I'm not positive I am in a blog writing mood, it's been a rough couple of days. But, I'll do my best.. since Blog 52 is going to have to come on Thursday. EEEKK! Although, I've been told 31 comes in much easier than 30. I sure hope so.
So, I left off with last Sunday Night. Remember all the trouble my dog, Porkchop gave my mom when I left him for her to babysit? Yes, remember that. It'll become important later.
Monday was a good day. We headed out after lunch to the Toledo Zoo. I know everyone says Lowry Park is an awesome kids zoo, but this is the one area I think Ohio trumps Florida. The Toledo Zoo is the best, and not just for nostalgic reasons. (Especially since it hardly resembles the zoo I went to as a child).
Anyway, They have this whole new elephant enclosure that's super awesome. The one elephant was even playing with the enrichment wall- where they have the holes to stick their trunks through. And, the baby elephant was playing in the mud, which was my favorite part of the zoo when Hayden asked later.
Peyton's favorite part is always the reptile house, which I find terribly boring, humid, and gross. But, as a mother of boys I suffer through it. The video on replay of the snake giving birth really was a little much though.
We all took some cute pictures with the masks that hang by the kids area.
And then we had a good time playing on the playground, climbing the wall, and building a dam in the stream. Although there was quite the little bossy girl there telling the boys what to do. People, teach your children to be polite already.
We spent a good amount of time in the kids building. Hayden's favorite part was the guinea pigs, so much so he even tried to convince Asa we should get one, despite the freeze on pets that has been in place.
The boys even got to pet an alligator, and Hayden was pretty entertained by the bees. He even put on the costume and played around in the people sized hive.
Of course no stop to the zoo is complete with out seeing the polar bears.
After the zoo we went over to my grandma's house to visit for awhile. My aunt from Seattle had flown in for mom's party, and my other aunt lives in Toledo- so we had a nice dinner together, before heading back to Fremont.
Tuesday was exciting. I woke up and headed out to get my hair cut. I hadn't had my hair cut since a couple of days before our wedding- so it had been two years since anyone had so much as trimmed my hair. It was kind of a mess, and I hated it. But, I had 11 inches cut off- so plenty enough to donate.
After my haircut, we went out to Cedar Point. I had gotten tickets online for $25 a piece, which was awesome- because for full price we weren't going to take Hayden since he was just barely 48 inches tall now (and therefore the adult price). We took the skyride to the Blue Streak, and actually got Hayden to ride it. He hated it though, and I was pretty sure he wasn't going to go on anything else all day. But he happily smiled for a picture.
.JPG)
Most disappointing part of that day however: Sneak Peeks (where Asa and I met and worked together) is no longer called Sneak Peeks. It's just a lame 'Photo Memories' Booth. But, we did take a super cute picture in front of it.
After Hayden's terrifying experience on the Blue Streak, he went off with mom while we met up with my college roommate Emily, who was awesome enough to drive a bunch of hours to spend the day with us. I have such a motion sickness issue, but I always just suffer through it at Cedar Point. Something about that place makes getting flipped upside down to the point of nausea perfectly ok with me. We had a good balance of going on things all together, mom taking Hayden off to do some things, and me and Peyton opting out of the bigger more intense rides while Emily and Asa went off to do them.
I even went on the super tall swings, the wind seeker - and Hayden was not totally scared off by the Blue Streak. We got him on the Mine Ride, and he loved it. Plus I got to use him to ride the Woodstock express (Grandma even got their picture for them). Oh, Camp Snoopy- the awesome memories I have of working at that place.
The lines were so short we were getting on everything in under 15 minutes. Hayden and Peyton rode the Junior Gemini at least 10 times. It was ridiculous. We even had time to stop for cheese fries and mini corn dogs. A must stop at the Happy Friar.
Unfortunately for us, Cedar Point now closes at 10. I remember the midnight closes we all had to endure mid summer. These new employees don't know how good they have it. At 9:15 We met back up with Asa and Emily who had ridden Top Thrill and the Power Tower. Hayden REALLY wanted to go on the Mine Ride again, Asa and Peyton still hadn't gotten on Maverick, and Emily and I really wanted to ride the swings at night- so we all parted ways.
After the swings again (which, I was terrified to go on since it's a good 300 feet up but Emily and Asa talked me into it), I said goodbye to Emily and walked the trail to the back of the park to meet up with everyone else. Walking at trail at night, past Millennium Force Photo, past the petting farm is SO nostalgic. I cannot help but smile about it. So weird what a calming effect the night time, sound of screaming, and roller coasters can give you. I had such a good time my five summers there. Some better than others, but they really are some of my fondest memories.
When I got to the back of the park, Hayden and Mom were the only two in the antique cars. I waited for them and when they got off it was just past 10 so we went to get Peyton and Asa from the Maverick. Hayden happily told me how he got to ride the Mine Ride- three times- in a row- without getting off. In case you were wondering, Mom looked like she had ridden the Mine ride-three times-in a row- without getting off.
Although it was late, we did manage to squeeze in a trip to Tofts just before closing, and ate our ice cream on the way back to moms house. In case you're wondering, Tofts is only the best ice cream place ever. If only I could get peachy yogurt in Florida. Or, pomegranate crunch. Because that was awesome too.
Wednesday we went out to Woodys for lunch. Woodys is a local Fremont place, famous for their awesome rootbeer, that's only open in the summer. It was another must stop for us while we were up.
Wednesday afternoon we went out to Soak City (Cedar Point's water park). Back when Calib and Peyton were little we spent every day off I had at Soak City. They have far out grown choo-choo lagoon, but luckily Hayden was still up for the kiddy area. That made me super happy.
It was really relaxing there, far more than any water park here- just because it was so uncrowded. We went on the lazy river, and didn't even see anyone else our frist time around.
Peyton really loved the lilly pads, and trying to get across them without falling into the water consumed him for a good 45 minutes. He just went around and around again until it was 8 o'clock and he was kicked out of the very short line. Still, they had a blast. Cute story: Asa was talking to a life guard about how he used to work at Cedar Point. The life guard asked if he got anything good out of it. Asa replied with 'My wife, and my kids'.
We had planned on hitting the movies at the Boat Basin in Huron, but we had forgotten pillows and blankets to sit on. Hopefully next year the boys will still be in to it. (If I make an Ohio trip next year, scroll down for an explanation to that one). We opted for dinner at Fazoli's and some Olympics watching at grandma's house instead.
Thursday we packed up the car, and even managed to get my dad's old terrarium in the Fit. Peyton had been wanting to get it, and with mom coming back with us it was the perfect time to drive it down. After getting all packed up, we went out to Chuds for lunch. No trip to Fremont is complete with out some Chud Spuds. Who doesn't love potatoes, cheese, and bacon? If you don't, just remove yourself from my friends list now.
Jeff dropped Calib off, and we left Fremont and headed to Corts house. We got there a little after dinner, and went swimming in the pool. Dogs weren't allowed in the pool area, so we tied them up on the opposite side of the pool. Porkchop again managed to Houdini himself out of his harness and leash, and I had to jump out of the pool to get him back. Of course, he came right back to me. (Remember this, this is important later).
After a night at Corts, we spent the morning playing with Garrett (Gwen was at camp), and had a quick lunch.
After that, we headed out to Mammoth Caves to meet up with Clint and Jessica, complete with Corts dog in tow. They had gotten us all cave tours for our birthdays and reserved a campsite for Friday and Saturday night. We arrived around 5, and it quickly became apparent to me that Porkchop is not a camping dog. He's way too prissy for that sort of thing. I spent most of the evening in the tent with him (but I did manage to get a great picture of the deer that came through the campsite). Clint and Jess got there around 8 or so, and we played some games before going to bed.
We woke up early Saturday morning. I told everyone I didn't think I should go on the tour because Porkchop had freaked out whenever I had not been with him on the trip. Everyone assured me it would be fine, and Jessica could stay with the dogs. (Remember this. This is very important later). Just to reiterate, I on several occasions said I should not go on the cave tour and I should stay with the dogs and Jess. Everyone thought I was over reacting.
So, we all headed out to the visitors center and left Jess with her dog, Elemeno, Corts dog (they were dog sitting), Lilly, and our two dogs. Calib and Peyton's cave tour started first. They went on the Trog Tour- in which only 8 to 12 year olds can go. They get to crawl through parts of the cave hardly anyone else gets to go in. After they suited up and headed off with their guide, we went up to wait for our historical tour to start. We had been gone about 45 minutes, max.
Now, SPOILER ALERT right here: Any of you reading this, I don't want you to freak out- so before I tell the story I'm skipping to the ending where everyone and everything turned out just fine. But, it was a traumatic horrific next 2 hours. But again, EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING TURNED OUT FINE.
While sitting there listening to our tour guide talk about what we were going to do, moms phone rang. It was Jessica, and she was hysterical. Mom couldn't understand her, so she handed the phone to Clint. I looked back, saw Clint dropped the phone and run. He yelled something back to mom, and mom came running up to me and said Elemeno (Clint's dog) had 'been bit' and she had to get a vet.(Although this was like a game of telephone because I guess all Clint heard was 'car' and 'Elemeno' out of Jessica and had thought Elemeno had been hit by a car) I immediately told Asa we had to leave the tour and to run back to the campsite to get our dogs so they could tend to Elemeno. I went to get a refund on the tour, and mom went to get some vets numbers from the park ranger. Then, I stayed with Hayden as mom ran back to the campsite.
I waited at the visitors center for someone to call me to tell me what was going on. I frantically was calling Clint, Jess, Mom, and Asa and nobody was picking up. I was so worried something awful happened to Elemeno. Still thinking he had been bit by something I didn't know if Phenom had gone crazy and bit him, if there was a raccoon or a snake- and if so what about the other dogs? It was just so stressful. Eventually, I told Hayden we needed to go sit outside and wait for someone to come back. When we got outside, I saw Asa. He had run to the campground and back and was a sweaty mess. He told me Elemeno was fine, so were Phenom and Lilly. But, Porkchop had run away.
Now, I freaked out. I knew I shouldn't have left him- but I listened to everyone else and went on the tour anyway. I was angry and everyone for making me feel like I was being ridiculous, and I was terrified I would never see Porkchop again. He is like my fourth child. He's my consolation prize for not having anymore babies. And now here he was- no collar, no leash (he had slipped out of it)- wondering around Mammoth Caves National Park- with a million things that could happen to him.
I ran back to the campgrounds with Hayden, while Asa ran off in another direction. I was so mad it took an hour before anyone told me he was missing. I never thought he'd come to anyone else, he's so partial to me. By the time I got back to the campgrounds I heard tons of people calling for Porkchop. People I didn't know- the whole campground knew he was missing. Everyone was on the lookout and some people were even out walking around looking for him.
Hayden was freaking out too. First of all, we had been staying up by the caves because someone had to get the boys when their tour was over (keep in mind Calib and Peyton had no idea this was going on). Hayden was very concerned, he cried "But whose going to get the boys? If I was a grown up I could wait for them!" He even thought of things, I didn't think a six year old would think of, like 'What if he got hit by a car?' and 'What if he went off into the woods'. Eventually, us crying screaming for porkchop around the campgrounds was doing no good so we got in the car to drive around. I hadn't seen Clint or Jess, but I knew Jess was also in the car and Clint went out on foot.
I drove around, talked to rangers (who already knew of Porkchop being missing and were on the lookout- they were so kind they even would tell me if they heard of a sighting on the radio, and where would be good places to check). By now it had been almost two hours, and the boys had to be picked up so mom was on her way, when she ran into a camper who had found porkchop. Apparently this nice lady had been looking for him the whole time. He was panting, and covered in burrs and dirt. But he was ok. Mom called and I drove to where she was, threw the car in park and ran to go get him. I'd never been so happy to get Porkchop licks in my life. I cried and hugged him, but quickly got him to the water faucet to cool him off.
Mom went to pick up Calib and Peyton, but Clint didn't have his phone on him, and had gone off on a trail. It had been about 90 minutes since anyone had seen him, and Jessica who was completely distraught in the first place was worried something had happened to Clint. Luckily, everyone showed up when Calib and Peyton got back. They avoided being part of the whole debacle.
Clint later told me he had spotted Porkchop on the trail, and thought he was going to be the hero to bring him back. But, Porkchop wouldn't come to him and instead ran off in the other direction. Which we figure made Porkchop run back into the campgrounds and to the camper that found him. Clint however, thought Porkchop went into a little cave on the trail (and by little, I mean smaller than a person could get into) and spent an hour trying to peak in the cave, take pictures in the cave to see if Porkchop was in there, and sat outside it just hoping he would come out.
The lady at the campgrounds gate gave Asa a wet cloth, because he looked like he was nearing heat stroke. He circled the trail behind the campgrounds 3 times. We later found out, the trail was 3 miles long.
After all of this, we were all pretty upset and shaken up. But, poor Hayden was so excited for his cave tour, so after a little decompressing Clint bought tickets for Hayden, Peyton, Asa and him to go on the self guided tour into the cave. Peyton and Calib loved their tour by the way. Lots of crawling, and small spaces, and even got to turn off their headlamps and see how dark the cave really can be.
I of course, stayed behind with Porkchop. Calib picked to stay behind too, and so did Jess. Mom went up to the visitors center to do some work and get some wifi. Things were fine for about half an hour, and then a storm blew down our tarp (which was acting as Clint and Jess's tent), and we spent another hour or so sitting in the tent, with the four dogs, while it poured down rain.
Clint and Jess had decided they were going to leave early, after we had dinner, just because of the stress of the day. But when the rain cancelled any plans we had for a campfire, we decided just to head home too.
.JPG)
We stopped in Nashville so I could get another stadium checked off my list, and it actually worked to our benefit, because we avoided a huge detour in favor of a minor one. We made it to Georgia, and stayed in a hotel along 75.
.JPG)
This morning we woke up and drove the last 8 hours home. It rained, it poured, it sprinkled, and then it poured again. Almost the whole way back. We did stop at the state line to take a picture.
And it was pretty funny when Asa tied Phenom to this sign.
And, if you have me on Facebook- remember how the day we left I complained out refrigerator/freezer giving out? Well, Asa thought he fixed it. But, he didn't. Everything had to be thrown away. On a rent paycheck. That's gonna be an expensive grocery store trip. Luckily Justin was here to help deal with that mess, and unpack the car and Mom got us all pizza for dinner.
Sadly, I think this vacation is only ever going to be remembered as that time Porkchop got lost in a state park. (Seriously, it was terrifying) I might not even remember having to throw away everything in my fridge and freezer. But, it was not awesome to come home to. At all. Ugh.
At least I have air conditioning and wifi in the same room. Mom really needs to upgrade to awesome internet, air conditioning, a dishwasher, and an ice maker!
So, here's hoping next week goes so much better.
Up Next: Mom's visiting, Disney is calling, and a brand new list is coming!
No comments:
Post a Comment