A Saturday Trip

This past weekend Emily and I attended Farmers' Market as usual. I bought some fresh lettuce from a fellow vendor. Emily once again offered her face as a advertising billboard for our face painting vendor who paints her face for free every Saturday. And Emily bought and ate almost a quart of fresh cherries.

But instead of relaxing after we returned home and ate our lunch, My husband suggested a short day trip to the Velvet Ice Cream Factory. The factory, gift shop, and ice cream parlor are all located in an old mill that rests on beautiful grounds. There is a small pond with ducks. There is a short hiking trail next to the river. And best of all, there is ice cream to eat. This particular Saturday there was also a woman offering carriage rides, so Emily also got a little time with he favorite animals, horses. If you are ever in Ohio and find yourself near Utica, be sure to stop by.

 

But the most interesting event of the day, actually happened when we were just on the outskirts of Utica. We were driving along and suddenly my husband pointed to a bird gliding across our path and he said, "An eagle." Stunned to see one up close and personal and in a semi state of shock and wonder, I pointed too and cried repeatedly, "A bald eagle. A bald eagle. A bald eagle."

For me, life is really about the little things. Expensive family vacations, cars, and toys, are nice, but the little every day things like sighting a bald eagle in all its glory zooming across the road in front of us is what really makes me happy. That, and things like discussing wildflowers on the side of the road with my husband and dreaming of planting fields of them if we ever become the owners of a large piece of country property.

And speaking of wildflowers, the book I happened to read this week was titled Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers. It is the true story of the first lady Mrs. Johnson, her childhood, her love of flowers, and how she is the one responsible for wildflowers on the sides on the highway.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musings Monday Blog Hop where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website, Fun With Aileen, where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own early grade Fern Valley chapter book series and my Quack and Daisy picture book series. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.