Trip to Ohio August 2015

Before the red eye flights...

Once we got to CVG and got our rental car we made a stop by Aunt Lois's house so she could see the girls. We just chilled for the rest of the day and went to bed somewhat early.

Olivia and Greta meet!

Olivia with Uncle Mark

Claire with Uncle Adam

One of the few times Uncle Joe did not make Greta cry

 On Thursday we went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Andrew, Auntie Jill, Olivia, and Auntie Rachael. We didn't make it to all the animals but did get to see quite a bit! Claire really liked brushing the goats' hair at the petting zoo. That night we did karaoke with all siblings and Uncle Dan. Liz sang a song for the first time ever.

Claire leading the way at the zoo

Claire and the cougar

Friday all the siblings and their significant others (as well as Brian's daughter Riley) spent the day at King's Island. Liz was happy that Mark finally got to visit the park where she spent her teenage years. The lines were short due to most schools being in session so we got to go on pretty much all the rides we wanted. Aside from poor experiences with food services in the park, we had a great time and were thoroughly pooped at the end of the day. We went with Adam to a Mediterranean restaurant afterwards for a nice end to the day. Thanks to Grandma, the Bellistons, and Rachael/David for watching the girls!

Saturday we did family photos (I will post those separately) and then had Aunt Lois and Uncle Dan over for a huge meal catered by a combination of Eli's BBQ, Chick-Fil-A, some fresh produce store, and Graeter's. Needless to say it was delicious. I bet my parents still have a bunch of the 2.5 gallon bucket of black raspberry chip ice cream in the freezer. Claire loved playing in the pool that Grandpa got. Oh yeah, we ended up making an appearance at Liz's 10 year high school reunion that night, too. Ironic since she has always talked about having no desire to attend. However, it was fun to see and talk to people she hadn't seen in a long time.

Riley LOVED Greta

Claire being Claire

Selfie fun with Auntie Rachael!

Sunday was a pretty low-key day, which was much needed after several whirlwind days. On Monday, Grandma watched the girls again so we could take a day trip to Columbus - see the sights and spend some time with Rachael and David. We first went to the Topiary Garden which is manicured to resemble Seurat's Famous post impressionist painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

 

Then we went to COSI. It was a first for everyone but Liz. We were happy that the line for riding the bicycle on the tightwire was almost nonexistent. Rat basketball was also amusing to watch.

After COSI we hit up Rachael's workplace, Bakersfield for a light lunch and so we could have a guac off with Nada. (Bakersfield won.) It was yummy. Then Rachael gave us a bike tour of Ohio State, which is MUCH bigger  than BYU. I think we were on the bikes for about an hour and a half and we still weren't able to see all of campus. We were able to sneak into Ohio Stadium and get a poorly backlit photo even though the stadium was technically closed.

Horrible photo but proof we were there

I believe this was the original OSU library. It looked really cool inside.

We ended the day with dinner at Nada. David treated us well and everything was delicious! We pretty much rolled out of there.

The next day we spent a little time at a playground with Grandma and Grandpa and then headed off to the airport. Claire and Greta were pooped by the time we were done. It was a fun trip and thanks to all who contributed to that. I wish we had taken more photos (especially with Grandma and Grandpa) but we did alright.