The Gypsy Adventures - The Return Trip

Well, we are home (with regular internet) so I figured it is PAST time that we shared about our return trip! We had just as much fun on our journey back east as we did on our way out to Wisconsin.

While we were staying in Wisconsin, we picked up a couple of pumpkins for the kiddos to carve. Carving pumpkins in the Bajus family is a good study in the differences between girls and boys. As you can see, Abigail took her time and carved a nice face:

Liam (poor third child!) got to carve the scraps from the other kids;

Phinehas started off 'normally'...

... then ended up using one of Andrew's drills with a paddle bit attached to it and diligently destroyed the pumpkin!

We said our good-byes on Tuesday (10/19) and traveled a few miles to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. I have never in my life seen a more touristy town! Fortunately, we arrived in the OFF season, so we missed any crazy traffic and crowded places and long waiting lines. The first fun activity we enjoyed was a ride on one of the "Original Wisconsin Ducks." These are old trucks that are also boats! We went on a 8.5 mile ride through the rivers and through the woods, over hills and across a lake. The children had a blast! As you can see from one or two of the pictures, the courteous driver welcomed the kids up into the front for the best seat in the house. He even let Phinehas and Abbi steer - while we were on the river.

That night we parked at a Cracker Barrel and enjoyed a nice hot breakfast the next morning. The kids, of course, were thrilled to eat at a restaurant - especially one with such fun toys! (Their parents didn't mind to much, either!)

After breakfast, we went to the "Tommy Bartlett Exploratory Center" which is a hands on ... exploratory center! (hah) There were lots of fun things for everyone to try out. I think Andrew and I has even more fun than the kids did! We didn't get that many pictures of our time in the Science Center because we were having way too much fun and we forgot our good camera. heh.

After our adventures in Wisconsin Dells we headed for home. We toured Africa at a Cabela's one night and went to Lehman's another morning. Cabela's, as you probably know, is a hunting outfitter type store with way too much stuff. They have a whole lot of real animals displayed in life-like scenes; the kids love to look at them all. Lehman's is a source of very nice, overpriced, anything-you-could-possibly-want-for-your-home-and-some-stuff-you-never-knew-about store. It was quite impressive, and we managed to escape totally unscathed! (We did leave the wallets in the car, which helped!)

And, if you are wondering what we ate when we weren't at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant, have no fear. Annie has a nice little kitchen in her and I managed to cook quite a few meals... even RV-made pizza, one night!

We arrived back in NY last Friday, slept in our house, did scads of laundry, then took off for a fun filled week in Angelica, NY with my sister and her fun family. The kids rode horses, played in the mud, climbed big piles of hay, and even did school work in a hay fort! The Carpenter helped Joe do some great renovations to what will soon be his and my sister's new home! I had a blast with my sister, the kids had fun with their cousin, and Elroy had the time of his life terrorizing the barn cats.

And now, as the weather has turned blustery and cold, we are cozily tucked back in our home waiting for the first snowflakes to fly. I know I thoroughly enjoyed our gypsy adventures and I hope we have more in the future. For now, I am ready for hot chocolate and good books and curling up with a blanket in front of the wood stove... only, we don't have a wood stove. Oh well! The rest will do!