July 7: Packing, Organizing, Relaxing

We had planned on going to the zoo on Tuesday, but after so many late nights in a row, everyone was exhausted and didn't want to get up and go early.  So we changed our plans and decided to do laundry and pack on Tuesday and do the zoo on Wednesday.

Jay's parents left early, so we had the house (and the washing machine!) to ourselves.  I washed and folded and packed suitcases, Jay cleaned out the van and reorganized the stuff we didn't need to get to until we got home, and the kids played and helped.

Christine picked Jonathan up in the afternoon so that he and Landon could have some boy video game time together.

Quiet day, but we felt ready to hit the road again!

July 6: Farming, Hiking, Swimming

We started the morning with Donut World donuts (we miss them so much!) before getting ready to head out for the day.

Jay's parents were spending the day packing up for their annual trip to Idaho, so we wanted to get out of the way for the day.  Morgan's girlfriend's family owns a farm and was in the middle of wheat harvesting, so we went up to look at the farm equipment and see how they harvest.  (Another thing we don't see much of in Texas!)

Rachel taking Abby for a
tractor ride.

Rachel took the kids on rides in the tractor, and her uncle took them in the combine for a pass through the wheat field.  They were in big machine paradise!

Even my biggest kid (Jay) wanted a ride in the combine!

Morgan was there helping stack hay bales.  As it turns out, they make a pretty good climbing area!

Jonathan (way up there!), Emily, Abby, and Ben playing in the hay.

We left Rachel and Morgan to their hard work and drove down to Hocking Hills (another essential Ohio check off).  We started at Ash Cave.  The walk in was gorgeous and green.  There had been enough rain that all the little creeks and gullies had some water.

We love creeks!

Ash cave itself is a huge, open over hanging cave.  It's rather amazing as you round a bend in the trail and suddenly this enormous rock formation is in front of you.

Ash Cave as you first come to it.

Playing in the sand.

Holding up the cave!

If Emily can do it, so can I!

Ben had to try too!

Anywhere there's water, we have to play in it!

Last time we were here, it
was dry enough that the waterfall
had dried up completely.

Jay took the kids up the stairs to walk along the gorge rim (I don't do heights!) so I walked back out to the front of the park to meet them.

Up the stairs they go!

We still had some time, and the kids wanted to see more of Hocking Hills, so we stopped at Cedar Falls next.  The walk in was a little longer and involved lots of stairs.  Poor Benjamin got a little tired and needed to be carried for awhile.

We were up at the top of that!

But all the walking was well worth the view at the end!

Spectacular Cedar Falls

The water was COLD, but the kids wanted to go wading.  It actually got fairly deep farther in, but we kept them at knee depth.  They really didn't want to leave, but we eventually dragged them away and back up the stairs to the car.

On our way out of the park, we spotted something else distinctly Ohio--some deer crossing the road!

Our last stop for the day was out to our friends the Atwoods' house.  The kids hadn't had enough water for the day with all their wading and went swimming, but it was a little too cold for me and even Jay declined.  We had a lovely visit and dinner, and Jonathan discovered how much fun it is to pick blueberries out in their orchard.  He was even willing to try a few and decided that he really liked them!

Benjamin had definitely had
enough and wasn't willing to
cooperate for a picture!

It was another late night when we made it back to Grandma's house.  (More fireflies for Ben!)  Jay's parents were planning to leave early in the morning, so we said our good-byes before the kids went to bed.  Another crazy, busy, Ohio day!

July 5: Church and Cousins

We had another great Sunday visiting with lots of friends at church.  One of the best things about this trip was catching up with so many people!

After a long afternoon nap (I still wasn't feeling great and everyone was tired from the late fireworks), we headed to Chris and Scott's house for dinner and playtime.  It was fun to watch all the kids, even though they're so spread apart in age, getting along and having fun together.  And Ben got to catch more fireflies!

July 4: Independence Day

In spite of the late night, all the kids were up early because they were excited about the 4th of July parade.  I woke up feeling yucky-- apparently it was my turn for the bug the kids had passed around.

So I went back to sleep, while Jay took the kids and met Chris and the boys to watch the parade.

Morgan, Ben, Chris, Abby, Landon, Jonathan, and Emily ready to watch the parade.

Parade!

They came home full of candy and excitement.  It was a beautiful day, so they played outside for quite awhile in the afternoon, then had some quiet time because they wanted to go to the fireworks display that night.

I slept most of the day while the kids bounced in and out.

Jay and his mom took the kids to the fireworks that night.  So another late, but fun night!

July 3: Pizza and a Movie

We did some driving around Lancaster for the morning, including driving by our old house.  We were amused by how much some things had changed... and how much others hadn't!

In the evening, we checked another thing off our Ohio list and had Donato's pizza for dinner.  (Jay and I had been craving it ever since we watched an episode of Undercover Boss featuring the owner of the chain.) It was really good and made everyone happy.

Then we came back and everyone got into pajamas to go to the drive in movie theater.  This was one of our favorite date locations when Jay and I were first married.  The older kids barely remembered going to movies there.

Jon and Abby waiting for the movie to start.

Jay trying to talk to his sister through the window.

The movie is finally starting!

Chris, Scott, and the boys met us for Inside Out.  Our kids were thrilled to be staying up late and eating candy well after bed time.  Fun times, and another late night!

July 2: Friends and family

I got up early to go meet my dear friends Donna and Stephanie for breakfast.  This was our tradition for years after we worked together for a long time in Young Women.  After 4 years, we had tons to catch up on with family news and church news.  The time flew by!

Me, Donna, and Stephanie taking a breakfast selfie.
Love these amazing women!

I made it back mid-morning.  Everyone was awake and getting organized for the rest of the day.  Except Emily, who had come down with the bug and was feeling pretty miserable.  We were planning to go to Chillicothe to visit Jay's aunt and cousin, but there was no way Emily was up for the trip.  And we didn't want to share her germs with them as they both have other health issues.  So Emily and I stayed home while Jay took the kids and his parents for the visit.

Emily and I had a quiet afternoon of napping and then found a Back to the Future marathon on TV to watch.  She was feeling a little better by evening, but still was glad to be resting and quiet.

Jay and the kids had a good visit and drove around Chillicothe a little.  The kids thought the best part of the whole thing was going to Golden Corral for dinner!

Jay, Benjamin, Aunt Naomi, Abby, and Jonathan

Our time in Ohio was half over.  We were slowly but definitely checking things off our essential Ohio list!

July 1: Old friends

Everyone had a good sleep and woke up late.  Both boys were feeling better, although still a little less energetic than usual.

We spent most of the day relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's house again.  After the busy days before, it was nice to have a day of not running around and looking at things.

Busy journaling on the front porch.

The weather was still beautiful and cool, so the kids spent most of the day outside.  Emily took her journal out to the front porch to work on updating all her adventures.

The kids playing video games together.

After a quiet, day, we headed out to visit one of Jay's high school friends.  We had a great evening catching up with Mike, Sherrie, and their son. Emily enjoyed hearing funny stories about her dad when he was younger.

Mike and Jay.

Benjamin was delighted to discover fireflies as it got dark.  We don't have fireflies in Texas, and he was a baby when we moved, so he was fascinated with these light-up bugs that were so easy to catch.  He spent an hour running around in the dark catching fireflies and was excited every time he got one.  We had to take a container of them back to Grandma's house with us because he couldn't bear to let them go.

It was another late night, but so much fun to visit!

June 30: Amish Country!

Sleepy boys!

We slept in a little, ate some breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out for our day of adventure.  Benjamin was definitely still not feeling well and didn't eat much.  He also fell asleep again as soon as we were in the car, so we knew something wasn't quite right.

We had stayed the night in Millersburg.  We enjoyed driving through the quaint little town on our way to Berlin, our main destination.

The Millersburg court house.
Gorgeous architecture!

The first stop in Berlin was Heine's Cheese Chalet.  This was one of our favorite stops when we lived in Ohio, and it hadn't changed much.  We started by watching through the back of the store as they made cheese.

That's a lot of curds and whey!

Then we got to walk around and sample all the different types of cheese, including flavored cream cheese and cream cheese fudge.  Delicious and amazing!  We picked up several blocks and wheels of cheese to take home with us.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was still exhausted, so he and I ended up sitting on a bench while the others walked around to look at the rest of the shop, including more fudge and lots of souvenirs.

Next, we walked across the street to the Amish Bakery, which smells amazing even from the outside.  Ben had really had enough at this point, so he and I sat down outside while Jay took the kids in.  Then we traded places.  Every time we sat down, Ben tried to go to sleep again, without much luck.

Full of bread and cheese, we headed back up the road to the Bulk Food store, so I could stock up on pectin for future jam making.

Emily wanted to look for some souvenirs and we knew there was a little store across from where we were going to lunch, so that was our next destination.  The parking lot at the restaurant had a lovely overlook into the valley.

Beautiful North Ohio.  We miss the green hills!

Emily, of course, spotted some horses, and had to go say hello.

Jay took the girls to look for souvenirs while Ben and I found a rocking chair in front of the restaurant.  Jonathan said he was starting to feel "funny" and snuggled up next to me.  After their shopping expedition, we headed in to Der Dutchman for an amazing lunch of chicken, stuffing, salad, and mashed potatoes.  Jonathan was definitely coming down with the bug and barely ate anything.

It was starting to rain by the time we finished lunch and we decided that we had seen everything we wanted to, so we headed back toward Lancaster.  The rain picked up as we traveled, and we were sure that the people in the buggies we met along the road were probably less happy with the rain than we were!

That has to be one wet ride!

We were still enjoying all the uniquely Ohio sites on the way home, and especially all the green, green trees and hills.  One of the things we always loved on this drive is the Longaberger basket building.  Only in Ohio!

Yes, that is an office building.  Shaped like a giant basket.

We made it back in the evening, unpacked, and put two boys straight to bed.  It was a great trip full of great food!