Farm Camp

This week Corrina is at Farm Camp (click here for their website). It's a small family farm in Holmes County, Ohio, one of the largest Amish settlements in the United States.  It's beautiful and peaceful there - as soon as you enter the county, you see small farmsteads huddled up to the road, with horse-drawn buggies parked in front, and it's just a different atmosphere. The farm that Corrina goes to isn't an Amish farm, but they have adopted a lot of Amish practices - horse-drawn plows instead of tractors, minimal electricity, and outhouses instead of bathrooms! This is her third year there, and she loves going there for a week of peace and quiet, and taking care of animals.

Camp starts early Monday morning, so Sunday night we stayed at the Guggisberg Swiss Inn. It's a small motel near the farm. Sunday night they have a hot dog roast for all the campers who stay there. There's a pond with a small island, a stable with horses and barn cats, and lots of room to roam. You aren't allowed to take pictures at the farm, but I took a few of Corrina around Guggisberg - you can get an idea of what it's like to be in the beautiful rolling hills, with lots of space, and away from technology (no cell phone coverage there!) It's such a wonderful and unique opportunity - kids come from all over. We met families from Michigan, Illinois, and last year we met a family who came from Texas! Click the pictures for a closer view.

























And here's a bonus picture. Thanks to Rene our family has been on an "Apples to Apples" kick. It's a card game where a judge puts down an adjective card (e.g., glitzy, corrupt, clean) and the players have to put down a noun card from their hand to match the adjective. The judge picks which card is the best match. It's a lot of fun and leads to some very funny plays. :)