Gene Stratton Porter's home (one of them, anyway)

A few weeks ago, we took the day to go visit one of Gene Stratton Porter's homes, the one her husband built for her right on the edge of the Limberlost. I grew up loving GPS's book The Girl of the Limberlost, but I've since listened to more of them on tape. It was a treat to find more about the lady herself. Sadly, much of the swamp has been drained, and what has been preserved was a little dry while we were there, and since it was very hot, we didn't tour very much of it.

However, the tour of the house was fantastic...even the girls enjoyed it. They were fascinated by her collections of butterflies and moths, the blue herron and the golden eagle beside her fireplace, her daughter Jeanette's room and porch, the huge clawfoot tub where Gene mixed the chemicals and developed her own film. And showing my one-track mind, I forgot to take any pictures inside while I was busy trying to listen and keep little fingers from touching and little feet from climbing.

At the end of the tour, the guide gave the girls a sheet of stickers and a page of questions to match the pictures to. I was amazed how much even Olivia picked up and remembered.

So without further ado, the pictures....

(below) If you look closely at the fence, toward the edges of the picture, you can see small open spots in the wall. Gene wanted the small creatures to be able to get into her yard. The fence are original and made with rocks from the Wabash.

Gene's daughter Jeanette had her own little porch. Gene called it "A girl's fantasy porch" or something like that.

There was a cat on the premises, which Olivia absolutely loved. She would not let the poor thing alone. (I know Grandma Asbury is gasping in utter shock! And yes, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek.)

This was my absolute favorite part of the house. Inside there is a small room brimming with plants and natural sunlight, opening into the dining room. At night, Gene would open the little windows at the very top, close off the room with the glass and oak pocket doors, and wait for the butterflies and moths to come. They were attracted to the gas lights, of course, and would land on those huge doors, making it easy for Gene to study them.

Snack time! She loves being able to drink on her own (with Thick-It)

The only remaining covered bridge over the Wabash

Enjoying the Wabash

Just because.

Spraker Farm

While Mommy and Daddy made phone calls last night on the behalf of Marlin Stutzman's campaign for US Senate, Scott, Stephanie & Samantha Spraker kept our girls at their farm to play with the animals. When Stephanie volunteered, the girls talked of nothing else, knowing there was a brand new little lamb that surely needed their tender loving care (or whatever you'd call it when you almost literally smother the poor little thing with love). Carli was thrilled that she was given the honor (real or imagined--I'm not sure if it was in fun or in earnest) of naming four lambs.

The black lamb is a couple weeks old,
and Carli helped feed it.
When asked, about the experience,
she kept saying, "Wow, Mom. Just wow."
She also said that when telling me about a mouse she spotted.

This adorable little lamb is only
a few days old.

I knew the girls had a ton of fun when I went to pick them up and they didn't want to leave. Besides playing with (read: torturing) the animals, they played with Barbies and Polly Pockets, made homemade playdough, ate spaghetti, and made dessert.

And there was a little left-over dessert for Mama! I'm not sure exactly what it was...some sort of sweet bread with lots of yummy cinnamon and sugar on it. Anyway, Carli told me about it on the way home. "The marshmallow was Jesus, and the the roll was the tune. And you put Jesus in the tune, and put it in the oven, and when you take it out of the oven, Jesus is gone! He's not in the tune anymore."

Ah, now I get it! "Do you mean tomb, Carli?"

Thank you so much, Scott, Stephanie, and Samantha, for entertaining our little girls. Thanks to the twins, Ashley and Abigail, for helping us with calls (actually they've helped quite a few times, making hundreds of calls--maybe thousands. Go Marlin!), and for Madeline for keeping the smiles coming from her chair, while gnawing on a pizza crust!

My life in pictures

I just realized that I'm behind since OCTOBER in pictures, except the ones where Maddy had her casts off. I'm going to try to get them caught up over the next few days/weeks(/months?). I'm not going to caption them all, so I can get them up quicker. So much to do...so little time.

WV/DC/PA trip in October

At Sommers' lovely home in the mountains of WV

Outside our hotel in DC

Glen's most favorite place--DC

He had a lot of fun telling Carli all about it.

(No comments about the fat woman in the pictures. She's working on that.)

On the Metro.

Girls loved it.

National Zoo

Tuckered Out

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Crazy windy

At Granny's work--Keeper of the Flame

Carli and Olivia went to work with Granny for a whole day. They entertained the elderly residents with balloons, songs, storys. They cuddled with Viola and learned to yoddle with Carl.

At Grandma Cessna's, celebrating Mom's birthday

For some reason, I have no pictures of my grandparents.

IUP Homecoming Parade, Indiana, PA