Birthday Buddies

Yam was the first grandchild to be born on The Colonel's side of the family. She was born in July and shares the same birth month as her paternal grandfather (Gpa).

When I became pregnant with Yam the doctor gave me a due date of  July 25th. The Colonel's father's birthday is the 20th and he wanted Yam to be born on his birthday but Yam, being a baby, came when she wanted and that was on the 22nd.

Because Yam and Gpa's birthdays are so close to one another they have celebrated them together many times throughout the years.

Of course, the very first year they co-celebrated was when Yam turned one.

They even shared a birthday cake. One half of the cake was the cat Garfield playing tennis (Gpa still plays tennis 20 years later) and the other half was The Little Mermaid Ariel from Disney.

This year Gpa's birthday fell on a Friday and Yam's on a Sunday. Yam was home for the weekend so we split the difference and celebrated both birthdays on Saturday (Yam had to be back at college on Sunday).

The Colonel, Yam and I had our breakfast and then drove over to Gpa and Gma's house to open presents. Darling-Sister-In-Law was there. She had come into town for the weekend to help celebrate.

After all the presents were opened we visited with one another and passed the time before a nice birthday lunch out. Both Gpa and Yam agreed that Mexican food sounded muy sabroso.

The food was very tasty indeed. We had had our lunch and now it was time to have the cake and ice cream back at Gpa and Gma's house.

This year Gpa turned 79 and Yam, 21. That is 100 years of birthdays! We just had to celebrate that fact.

When I bought the number candles at the grocery I was met by a few questions at the checkout counter as you can imagine.

Next year Gpa will turn 80 and Spud, 20. Too bad their birthdays aren't in the same month. Anyone need some gently used birthday candles?

The Mystery Revealed

This is John Henry, my double-crowned pineapple, just mere moments before its harvest. Months of waiting (and praying that a raccoon did not pluck it first) while the pineapple ripened were over. Now we could finally see if John Henry was hiding a single or double core within its succulent, yellow flesh.

Yam was home for the weekend so I had her do the honors of cutting the pineapple as I snapped photos to document the discovery.

As Yam sliced the pineapple in half and before she opened up the fruit, the anticipation of what the dissection would reveal had me feeling a tad anxious as well as excited. Drum roll please...

John Henry had a single core. Looking at the above picture you would think there were two cores, yet this was simply one core sliced in half.

John Henry proved to be a very sweet and juicy pineapple. I have taken the double-crown top of the pineapple and planted it in my garden.

I am curious to see how the double-crown will grow and if it will produce two pineapples. I have a feeling this is going to be a long two years of waiting as I watch the next generation of my John Henry pineapple(s) grow.

The double-crown plant withered and died in late August 2012. Too bad, I had wanted to see if it would grown into two pineapples. Now I will never know.

Wordless Wednesday

Who Needs a DeLorean?

The trip back to Indiana was not all work and no play. When the family business was attended to, Spud and I took the time to do a few fun things to ensure that we did not become a dull boy and a dull girl.

One thing we did was visit Conner Prairie, an interactive history park. I had not been to Conner Prairie in over 30 years (I didn't hardly recognize the place). Visitors to the park are transported to the years 1823, 1836, 1859 and 1863.

Thanks to my baby sister's loan of a sweet ride, Spud and I were able to make this trip back to the future..er, I mean the past...in style.

The first part of Conner Prairie we visited was the Lenape, or Delaware Indian Camp. I have some Delaware Indian ancestry on my father's side of the family, so it was interesting to see the camp. We saw a Wigwam and heard a story or two from a Delaware Indian man.

After the camp visit, we went to the Conner Homestead. It is Central Indiana's first brick home. William Conner lived in it with his family from 1823 to 1837. Conner was a fur trader and his first wife was the daughter of a Delaware chief. They would eventually have six children together. Later Conner would act as a scout, an interpreter, a businessman, a land speculator and politician.

The home faced a large prairie that seemed to go on forever. Before we had gone to the Conner home we purchased two tickets. These tickets helped us travel back to 1859 Lafayette, Indiana on the day aeronaut John Wise launched his balloon.

Below the balloon was a circular metal basket that we stood in during the ride. The balloon was tethered to a cable. It was raised and lowered by a wench. I took the following pictures as we were going up into the air.

Once we reached 350 feet, the balloon operator stopped the balloon and we stayed there for roughly 15 minutes. It was quiet up there (aside from the people talking and snapping pictures). I took pictures of the Conner Homestead and the sweeping prairie that runs before it.

The horizon was a bit hazy that day, but in the distance we could see the city of Indianapolis.

Spud and I enjoyed the 1859 balloon ride. The Colonel was a bit envious when we told him we took the ride.

Our time travelling took us next to the hustle and bustle of a thriving pioneer, prairie community of 1836. We saw a blacksmith's shop, a schoolhouse, a store, an Inn and some homes.

I love interactive history parks don't you? The final stop during our time travel at Conner Prairie was to the year 1863. Spud and I crossed a covered bridge that took us to the small, southern, Indiana town of Dupont and the year 1863. 

 

We went into the dry good store where we were met by a woman in period clothing and then an interactive media presentation began which told us the story of Morgan's raid on Dupont. Loved it! In the summer of 1863, Confederate General Morgan and his men rode into Dupont, Indiana and burnt the town's warehouse, cut the telegraph lines and ransacked the dry goods store.

In July of 1863, an estimated 60,000 Indiana volunteers answered the call to block Morgan from advancing further north. They felled trees to block roads, gave armed resistance and chased Morgan and his men into Ohio where they were eventually defeated and captured.

Spud and I learned more about Morgan's raid on Dupont during another media presentation. It was very informative and an excellent, engaging experience.

We had a great time, time travelling at Conner Prairie. I was very pleased and impressed with the changes that had been made since the last time I was there. I highly recommend the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park to everyone.

Maybe next time I am in Indiana, The Colonel will be with me and then we can visit the park and he can take an 1859 balloon ride too. I wonder if my baby sister will let us use the Mercedes Benz again?

Wordless Wednesdays

Finally.

My precious and long-awaited computer is back within my possession.

Now, to get my thoughts (and photos) together and create more posts for my blog. I hope I am not too rusty and you, my reader, will cut me some slack if I am.

In an earlier post (think back now, I know it has been a while) I informed you that I had been away from home back in June (8th-24th). Part of that time away was spent in Indiana. I had to return to the state of my birth and attend to some family business. I dragged Spud along with me; it had been a few years since he had been back there.

It was good to see my family again and to finally meet my newest niece in the flesh.

It was good to get together with some family on Father's Day.

The following picture was taken about a week before Father's Day. Dad was not with us that day, just Mom and her eight "babies".