Ohio Road Trip

There's been a winner of the fabric stash! (sorry for the delay...reasoning below in this post.) The winner is Becky Johnson~ I'll reach out Becky and we'll get you a whole buncha' fabric soon! :) 

A glorious road trip delayed that winner announcement last week. I swept up the boys just one week prior to school starting and we headed out for the cornfields, diners, ice cream parlors, lakes and state parks of Ohio.

I grew up in Columbus (GO Bucks!) and yet most of our activities were a first for all of us. Except this one.
Slate Run Farm. Ahh....THIS place is magical. I grew up going to Slate Run on school field trips and weekend outings with my dad. I have the absolute best childhood memories here.

So, it caught be by surprise when I actually loved it even more now! Isn't it usually the opposite? We have incredibly lofty early memories that don't quiet live up to the hype in adulthood, right? Not so with my beloved Slate Run Farm.

First of all, I am still blown away that its free. FREE! No parking charges or donation boxes. Just absolutely free of charge to come spend the day, stepping back in time. Oh right...so I should explain a bit about this magical place. Slate Run Farm is a living historical farm. Its legit. They grow their own crops to preserve and eat, they smoke meat, they care for farm animals and hang laundry out to dry. They tend the fields, push around old timey wheelbarrows with hay....and although in essence its "staged", its not your typical historical representation themed attraction. The workers eat their meals there in the farmhouse kitchen while visitors meander freely. There are no guided tours, no employees talking your ear off with an overload of information about life in the olden days. I guess what makes this place magical, and what I appreciated about it even more as an adult, is the easiness it offers.

The boys and I spent nearly all afternoon wandering, sitting, playing (it was a tad surreal seeing them play with the exact wooden toys I remember playing with), feeding animals, taking a slow walk out to the pasture and petting baby cows. Heck, I could have laid down in the hay next to sweet 3 week old Primrose the calf and taken a nap! Its just that chill here at the old farm.

Luckily we went when the weather was absolutely glorious AND I think most kids in Ohio must have already gone back to school or were at abercrombie buying back to school clothes. Because it felt, for an afternoon, like we were getting a glimpse of what life on our farm might look like someday.















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