Road Trip

We left OH and drove through IN to Chicago where we met some friends for lunch in Oak Park. I love the scenery in Chicago. The traffic stinks. Then we drove further West to Granny's house. It was wonderful to see her again. The next morning we drove to St. Cloud MN by way of Wisconsin. Ooohh. I had forgotten how pretty my birth state is! If I had to pick a place to live in based on terrain, it very well could be the W side of Wisconsin or East side of MN. After an hour in St. Cloud we drove to La Crosse WI to see my friend Liz. That was a long day! On Sunday we got up and drove all the way home.

The Maples Hotel...complete with color TV

Our hotel was vintage. It was started in the 1920's and has been going strong ever since. Aside from the trains that went by about 9 times during the night (the RR crossing was right across the street) it was great...and inexpensive. The owners are super nice too. I mentioned the trains and she acted stunned. I caught on she was joking and mentioned I'd bring earplugs the next time. She proceeded to pull out a huge container of them! Oh well, I'll remember to ask next time!




Gotta love color TV...
Our breakfast stop. LEMmys...Lake Eerie Monster. You could get a perch omelet. No thanks!
Our scrumptious dinner...probably the best dinner we've ever had. Mmmmm!

The Thrills and the Chills

Well, we had it all at Cedar Point yesterday. Fog, sprinkles, chilly breezes, rain, HAIL. Wait, hail? Yessiree. It hailed. Around lunchtime it started to sprinkle and then rain a little. It let up, but the rides all had to be test run before they'd let people on after the rain. Well we showed up to Mean Streak just as they were letting people in again. The line was short, and we were waiting underneath the covered walkway......when it began to sprinkle, then rain for about 15 minutes or so. Then the thunder and lightening cracked, the wind picked up and the hail came down!

First it was little hail; about a pencil eraser or so. Then there were hail pieces that ranged from a dime to a nickel. Thankfully we were under the covered walkway and stayed mostly dry. We waited about a total of 2 hours until the storm blew over and the ride was opened. Then the sunny sky came back!! (The middle picture shows a piece of hail)

Going to Cedar Point

Since we are on vacation, we figured we should take a vacation. So we're going to Cedar Point tomorrow! It's been a very long time since either of us has been there. I'm so excited!! I absolutely love roller coasters.

We'll stay in a little motel tomorrow night so we don't have to make the trip back all tired from going upside down over and over again. The motel is supposedly wonderful. It's a little piece of history left where the big hotel chains are trying to take over. I guess one of its amenities is a color TV. ;)

We got word that our agency still doesn't have Hague approval. So far it looks that we're still covered because we have an approved I600a. But it's unnerving a little.

Wonderful Night

Friday night's Variety Show was so much fun! We had a great time talking with friends and family and feel so blessed to have you in our life! There were quite a few who drove hours and hours to come, and we are so appreciative of your support!! It means more than words can express.

In terms of raising funds, we came out with just over $1000! Thank you all for giving! We're one step closer to being able to submit the dossier.

Saturday was our anniversary and we were treated to a wonderful brunch at Der Dutchman with S' parents. It was great food....and a buffet! Yummmmy. Of course we ooohed and aahhhed over the newest Vera Bradley bags in the gift shop. (Why oh why are those bags so addicting???)

A little taste...

We have word on some of the things that will be in the silent auction. Our friend is part of the entertainment. He'll be doing a mini strongman show. And part of what he creates in his show will be in the silent auction! Hand bent steel art...

Glorious Summer

I absolutely adore summertime. I crave it actually. Well, Wednesday I started priming the bookshelves and made the mistake of not opening the windows when i started. It was hot and humid and I wanted to keep the ac on so that the primer would dry. Bad idea. After the headache set in, I opened the windows. And glory be! It had actually cooled off outside.

Yesterday I had the windows open all day. It was glorious. The breeze was streaming in, the white paint dried fabulously, and I reveled in the summeryness of it all. So today, I'll leave the windows open again. It's supposed to be near 90 today though, and humid, so hopefully I can get it done in the morning, air out the fumes, then turn the a/c back on in time for the heat wave.

The bookshelves are going to be white (Behr Sateen Lustre- great paint) and the walls are going to be a light sage green. The kitchen cabinets are going to be the same white as the bookshelves. I am not really looking forward to painting those...but I AM looking forward to how beautiful it will look when they're done!!

The ticker started over

Some of our projects for the next couple of weeks are:
Remove the freestanding wood fireplace.
Prime the bookshelves...again. done
Paint the bookshelves.
Wash and paint the living room.
Wash and repaint the kitchen.
Tackle painting the kitchen cabinets.
Make a bunch of desserts for the show.
Sell stuff I don't want to look at anymore on Craigslist.

Bike Ride...where's the camera?

At home...as usual. When we turn in our dossier, we need to have photo pages of us and family. That way, ICBF (Colombia's Children and Families) can give the pictures to the kids after they are referred to us, so they can get to know our faces. Anyway, we're supposed to have pictures of fun things S and I like to do together. Well, I'm not one to remember the camera...and neither is S. So we do these fun things, and then I remember the camera. I think we need a fcamera fairy to follow us around...

We went to Battelle Darby Park yesterday to ride our bikes. The bike trail wasn't done yet, but we did get to see a small part of the park. It's beautiful! The ranger told us to go to Prairie Oaks Metro Park. They have bike trails. So we did. It was great! The trail is small gravel, so it's easy to ride on. It's a rolling terrain, and there's lots to look at. You even cross a big bridge over the creek. Anyone in cbus should check it out...

BTW, I didn't take those pictures because MY camera was at home....

Colombia's Stunning Hostage Rescue

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1819862,00.html

"...To be a hostage of Colombia's Marxist guerrillas is to be on the move. The rebels — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) — sequester their captives deep inside the country's mountainous jungle terrain, and they regularly lead them on long, arduous marches from one mosquito-infested camp to another to keep the Colombian military from detecting their whereabouts. But on one of those treks today, the FARC finally exposed itself long enough for the army to score one of the most stunning hostage rescues in the history of a country where human abduction is virtually a national pastime...."

This is awesome!