Terrys Visit: Stan Hywet Hall

My sister, Jill, and her family all arrived on Thursday, September 27th to spend the weekend with us. We were all very, very excited to have them come visit and enjoy the fall fun with us. They had not been here since we first moved to Akron and were living in an apartment. Thank goodness we have a house now since there are two more kids in our crews. The kids and I helped pick them up from the airport and then we headed to Earth Fare for kids eat free night.

I caught Alice and Pepper off guard...not their best look!

Much better for the twinners!

I guess I caught Hazel off guard off too. This girl is still diggin the baby food. She is weeks away from turning 1 and I have no idea how I will get here off baby food and to take a sippy cup. Oh well, one day at a time!

On Friday morning, after Morgan was at school, we headed over to Stan Hywet Hall. Three years ago when Kevin ran the Akron Marathon, he ran through the grounds of Stan Hywet. We tried to see the house back then but it was closed by the time we got over to it. Trying to see it again was top on his list of things to do over the weekend so we headed over there first thing. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, after it had been a rainy, yucky week, and we all had a fantastic time.

Kevin and the crew of ladies.

The girls were pretty excited to see the big house and explore.

You can't take pictures inside so we took one last pic at the front door. It was modeled after an English manor house and reminded Jill and I of the many houses we saw with Kim and family in England. The staff gave Jane, Alice and Pepper little scavenger hunt booklets to keep them busy. The girls had a blast with them and we all had a great time.

Our favorite moment from the house self-guided tour was when we went to view the indoor pool, called the Plunge. Instead of rope or railings they had clear plexiglass walls keeping you away from the pool. Little Katie walked right into the wall without pausing at all and bounced back with a very confused look on her face. It was so funny Jill, Kevin and I burst out laughing. Katie was still confused but figured she had done somthing very funny so she started laughing. I swear we were all going to pee our pants we were laughing so hard. Hands down one of my favorite moments from the weekend!

A glimpse of red. Love the beginning of the fall colors.

They have various styles of gardens on the estate. This was the English garden.

I love Jane's bob haircut. She is so good at posing. Such a cute girl!

Jill and Hazel showing off the back of the house.

The ladies walking through the Japanese Tea garden.

Posing like statues with the birch trees.

Jumping for joy.

Kevin administering to Alice's boo-boo.

Hazel was very happy to snuggle up to Auntie Jill. Kate had mixed feelings.

Kate and I hung out with the stroller while everyone else went to explore the swimming pond and lower gardens.

Jane and Pepper sampling the fresh grapes from the vine. The seeds did not stop Pepper at all and she crunched her way right through them.

We took a little tour of the conservatory after a short break. Could Kate's cheeks BE any cuter?!

They also had a butterfly garden tent set up. Most of the butterflies had already migrated for the year but there were a few stragglers for us to admire.

Jill braided Pepper's hair that morning much to Pepper's delight.

Perfect smile from Miss Jane or should I just call her Jill's clone!

We have been wanting to visit Stan Hywet Hall since we moved here and I am so glad that we finally made it. Or at least I made it:) The next time we have guests we will definitely put this on the list of fun things to do. Of course, by the end of all the walking we were all quite tired and we had to run into town to pick up our race packets and get ready to have friends over for a spaghetti dinner. It was a great start to our non-stop, fun-filled weekend.