Covered Bridge Festival

This past weekend, we traveled to Parke County located in the gorgeous countryside of Indiana. We were visiting the area not only for the Covered Bridge Festival - but also to see the farmland that was once in my family.

My father's grandpa use to own beautiful farmland in this part of Indiana. I had never before had the opportunity to see this land, but I have often heard stories from my father and his brothers about their childhood memories of the place. As young boys, they spent their summers and many weekends out on their grandfather's farm on Strawberry Road. How quaint! Strawberry Road? You can't get much cuter than that. Their days were filled with helping their grandfather, and playing in the woods, on the covered bridge and in the creek that rippled below it.

The visit down that sleepy country road has set a deep desire and longing for what might have been if the farm hadn't been lost. It was such a serene place. Traveling down the road and up the hill - I was able to see for the first time, the old farm house (now with very modern updates and renovations) where my great-grandfather and great-grandmother lived. I listened as my father described how the house use to look, where the large Cottonwood tree use to stand and their adventures through the woods to a little country store.

We decided to step into the trees and head down a path that led to the creek where my uncles and father use to spend many hours swimming and playing. I felt as though I was stepping back in time and that perhaps if I listened closely I might be able to hear the sounds of their splashing and laughter.

I enjoy walking through festivals and fairs - but I was not prepared for the enormity of the Covered Bridge Festival. The festival spans several towns, many bridges and miles. The festivals at Bridgeton and Mansfield were too large for us to even see everything. The highlight for Savannah and Joey were the bridges themselves. They enjoyed walking through them, playing beside them and examining them as they walked through.

 

I'm sure that we will visit again in future years. If you would like to visit the Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana - visit the links below for more information.

::  Parke County Guide

::  Mansfield Village

::  Mansfield Covered Bridge Festival

::  CoveredBridges.com

::  Bridgeton, Indiana

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The Coffee Table {For My Children}

Dear Children -

The humble coffee table which has found a home among the couches and chairs of our living room has come to be many things. On Friday night, it is where you and Joey sit to eat homemade pizza while we watch a movie for our "Pizza and Movie Night". It has also been a pirate ship, a tent, a house, a fort. During the cold Winter months, you've even set it up against the couch and turned it into a slide. I believe it's been a roller coaster when I've placed it on the coach so that I could clean the carpets. I can't be certain as the carpet cleaner is much too loud to all that you do.

However, this small coffee table was something else when it was first purchased.

In one of our first apartments, your daddy and I barely had a kitchen let alone any room for a dining room table. So, we purchased a small coffee table that barely fit between the couch and the television set. It is where we had our first dinners together as a married couple.

Savannah, I was pregnant with you at the time and waddled my way up to the edge of the couch so I could share dinner with your daddy at our 'dining room table'.

It is one of the first objects you pulled yourself up to when you were a baby. Holding onto its edge and standing on unsteady legs, you ate as I fed you your favorite baby food - lasagna. {That must come from the Italian side of your daddy's family}

Joey, it is also one of the first things you pulled yourself up to.

It has a lot of scratches and dents in it now. It has also been where the two of you have made many picnics and sliced a lot of play-doh with plastic knives.

She is starting to get wobbly and I wonder how much longer she will be around. She has been a fantastic table and helped to create a lot of memories.

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