Two Wines & A Champagne

Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. !

I love weddings! We get to dress up, it's usually an adult night out and there's dancing. Then there is the actual ceremony. Sigh. Christopher and I hold hands while the groom and bride exchange their vows. It's bliss. What's not to love?

It was the perfect day for an outdoor wedding. The weather was beautiful for our two hour drive with the top down. I didn't worry about my hair because it was an adult day out. Then we get there and the place is amazing and the first thing Christopher and I notice is how much it looked like our vacation in Ohio.

Remember all the step pictures from our Ohio trip? I love photographing steps. These steps led to a beautiful alter.

The wedding was beautiful but the service at the reception was out of this world. It started out with a cocktail hour and wine glass #1, #2 and #3. There were a variety of appetizers being served and I don't think I saw the same thing come around twice. Then it was time to head to the reception and be seated at our table. That's when the chaos of the glasses began. I still had half a glass of wine left from wine glass #3, then was poured wine glass #4. At this point I had two glasses going and every time I turned away they were being refilled. Time to toast the happy couple and in enters champagne. This too was refilled once that I caught. My three glasses were always half full the entire night. Life is good.

You Want WHAT Done To Your Coffee

We've been home from vacation for five days now and I think I'm finally done playing catch up with the chores. All the laundry is done, everything is unpacked and luggage put away, the yard has been mowed and weeded and the fridge is stocked. What I don't understand is how I can clean the car and house before we leave just to have to re-clean everything when we return.
Now for my vacation coffee story, as beautiful as Ohio was they are lacking in the coffee department. My original thought was we would stop at every Dunkin Donuts on the way. After all it was a seven hour drive and we were on vacation. After not seeing any DD I decided I would settle for Starbucks. No such luck. Monday turns into Tuesday and we drive to the nearby city of Lancaster and stopped by the mall to get Haillie a book. You would think there would be some kind of coffee chain in the mall. Nope. Fast forward to Thursday, we plan to drive through Logan on our way home. They have the world's largest washboard there. That's when Christopher stops a coffee house. *yeah* I could almost taste that delicious sweet ice coffee. I get up to the counter and order a large ice coffee. The women just stared at me and didn't say anything. So I asked, "do you have ice coffee" and she responds, "well we have coffee and we have ice." *omg*
The woman proceeds to make two espressos. Then she fills two glasses with ice and pours the espressos into one and creamer into the other. Next she fills the blender with even more ice and pours both cups into the blender. She blends it all and I'm thinking do I have to pay for this? She pours the frothy concoction it into a large cup and there is so much left she fills a second cup. Proudly gives me both cups and she only charges me $3.50. It was so tasteless, so coffeeless.
So bloggies don't go to Ohio for coffee!

Let The Whining Begin

Good morning campers! Due to the rain out yesterday we have twice as much area to cover today. *kids groan* So tie up those hiking boots, grab your granola bar and lets hit the trails. *kids whining*
Today we went to the Rock House, Cantwell Cliffs, Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. We had to skip the Rockbridge *pout* due to time and complaining kiddos. They just didn't enjoy this trip as much as I did. I'm really surprised at how much fun I'm having. Who knew? People do vacation in Ohio. People however DON'T drink ice coffee in Ohio BUT that's so another post.
The Rock House was amazing. It's a tunnel like corridor situated midway up a 150 foot cliff of Blackhand sandstone. *brochure talk* I loved the steps carved into the rocks and took so many pics of steps. It looks like I took tons of photos of the same steps but they are all different locations.

So peaceful. After Rock House we drove to Cantwell Cliffs and had our lunch. I love eating outside. If you don't know by now I am an overprotective worry wart of a mom. I hear "cliffs" and see warning signs for the cliffs everywhere, small panic attacks. Haillie trips on flat surfaces in our kitchen without obstacles and here she is leaning over edges trying to get winning photo shots. I was jumpy.

Absolutely beautiful. Hurry jump into the car and off to the next location, Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls is the greatest waterfall in the area. I love waterfalls more than the rocky forest steps. This one was spectacular and once again my photos don't do it justice.

We then drove to the Rockbridge, I was so excited! BUT we get there and the trail begins in what looks like Amish farmland. No dogs were allowed on the trail and it was almost a two mile hike to the bridge. *insert kiddos moans & groans here* We opted to skip this one and head to Ash Cave instead. Ash Cave was a quickie. The trail was easy and it didn't take long to get to the recess cave. With yet another small waterfall and a sandy terrain. Loved it!

Photo Contest Day 2

There seems to be some talk that I only won yesterday's photo contest because our names were attached to our photos. *eye roll* Whatever. Sore loser's syndrome. So today I didn't label who took which photo. Abby opted out of the contest because in her words, "her camera is dumb, the camera's flash is dumb, the contest is dumb, this vacation is dumb." She is such a happy and positive child. Oy.
AND the WINNER was … *drum roll plz* … CHRISTOPHER!!!
I need to add that I predicted this win because people like waterfalls.

Christopher's photo entry

Michelle's photo entry

Haillie's photo entry

Rise & Shine Campers

Let me start by saying last week we suffered through a heat wave. I lovE loVE lOVE LOVE summer but even I break when the temperature goes over 100⁰F. During those few horrific and inhumanly hot days I keep saying when we get to our cabin I'm turning the central air down to 50⁰F. Everyone thought I was funny but I was totally serious. Well let me tell you, when you do turn the AC down that low you will freeze! No one was hot that first night. In fact I think it's safe to say some where even a tad crabby with me due to the uncomfortable coldness. My bad. I turned it up to 68⁰F and left it alone the rest of our stay.
Unlike the lazy sleep in mornings at the beach we were up, ate breakfast, and dressed, lunches packed and out the door by 9:00a. Whew! You don't slack and lazy around in Ohio. Our first destination was Old Man's Cave.

*quick history lesson*
Old Man's Cave
This recess cave was named for the "old man" Richard Rowe, a recluse who made the cave his home in the 1800s and is a part of scenic Hocking Hills State Park. Hocking comes from the Wyandot Indian word "hockhocking" referring to the Hocking River's bottle shaped gorge near Lancaster. Streams and percolating groundwater carved the hollows and caves in this area from layers of sandstone bedrock that vary in hardness. The hollow's moist, cool climate preserves more typically northern tree species such as eastern hemlock trees and Canada yew, which have persisted since the glaciers retreated15,000 year ago. The gorge is a half mile long and has three waterfalls.

Words cannot even begin to describe how amazingly beautiful this place was. Even my most favorite photos don't portray how massive the gorge and waterfalls are. It was truly breath taking.

We explored this area for over two hours and then decided to take a lunch break. It was so humid down in the gorge that everyone's glasses and camera lens kept fogging up. Your eyes felt damp, I don't know how else to explain it, it was a weird feeling. We then got in the car to head to our next destination that’s when it started to rain. The rain got heavier and heavier so we called it a day and headed back to the cabin and hot tub.

Photo Contest Day 1

Christopher had this awesome idea of holding a daily photo contest on FaceBook. Boy was there a lot of trash talking going on during our hikes. My family is mean. Everyone had to pick their favorite photo taken that day. You were allowed to crop but no fancy editing. After everyone had their photo uploaded to the handy dandy thumb drive it was off to the main office to use the computers in the lobby. It was the only internet available. Even my cell phone didn't have reception most of the time.
AND the WINNER was ... *drum roll plz* … ME!!!
All that trash talk and momma kicked butt!

Christopher's photo entry

Michelle's photo entry

Haillie's photo entry

Abby's photo entry

And Away We Go

Finally after a week of list making, planning and packing we were off to Ohio. We decided to leave the house at 6:00a and site see along the way. If you are planning a road trip you need to check out the site "Roadside America". Thank you Haillie! I never would have thought to look for such a site. I found all kinds of neat and goofy attractions for us to check out along our way. The kids were overjoyed. *sarcasm*

Big Jim Metal Cowboy @ Bentleyville, PA
General Philp H. Sheridan @ Somerset, OH

With us leaving so early we missed some of the Pennsylvania attractions since they weren't even open yet. The girls didn't seem too disappointed in not seeing the world's largest praying mantis or the coffee pot shaped building. I had them busy with Pennsylvania and Ohio fun facts and silly laws. I even thought ahead and printed out a bunch of car games. We played …

Two Truths and a Lie
String Words
Buried Cows
Number Game
Jeep, Jeep
Fortunately-Unfortunately
Related Words

Traffic was nonexistent, the drive was unbelievable peaceful. Mocha even learned to relax in her car seat and enjoy the ride.

Finally after 7 hours of driving and numerous stops along the way we made it to our Cabin Sweet Cabin in the Hocking Hills Region.

A-Frame Cabin @ Old Man's Cave Chalets

After unpacking the car and getting things situated we headed out for groceries. Until we got there we really weren't sure what we were going to do for meals. All the places I wanted to eat at were a good distance away from the cabins. I really didn't want to spend an hour to drive somewhere to eat then drive an hour back. Not when we had hiking and exploring to do. So we settled for cereal, bananas and cantaloupe for breakfast. Ham, turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch to include trail mix, pretzel m&ms, granola bars and Oreos. Dinner was hamburgers, chicken burgers and hot dogs on the grill and of course smores. Everything was so yummy I didn’t even miss my boardwalk of restaurants at the beach we didn’t go to. Tomorrow we head off to Old Man’s Cave.

Band Trip Day 3

Busch Gardens today! Haillie is spending the all day there with a mid-day picnic lunch. The award ceremony was held in the park after lunch. The kids did great! Our Junior High band placed 1^st, Senior High Band placed 2^nd and Jazz Band placed 1^st. Afterwards they went back to the park till closing. Boy they have been having late nights and early mornings.

Band Trip Day 2

It saddens me to report that there were no ghost sightings last night. Sorry Haillie. Today the band has a busy day. They are going to Colonial Williamsburg. The sun is shining, they definitely have a beautiful day for it. Later this evening they perform at the Festival, fingers crossed they win some trophies. Haillie is playing with both the Junior High and the Senior High band. I'm so proud.

band trip day 1…

Haillie is traveling again this time on a concert/jazz/marching band trip to Busch Gardens, Virginia. We packed her up and I dropped her off at the high school by 8:00a. I even received a public hug goodbye. What the? Don't question it just accept it. Teenagers are so confusing. Once they are settled into their rooms they are going out for dinner at "Food for Thought Restaurant". Then at 8:00p it's time for a ghost tour, this is what Haillie was all excited for.