After my last post, I got a little lazy and forgot to take pictures for a couple of days. Luckily nothing too exciting happened. We played with friends, went to swim practice, and helped Aaron with some of his mailings.
Saturday, August 6
Kaden came home from Boy Scout camp. He was filthy and tired but had a great time. I sure missed him and was so glad when he made it home.
Tuesday, August 9
Tuesday morning we got up early to head to the airport. Thankfully we have some great friends who were willing to drop us off. I made all the boys wear their "Thing" shirts so that I could keep track of them. They got so many looks and comments, especially when they were all yoyoing together.
While we were waiting at the airport, Aaron decided to check his email. We found out that our final offer was accepted on the house in Heber. We still haven't signed the contract or had the appraisal or inspection done, but we are hoping to move by the middle of September.
After a long day of flying, we arrived in Cleveland. We still had one more hour of driving before we arrived in Sandusky. Once we got there we were so starving we had to stop at Panera Bread (our first time) for dinner.
We finally made it to the Great Wolf Lodge where we were staying. I don't want to sound like a commercial, but this place was great. It is a water park hotel. So our stay included unlimited use of the indoor water park. Our room had two queen beds plus a little living room area that had a full pull-out sofa. Everybody had to share, but we fit great!
Wednesday, August 10
We indulged ourselves at the all-you-can-eat breakfast. Not nearly as good as a Disney breakfast (and not very many healthy options), but was a fun way to start the day.
After breakfast, we left Aaron up in the room to work, and the kids and I headed down to try out the water park. We had so much fun!
We did take a little break to go get lunch. The kids loved posing by this friendly bear that greets you at the door.
After lunch and a couple of errands, it was back to the water park for us!
Thursday, August, 11
When we asked our kids at the beginning of the year what they wanted to do for family vacation this year, all they wanted to do was "roller coasters!" After a little research on the internet we discovered that Cedar Point is the roller coaster capital of the world.
We got up early to get to Cedar Point when it opened. Okay, if you know us when we travel, we are never on time for anything. But we did get their in the first hour of opening. As soon as we got there Aaron took Luke to the kiddie area and the three older boys and I started getting in lines for roller coasters. We started out with Corkscrew, a short but jerky level 5 coaster. Trevor loved it! Then we hit Iron Dragon. It is only a 4 but still a great ride. We then got in line for Millennium Force. This is the 2010 best steel coaster in the world! The line was very long and Trevor was nervous. But we finally got on! Holy Cow!!!! This is probably the best roller coaster I have ever been on!!! It was intense. It was high. It was fast. It was smooth. I loved it!! And so did Trevor!!! I can't believe my little six year-old rode one of the best coasters in the world! I am sooooo proud of him!
After that, Trevor decided to go hang out with Aaron and Luke, while Kaden, Ethan and I tackled more big coasters. Trevor and Luke had a great time. Especially with all the treats that Aaron bought them to keep them happy and cool.
One of the other favorite rides was Top Thrill Dragster. This is the roller coaster that shoots you straight up 420 feet at 120 miles per hour, then you come twisting right back down again. Ethan and I ended up getting stuck in the back seat for quite a while due to mechanical failures. We glad to finally get to be able to ride this one.
Friday, August 12
We didn't want to be at Cedar Point during the weekend. We took Friday easy and hung out at the water park. We went to CiCi's for lunch. We don't have CiCi's in Reno and was new to us. The kids loved the pizza buffet. We had to get a picture of Ethan in front of the sign because when Luke was first learning to talk, he couldn't say Ethan's name and called him CC for a LONG time.
After lunch the kids didn't want to go swimming again, so I took Trevor and Luke to the cubs play room.
We did end up all going back to the water park later that evening.
Saturday, August, 13
This was another low key day. We went swimming in the morning. We then went to lunch and then decided to hit the mall that was right down the street to do some back to school shopping for the kids. The boys thought they were so funny putting their heads on these mannequins at Old Navy.
That evening, Aaron left me in the room to relax and took all the boys swimming. They love to be able to play with their dad!
Sunday, August 14
We got up and went to church in Sandusky.
As we walked out of church it was pouring rain. We didn't think it would last too long, so we headed back to our room to eat lunch. We decided to still go ahead and drive to Kirtland, Ohio to see the church history sites there. We were in and out of rain all day, but it was a wonderful way to spend the day.
Here we are outside the main visitor's center in Kirtland. This was a special visit for us because my sister Kara served her mission here.
We got to see the Newell K. Whitney store and home. We heard many stories of hard work, trials, and tender mercies.
We then walked over to the saw mill and ashery. These were a favorite for the boys. They got to see the kind of work that was done back then. We also got to see the school house. This was very fun to see how different school is today.
We then drove over to the Kirtland Temple. This is the first temple that was built in the latter days.
We then drove out to Hirum, OH to the John Johnson Farm. We got there just before it closed and they were so kind to still give us the tour. It was an amazing and we could really feel the truthfullness of the revelations that happened there. The boys were impressed by the story of Joseph Smith getting tarred and feathered and still preaching the very next day. It was an honor to stand on those very steps.
Monday, August 15
This was our second day at Cedar Point. Aaron did go on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster with Kaden and Ethan. He then decided that he had had enough and came to play with Luke and Trevor. We loved the water rides and got very VERY wet! We also enjoyed the All Wheels Extreme show. Kaden got over his fear of fast starting coasters and rode Top Thrill Dragster, Wicked Twister, and Power Tower. Luke loves all rides but especially loves the bumper cars and bumper boats. And Trevor impressed me again with some of the crazy level 5 rides he wanted to go on.
Good Bye Cedar Point! We had a great time!!!
Tuesday, August, 16
We said one last goodbye to Great Wolf Lodge. . .
and went to the zoo.
This is the first time that we have been to a "real" zoo since before Trevor was born. We had a great time seeing all the different animals. Ethan, Trevor, and Luke loved the blue poison dart frog. Kaden and I both loved the butterfly house. We loved watching the orangutan and its baby fight, and another monkey "change a baby's diaper".
We were tired and ready to go home. But of course, the boys had to show of their yoyoing at the airport.
We finally arrived home. It felt soooo good to sleep in our own beds.
Wednesday, August 17
Kaden spent the day with his friend swimming and riding bikes. The rest of us stayed home to unpack and do laundry. Now we have the stress of moving right in front of us. Hopefully we make it through this next month!
