“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.” ― Sylvia Plath

The kiddos went back to school August 1. Grandson Knox is in kindergarten this year.

Granddaughter Shelby is a junior, and grandson Elijah is in 6th grade.

Awesome August sunset

August 5 -- summer is for milkshakes like this chocolate shake from Steak n Shake

August 6--we went to the fair and Knox fed some hungry animals

Rode the rides--Knox's new favorite ride--daughter Kelly's too

Bought some cotton candy--did not ride any rides, especially that one behind me

August 7--Neil and I joined a church group bus tour to Kentucky and Ohio to see the sights

Love those Kentucky black barns

Stopped in Berea to browse the Kentucky artisan arts and crafts and drool over these handmade journals

August 8--we enjoyed a great visit to the amazing Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, where Adam and Eve enjoyed the Garden until enticed by the serpent (slithering around above them in the tree) to eat the forbidden fruit

Also in the Garden--dinosaurs! Don't believe me? Visit the Creation Museum

This was one of my favorite displays there--human skeleton next to ape skeleton (human holding the Bible) So many amazing things to see and read and learn here.

August 9--enjoyed visiting the life sized replica of Noah's Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky--this is Neil's panoramic shot

Our Young At Heart group

The Ark is awesome! And really beautifully made. 

Noah and the dove returned to him with an olive branch--time to leave the Ark and start over

I highly recommend this trip to everyone--believers and unbelievers--so much to see and try to absorb--for me, faith affirming, as was the Creation Museum

August 10--visited the Cincinnati Zoo and saw this big guy strolling around

Visited the aquarium in Newport, Kentucky

Saw Mighty Mike--an enormous alligator who lives here now for his own protection

Penguins--always fun to watch

Neil's panoramic of Newport on the Levee, Kentucky where the aquarium is--really beautiful place

On the bus with a lot of really great people

August 11--our last stop before we hit the road home--William Howard Taft's home in Cincinnati

Beautiful rooms

The President was good enough to pose with us for a picture--learned a lot about this man--I'm very impressed with him and his accomplishments

August 16--Knox is going to run out of teeth if he doesn't watch out

August 18--the schools here gave each student the special glasses to watch the eclipse

Daughter Holly's pretty flowers

August 18--party people gathered to celebrate Elijah's 11th birthday--Shelby, Matthew, Elijah, Sarah, Julia, and Knox

Kelly took this photo--happy 11th, E!

August 19--Jake's Day at Mustard Seed Ranch--kids get to come here and learn how to do all sorts of hunting and fishing and outdoor related stuff--all for a good cause

August 21--Neil and I were blown away by the total eclipse of the sun--here in our neck of the woods in middle Tennessee we had totality and a clear blue sky to enjoy the wonder of it all--one of the most awesome sights I've ever seen in my life

August 24--Shelby got her driver's license!

We also celebrated Elijah's 11th and son in law Kerry's Big Four O birthdays at El Tapatio where they got to wear the sombreros while being serenaded with the birthday song, Spanish version, by the servers there

Party peeps! 

August 31--a great way to end the month of August--helping pack boxes of food to send to the flood victims in Texas and Louisiana--Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort is totally organized and the assembly box line ran like a well-oiled machine for nearly two hours non-stop as we packed 1500 boxes to send to folks who need it right now. So glad I got to participate.
If you want to donate to relief for the flood victims then please consider sending your donations to this effort--your dollars will go to buy food, household supplies, and personal hygiene products that will be sent to and delivered to those who need these things right now. Here is the link you can go to to read more about this effort and how you can help. And your fervent prayers for the people of Texas and Louisiana are always needed.
http://disasterreliefeffort.org