Ohio Summer, Day 4

After returning to New Riegel, I got the call that Will was back from the man trip and ready to come to Nana's. I drove to Uncle Jeff's to pick him up and found three guys vegging on couches in a dark living room, watching a movie. Evidently, the heat had taken a toll on our guys and they were running on E. Not only that, but it looked as though Will hadn't showered or brushed his teeth in a week (I am sure this wasn't too far from the truth)!

We went straight to Nana's and got him all cleaned up, only to get smelly again by building a fire. Poor Will wanted nothing more than to build a bonfire and roast marshmallows. Unfortunately, Nana's wood was a bit wet and all he made was a lot of smoke. I did let them enjoy some of the giant marshmallows I found while grocery shopping. Any guesses on who could fit the whole giant marshmallow in their mouth at once?!

We had a great night with Uncle Steve and Aunt Sharon and almost all of their kids. It was fun seeing everyone together. And I even dined on New Riegel's famous BBQ chicken (sauce on my fries, too). If you're thinking I was eating my way around Ohio, you're about right! Thank goodness I still had my braces on or I would have weighed an extra 10 pounds by the time I headed back to NC!

Big marshmallow, little mouth

Makin' smoke!

Ohio Summer, Day 3

On day three of our Northern adventure, I planned to meet up with two of my best high school buddies - Rhonda and Amy. They both live in the Columbus area, so I decided to head down their way for a girls' night out, no kids allowed. Before leaving, Nana had to get an acupuncture treatment from cousin, Lisa. Lisa happened to be at the annual Schalk camp out. Nana was going to go and get her treatment, then come back to her house to watch Emma and Jack so I could go to Delaware to meet Rhonda. When Aunt Pat heard that they were in town and with Nana for the day, she insisted that they come and join the Schalk family party. I hated to impose on them, but I'm so glad I did! Those kids had a ball at Fred and Mary's backyard resort. They played in the pond and on a giant slip n' slide until well after dinner. I would even go so far as to say that they were SPOILED! From what I understand, Emma introduced Sarah to George Washington hair and it was quite a hit. :) For pictures of the kids at the camp out, you'll have to go to one of the Schalk's Facebook pages.

After dropping them off, I took off for Rhonda's house where I was greeted with a yummy sangria. Well, there were actually a couple of them! After slurping those down, we took off to pick up Amy and go to a local bar/restaurant. One of Amy's neighbors was in a band, playing there. They were great. The food was great and the company was the BEST! I had so much fun catching up with those girls! I spent the night at Rhonda's and was treated to yummy bacon and pancakes in the morning. I was feeling a spoiled myself!

Rhonda, Amy and I

Jack with his BIG birthday present

A racetrack!

Jack and Uncle Steve

Ohio Summer, Day 2

Emma and her mini cupcake

Danielle with her Emma-made name tag

Emma and Aunt Sharon

At the Horseshoe

Can't I please go in?!

Jack enjoys tea with the girls

Emma and Nana

On day two, we spend a leisurely morning at Nana's and then picked up Mary Jo for our "girl day" in Columbus. We drove to Upper Arlington to meet Aunt Sharon, Danielle, Alicia and Brittany for tea in honor of Nana's birthday, which was last month.

In honor of the event, Emma had spent all morning making name tags for everyone. They were cats or bunnies, drawn on construction paper, then cut out with each person's name on the back. She even made a special crown for Nana out of some pretty paper that Aunt Theresa had given her from the scrapbook shop. She was SO proud of the name tags!

At the tea house, we had High Tea which provided each of us with a pot of tea and various finger foods and scones. Everything was delicious and I think we all agreed that Alicia's tea choice (Paris) was the tastiest.

After tea, we took Emma and Jack to the horseshoe so they could see where the Buckeyes play. Jack was enthralled. He was so disappointed to find that the gate was locked and he couldn't actually go onto the field or even into the stands to see the whole thing. He did get excited when he got down low and saw the block O on the field. Emma was so excited, she about peed her pants! Actually, the tea started working on her and she decided she had to go right at the time that we were at the stadium doors. Seriously?! Her only option was to squeeze between the bushes and go right beside the stadium. Only Emma.

From there, we tried to find a Buckeye ball cap for me, but were unsuccessful. All of them were huge and looked like old farmer hats. Store clerks looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked for a "girl fit" ball cap. Really? Leave it to me to have an outrageous request like that! My quest for a perfect fitting OSU cap continues.

We stopped by the Oh So Awesome sewing shop, Sew To Speak. I follow their blog and look at their fabric and projects while drooling, so it was fun to actually be in their store. I am sure it comes as no surprise that I walked out with a huge bag of fabric and lots of ideas. Too bad they don't sell time too!

We kept venturing up High Street, until we hit a fun wine store that had wine on tap! Using a credit card, you could choose which wine you wanted to try and how much you wanted. What a great idea. It worked, because three of us tried a wine and bought it. Mmmmm.......

Next, we headed to Dublin to try the famous Jeni's Ice Cream. It lived up to it's reputation. The dark chocolate was to die for! I could have eaten my weight in it. And now that I have my braces off, I would love to go back and try some flavors with crunch! Wow, it was yummy ice cream.

Since it was getting late and I was tired, we headed back to NR instead of Danielle's. You might know though, but the time we are almost to NR, my tummy started talking. We decided to hit the Moose for some wing dings, which I haven't had since I was a cheerleader in High School! They were just as yummy as I remembered. The Moose hadn't changed. Well, people were a bit older and heavier, but that is about all. The kids thought it was cool to hang out where I used to when I was young.

Ohio Summer

Emma and Jack with Uncle Larry and Aunt Theresa

Jack and the canon that Aunt Theresa helped him make

Emma shows of the ice cream cone that Aunt Theresa helped her make with the Cricut

My intent is to chronicle all of our activities while visiting Ohio this summer. Just try to keep up! We left NC on Wednesday, July 21st after lunch. Allan left work early and everything was ready for him to pack into the van. Given that he is a "master packer", I usually leave that job for him. :)

We had a pretty uneventful trip, thank goodness. Our only stops were for drive thru food and bathroom breaks for Jack. I think his big toe is bigger than his bladder! We made it to Grandma's house by 10:30 pm. Just in time for a couple cold beers and snacks for the kids. We stayed up until after midnight, munching and catching up.

The next morning, we were up early for a big breakfast and some walks around the farm. July in Ohio is so beautiful with all of the crops so green. It was pretty awesome to stand next to the corn, which was over 8 foot tall!

Uncle Dennis came to pick up Dad and Will to head south for the Man Trip. This year's destination was Chillicothe for canoeing. Excitement and testosterone were running rampant!

I packed up Emma and Jack and we headed to Nana's house. After getting settled in there, we headed to Bellevue to visit Grandma Grace. Of course, it was quite the expedition with me not knowing where Bellevue was, Nana's crazy directions and British Jill yelling at me through the Garmin! Throw in a couple detours and I was ready to scream! Thank goodness, we ran into an ice cream stand and I hooked up with a shredded chicken sandwich (only in found in NW Ohio) and turtle sundae #1 of the trip.

Our visit with Grandma Grace was nice. She lives in a very comfortable home with other women. After tiring Grandma out with a lot of talk, we headed to Fostoria to see Aunt Theresa and Uncle Larry. It was a fun, but also sad visit. Uncle Larry gave each of the kids something of his that he wanted them to have. Will got a pocket knife that had belonged to his dad, Emma got a doll from Germany that Aunt Theresa had been given as a gift by Catherine and Louie when she was a little girl and Jack got a Roy Rogers guitar. Uncle Larry wanted the kids to have these gifts while he was still doing well and could enjoy watching them play with the toys.

Aunt Theresa then took us out to show off her scrap booking shop. Emma was in hog heaven! Everything she touched or asked about, Aunt Tree C had to show her how it worked. There were drawers and drawers full of ribbon, brads, die cuts, embellishments, etc. You name it, she had it! Emma especially loved the Cricut and embossing machines. She told me that she could have spend weeks in that shop!

On the way back to NR, we stopped at Bubby's for pizza. Delicious as always. And it went down so well with a cold beer!

After dinner, we headed over to visit with Chris, Jill, Evan and Wyatt. What a hoot! Those boys are just precious. It made me miss the days when all of my kids were little and home all day. I really feel that I made the most of my time with them all home, all of the time, but I still miss their littleness. Is that a word? No matter, that is what I miss. I guess that is why we get such joy out of Jack. It is just different from the other two.

I'm straying from my point. It was great to catch up with Chris and Jill. It's always fun to be around people who are happy and enjoy life. Emma and Jack had a great time playing with someone else's toys. It was almost like Christmas!

Having fun in the corn field

It just isn't a visit to Grandma's without climbing the Tree of Heaven

Look how tall the corn is!

Having fun with Grandma

My handsome guys

Fourth of July and Webelo Camp

Will ready for his first overnight alone

Sparkler fun

Notice Emma's festive blue eyeshadow!

We had a very different Fourth of July this year. Will's first Webelo camp started on the Fourth this year. As a result, both he and Allan left after lunch and our annual visitors decided to not come. That left me, Emma, Jack and Nana to celebrate our country's independence. Minus Will and Allan, I wasn't really in the celebrating mood.

So, I decided to be a slave driver instead! I put Nana to work and she and I painted (first coat) all eleven doors in the basement. There's a lot more to this story, but it is ugly and I really don't need to rehash it all. The bottom line is that the doors were painted and we didn't pay anyone to do it. I also need to add that I painted the second coat the next day after Nana returned to Ohio and then Allan put the knobs on after returning from Webelo camp. The basement is officially finished! (other than a few touch-ups that are needed).

OK, back to the story. After spending most of the day painting, we enjoyed a nice dinner on the deck and then headed to Tanglewood to watch the fireworks. We arrived just in time to watch the 20-minute show and then spent over an hour trying to get out of the park. I'm glad we went, but just like the rest of the day, it just wasn't right without Allan and Will.

A Celebration With Friends

Decked out in Buckeye gear!

Giving Nana her late birthday gifts

Jack's alien cupcakes that he helped make

The day after Jack's birthday, Nana and Bandit came to visit. This brought on a whole new set of gifts. The best birthdays are the ones that never end!

Then, on Sunday, two of Jack's friends (Gavin and William) met us at the movie theater and we all saw Toy Story 3. The kids enjoyed the movie, but I have to say it was sad at the end (for a mom) and the baby doll was just creepy.

After the movie, we went to Kernel Kustard for ice cream and cake. It was so stinkin' hot that the frosting almost melted off the cupcakes! Thankfully, there was shade and a misting hose to keep us cool.

Jack had a great time and thought it was so cool having friends there to help him celebrate.

Jack's 5th Birthday

The bed tent

Future rock star?

The Bat Cave!

Dive sticks for the new swimmer

Getting some Emma love

The day finally came. He had been asking for weeks and I had to keep giving him the "number of sleeps" until his birthday. Then, one night, before he went to bed, he announced to everyone (typical Jack fashion) that tomorrow when we all woke up it would be HIS birthday. Hooray! Of course, he was the first one up and crept into our bedroom. He woke Allan and I by saying "it's my birthday". How sweet is that? :)

Daddy had to leave early for work, so Jack had to look at his pile on the buffet ALL DAY! He was very patient though. My friend, Ms. Nicole came first thing in the morning and took pictures of Jack outside in our backyard. She got some great shots, but for some reason, Jack wasn't in the mood to smile. All of his pictures are very somber.

I made macaroni and cheese (shell kind) per his request for lunch and we played throughout the day. At one point, I wanted to go to Costco for some groceries but I got "the look" from Emma and she said, "seriously, on his BIRTHDAY?". That gave me a reality check and we got back to the business of doing-whatever-Jack-wanted-because-it-was-his-birthday.

Finally, Daddy came home and we opened presents, ate pizza and played more games. Jack got the guitar he had been wanting from Grandma. Now, he needs the lessons! Will gave him a cool Toy Story 3 Lego race car and dive sticks. Note: he can actually use the dive sticks because he just learned how to swim! Emma gave him a Toy Story 3 bed tent that is so cool she had to sleep with him under it the first night. It's a good thing those two get along so well and are small - he has a twin bed! Mom and Dad gave Jack a Bat Man cave that he had wanted since Christmas. That was a hit with all three kids. Who would have thought?!

All in all, it was a fun day and I still can't believe that my little Jack is FIVE! Time has flown. I guess that is what happens when you have fun. And Jack makes everything fun.

Happy Birthday, Jack!