Whirlwind Summer Vacation

Here's a long overdue, picture heavy recap of our Ohio-Pennsylvania trip in August.

Chris and Maren's Barn Wedding at Falling Water, PA

A visit with Johnstown family, the incline, and every soft serve ice cream place we could find.

"Say cheese grandma." (ok, peace works too)

a short detour near Akron to taste some regional cuisine

 then onto grandma southwards where we ate more ice cream, helped around the house, went to lake Erie, and visited the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield where Shawshank Redemption, one of the best movies of all time, was filmed.

It was a nice get away and break from our busy lives. I wish we had more vacation time throughout the year. As always, ya'll are always welcome here!

Don't sweat the Petty things....Rock out instead.

Golden, CO

Buffalo, SD

Pirate

Good try, but nope.

Thanks Dad.

Finally, all eyes open, all smiling (kind of-Ty)

Eric, Chops, and I visited CO and had a great time over our long weekend. The drive through Wyoming seems less awful every time I do it. We went down to see Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers and Joe Cocker with the parents, siblings, and friends. We also picked up our bathroom tile, gorged ourselves on sushi, and hung out in Monument and Golden. Here are some photo highlights from our road trip. I cannot even begin to describe the difficulty of trying to get a picture with everyone's eye's open and everyone smiling. Next to impossible. I have also included some signage to once again entertain you with the differences between CO and the Dakotas. Enjoy.

Degree Squared

I got a chance to go home for Ty and Mere's graduation. It was great to be home, but it went by so fast. Even though the business didn't feel like a vacation, I had a lot of fun and it was good to see everyone. Spending time in Boulder was great, but it is so different from when I was there. Maybe living in the middle of nowhere makes me think everywhere else is too busy and crowded, or maybe big cities really do grow and expand that much and it takes an outsider to notice it (make note I referred to Boulder as a big city...weird?).

Another realization from the trip was that Sprouts grocery store is amazing, yet made me feel very overwhelmed. I felt like I wanted to buy everything and couldn't make a choice at the same time. I really miss being able to get certain food products up here. I didn't realize how regimented my grocery shopping had become buying the same things every time. Of course we have things here you can't get anywhere else too. If you want some picked watermelon rind or pigs feet in a jar, please head on up, but I would rather go to Sprouts and get bulk chocolate peanut butter malt balls.

In this post I have also included probably my favorite highlight of my mini vacation. It was hard to pick just one out of so many, but this one above all took the cake. I am not sure if anyone is familiar with the exercise health hoop, and I am not sure where my mom found it. Regardless, we have had it for a while, but until now it was not such a hit. Basically, it is a really heavy hula hoop that is supposed to tone your middle when you use it. At the graduation barbecue everyone had to give it a try. My mom and Meredith are by far the pros and I did not have much success. I guess you have to have consistent rhythm (something Mere must have gotten from Mom's side). I on the other hand seem to have more of Dad's genes for rhythm as I am not a good health hooper. For your entertainment, I have included a sample of "Big Arn" in his best try. I have probably watched it at least fifty times on my camera and it does not become less entertaining. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to rotate it so you can see it without turning sideways. Sorry, Enjoy.

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