occasionally helping a tired child and the DH started a heck of a lot of seeds in the greenhouse.

Our neighbors helped us out by loaning us their "Big Blue" wheelbarrow after they came home from work. They had a good laugh watching us travel back and forth with the wagon. A wheelbarrow is on our list of things to obtain but we haven't got there yet. I'm hoping to find a good one at a yard sale.

This is what three cubic yard of compost looks like. Doesn't look like much until you start hauling it. I took my oldest with me to my youngest's well check just as the compost was being delivered. She was dismayed to find the pile still there when we returned, even though everyone had been working on it for the hour we were gone.

Here is a video of our finished greenhouse and the seeds and plants we have started!

Help For Growing Families- Vacationing Part 2

Whew! Today was crazy! Sorry for the late post but I just couldn't get time to post until now.

Last week we talked about camping: http://modernchristianhomestead.blogspot.com/2009/02/help-for-growing-families-vacations.html

This week we're talking about planning.
In order to make a vacation affordable and enjoyable for the larger family, a little planning goes a long way!

Read about your destination at the library.
Search the internet.

Send away for any and all tourist guides.

You want to find out what there is to do in the general area. What do various family members like to do? What fees are there for attractions? What is there to do that is free? Do you really need to go to place A for $$$ when place B is almost the same and is $?

Look for discounts. Is there a certain day that an attraction offers a cheaper fee? Are coupons available? Package deals?

Check times of tours and hours of operation. Do you need reservations?

What sights are close to each other? How much time can you expect to spend at any given sight? How much can you do in a day? How much do you want to do in a day?

Every family will have different needs and desires. If you take your time and do the research then you get a truly fun and memorable trip for everyone.

Help For Growing Families is sponsered by Mother Hen over at http://shipfullofpirates.com

Help For Growing Families- Vacations Part 1

Mother Hen over a http://shipfullofpirates.com/ hosts Help For Growing Families on Tuesdays so I've decided to do a Tuesday series on How to Vacation Frugally with a large family. It is very possible to have great vacations with a bigger than average family. It just requires creativity, flexibility and planning. Today we'll tackle part one: Learn to love camping!

Whether you backpack, tent, or RV it, camping is the cheapest form of lodging around. Campgrounds range from back country to primitive to deluxe. You can find campgrounds that are privately run, State run or Federally run. In most states you can camp for free on public lands (no facilities though).

Many campgrounds allow one family (no matter the size) to camp in one site for one charge. Beware of campgrounds that consider a family 2 adults and 2 children- clearly those of us with larger families are not welcome at these places unless we desire to pay extra fees.

The general rule for campgrounds is the higher the overnight fee, the higher the amenities. Personally I don't mind camping with pit toliets and pumping water from a public pump. These types of campgrounds (usually state or national forest service parks) are very cheap.

I have found state parks to be a good bet. They usually offer clean bathrooms, flush toilets and hot showers (though some may charge a small fee for hot water) and playgrounds. They are also usually set on some form of waterfront providing swimming, boating and fishing opportunities.

Be aware that some of the more hoity-toity "resort" campgrounds only allow certain sizes and types of RV's in them. (Super expensive, flashy RVs). Lowly tenters and pop up trailers need not knock on their doors.

My husband and I tented for the first 12 years of our marriage. Only three years ago did we invest in a used pop-up tent trailer. ($2,500) We have really enjoyed not sleeping on the ground and having a dryer place to be in when foul weather hits. It does not have a bathroom but it does have a sink and a small refridge.

One other note: My in-laws belong to a members only camping group- Thousand Trails. These are nice camp grounds with lots of ammenities for adults and children. They even have lots of planned activities in the summer months. I don't know what it costs to buy a membership but my in-laws gave us a Christmas gift several years ago of a lifetime membership. Because of this, we can camp free at any Thousand Trails/Naco campground. You better believe we look for these when we plan our vacations. I think it is the best Christmas gift we ever recieved.

Camping is fun, exciting and an affordable way to take a large family on a vacation.

How we spent our vacation- Part 3

Building a fort for the boy- the start

The base

Kids helping

Working "on" the roof- it was getting quite dark

The DH and the boy had a blast working on this together. Even the girls pounded nails in between swinging. The girls wanted curtains in the windows so I had to explain to them that it is a FORT and forts usually don't have curtains. The girls will get to help design and make the Lewis Family Fort Flag, though.

We still have a bit more to do on it but it is pretty much done now.

How we spent our vacation- Part two

We only live about a half hour away from Lake Michigan beaches, so we made a couple of trips over the past few days. One we just played on the dune a bit, the other the kids wore swim suits and went into the VERY cold water. They had a blast! Reagan and I chose to stay dry.

How we spent our vacation- Part one

Aleah Hall and Reagan dancing- note the bowling shoes

Social butterflies- Gabriella Hall and Reagan

Bill and Heather Hall

Remington in action

The DH's work had a pizza and bowling party. Of course the DH drew the short straw and had to work during most of it, but the kids and I went and hung out with our dear friends the Hall's. (Mr. Bill also works for Costco.) We had a great time and Mr. Bill was nice enough to assist my son and youngest daughter with their bowling skills. He's already a father of six; little did he know he was going to play father to a few more that night.

I have tons of pictures from that evening but bowling doesn't lend itself to great pictures. Most of them are of people's backsides, watching the ball go down the lane. Just what you all want to see, huh?