Hidden Valley Animal Adventure – Varysburg, NY

One of the farmers in Varysburg (near Attica) started acquiring animals from different continents.  Eventually he turned part of his farm into a wildlife adventure.  He also built a beautiful lodge overlooking a pond that has a restaurant, snack bar, grill area, and souvenir shop.  The lodge can be rented for weddings, receptions, etc.  For the animal adventure, you get on a covered wagon pulled by a tractor.  There’s a narrator on board who describes the animals you’re seeing as you drive through different pastures.  The pics show a few of the animals we saw.  All the animals are grazers – no carnivores like lions or tigers – so it’s safe to ride an open wagon.  It’s a great place to take little kids because they can get up close with the animals and you get a cup of food to feed the animals at designated areas.  One little two year old was so excited at each new animal she saw that she just hooted and hollered.  The animals come right up to the wagon at times so you can touch them.  We took the tour with Mom and Dad and had a great time.

Hidden Valley Animal Adventure website

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Visiting Aiden & Alexis – Jul 28

Mom, Dad, Neil and I went to Warsaw to visit.  We stopped in at Jeremy and Jen’s to see them and their 7 month old twins.  Aiden and Alexis (Lexie) are really cute and happy babies .  Lexie seems to smile all the time.  Jeremy and Jen are very proud and obviously adore them.

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Vanessa, Al and Knox Visit – Jul 23 – 26

Vanessa, Al and Knox arrived at our house Friday afternoon.  We talked with Vanessa and Al and played with Knox.  He’s real cute and can make some high pitched noises when he’s happy.  The next morning, Vanessa and I went shopping while the boys babysat.  We went to Burkes outlet, a new store in town, and Vanessa hit the motherload for school clothes.  After that, we checked out the Mennonite store outside town and picked up a few goodies.  Then we brought back pizza for lunch.  After lunch, we packed up and headed to the lake.  We visited with Dexter, Tammy, Ryan and Francesca (Ryan’s girlfriend from Italy via China).  Dexter gave Knox a BB gun (he gives one to all the kids).    Then we went home to talk and play some more.  Sunday morning, the kids left around 1100.  I sent a bag full of cookies with them that Al said would probably be gone before they got home.  (I think he likes my chocolate chip cookies!)  We had a great time with them and were really glad they came to see us.  We can’t get enough of our kids and grandkids.

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Celebrity Sighting

Guess who we had lunch with the other day?  Well, not exactly had lunch with but were in the same restaurant with here in Paris.  It was Hank Williams, Jr.  I had no idea that’s who he was but Neil knew.  He has a farm somewhere around here.

Ben, Sam, and Knox Go Swimming

Here’s the video.

Babysitting Trip Jul 8-9, 2010

Since Vic was recovering from her hernia operation, we went to KY to take care of the Ben and Sam for a couple of afternoons. We picked them up from school on the 8th and went to Walmart to get some lunch food, a pool, and whatever else we saw. We ended up with some junk food, two foam swords and an Orca pool. While wheeling through the store with boys in separate carts, we played bumper carts. The boys loved it and Sam was cackling. Before we got outside, Ben and Sam had a sword fight in the store. People were looking at us and thinking “Man, those grandparents have lost control and the kids are running amok.” We finally got back to Granny’s and had lunch with her. After awhile we drove to New Albany to see Vanessa, Al, Knox and Matt. The boys played with Knox for a while and then Vanessa put a movie on for them to watch. Al brought home pizzas and we had supper. Then the boys talked him into blowing up and filling the pool. They had a riot getting sprayed, sliding into the pool, and acting crazy. Finally they got too cold and agreed to quit swimming. They talked the whole way back to Vic’s house. What happened to falling asleep every time they got in the car???? Vic and Glenn were doing OK so we handed the boys off to their parents.

The next day, we went with John, Diane and Granny to Shoney’s for breakfast. We caught up on all the comings and goings of our clans. Then we picked the boys up again from school. We were going to take them to the Hardin County Fair to ride on the midway rides but it didn’t open until 6 PM. On to plan B. A couple of weeks before, we had found an indoor playground at McDonald’s in Radcliff. Since the sky was threatening rain, that looked like a good place to spend a couple of hours. The boys had milk shakes and french fries for lunch while running back and forth to the playground. (Aren’t grandparents great for feeding grandkids healthy meals?) After a couple of hours there, we went back to Granny’s to let the boys play with Pops’ tools until Glenn came to pick them up. As soon as they left, we turned the horse toward home and took off.

It was a fun but hectic two days. Ben and Sam are tiring but very entertaining and we love them very much.

Click here for pics.