It's been a busy week at the Waterstraut household. On Wednesday, Calib, Peyton, Hayden and I headed out to Toledo for my grandma's 95th birthday. Asa dropped us off at the airport after lunch, and off we went.
My mom picked us up from the airport, and brought us to my grandma's house. We haven't seen my mom in awhile (the last time the boys saw her she was here in February for Asa's graduation), so she had some presents from her summer trip to Europe to dish out. We all got some gifts from the Eiffel Tower, and a few snacks. Plus, my mom's friend, Jane, also bought me a bowl from Amsterdam as a thank you for the planning and booking I did for their trip. I love it. I'll have to add it to my collection (although my collection of international bowls is currently packed away).
We haven't tried the cheese yet, but the waffle cookies were delicious.
When grandma was ready for visitors, we went out to say hello, and she was happy to see the boys. She hadn't seen them since last December. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Emmett had flown in from Seattle for the festivities, and Aunt Patti is just the best hostess known to man. She had an awesome dinner for us (Mom was responsible for the slow cooked pork, which was also very nice). So we all ate, and visited. It was lovely.
Since Aunt Patti was there to stay with grandma, mom got to take a rare trip to Fremont to spend the night. We stopped by the grocery store, since there was no food in her house- and she let the boys pick whatever they wanted. We ended up with a cart full of mostly Anytizers, chocolate milk, chips, and donuts. But, it was a quick trip, so I let it slide. This trip, Peyton was officially taller than my mom, so she thought it appropriate to measure them along the wall we were all measured at as a kid. Fun fact: I am the exact same height as I was the last time I was measured at that wall (1996, I think).
The next morning, my cousin Jake came to visit us. He lives in Columbus, and works late hours, so the only way he could make it to see us was to drive up in the middle of the night, and leave by one the next day. Most people would have figured it wasn't worth it to visit for a couple of hours, but Jake did it anyway. He's kind of cool like that. (But don't tell him I said that, he doesn't need to get all full of himself).
Jake came along while we went to an early lunch at Chuds for some Chud Spuds (we have to have our chud spuds, and that was the only meal we were in Fremont for!), and to the Cider Mill. I haven't been up north in the fall since grandma turned 90, so I was super excited for some fresh apple cider. It's pressed right there at the mill, and not pasteurized, which is impossible to find anywhere down here. I can't stand the stuff in the stores, blah! But, the mill was closed. Apparently, they didn't have any apples to press yet, since it had been so warm. People can bring their own apples and press it themselves, and there were a couple taking advantage, when mom approached them and finagled two gallons for me. So, I did get my cider. And, it was as good as I remembered!
After our cider score, we said goodbye to Jake and headed up to Toledo to visit with my grandpa on my dad's side, and because the boys were so well behaved (of course they were!), my mom treated them to some Dairy Queen.
After that we were off to grandmas. Thursday was her actual birthday, so flying in on Wednesday ensured we were there for both her birthday and her party. We brought balloons, party blowers, birthday hats, and a birthday princess (that we changed to say birthday queen) crown for grandma. By then my cousin Bridgette was there, so she did the honor of crowing the birthday queen. Grandma loved it.
My mom had found a '90' comprised of pictures that we used for grandma's birthday 5 years ago, and added a '+5' to make it more current.
Since we had brought all the festive supplies with us, Calib and grandma ended up seeing who could keep their birthday blower out the longest. Grandma won. I said she cheated, having oxygen fed in, but I gave her the win anyway.
Aunt Patti made a really nice chicken and shrimp dinner, and grandma's favorite, German Chocolate Cake for dessert. We couldn't light the candle, because of the oxygen, but we pretended anyway.
Aunt Patti, Uncle Emmett, Bridgette, Dawn, and my family all made it in time for the actual day, so we did get a little more grandma time than everyone who was only able to be there on Saturday, which was nice.
And for those who couldn't be there, mom kept a steady flow of Facetime visitors too.
We spent the night back in Fremont, and Peyton told me he didn't care how early I had to wake him up on Friday morning, he wanted to go to the Hayes Presidential Center to hunt Pokemon while he was in Fremont. I was skeptical, but I really didn't have a problem getting him up a little after 8. We went down and walked around the grounds, collected some Pokestops, took some Gyms, and caught a few Pokemon. Plus, we stopped by president Hayes grave. His birthday is actually today (along with my nephew Garrett's and Hayden's friend, Mark, a popular day!)
After Spiegel Grove, Peyton asked if we could drive around to a few other gyms in Fremont. Since Fremont isn't all that big, and it only took a few minutes, I obliged.
When we got back, I woke up Calib and Hayden so we would have time to go pick some apples. They only had golden delicious and red delicious, since it had been so warm (although of course not when we were there- it was cloudy and a bit chilly!). But, we did pick a bushel for mom, and a half bushel for us to bring home. Plus, Hayden picked out a pumpkin. I wasn't sure they'd let us take it on the plane (they did!), but it was only $1, so worse case scenario, we'd have to dump it. Not a huge deal.
On our way out of town, we stopped by the Veterans memorial outside the court house. Peyton and I had been there Pokemon hunting, and I was pretty sure my dad had a paver there, but I couldn't find it. When we got back to my mom's house, we asked her about it, so we stopped by quick and she found it for us.
Around lunch time, we arrived in Toledo. Asa was flying in, renting a car, and meeting us at her house. Since vacation days are running low for him, he swapped a day and used his comp day from Labor Day to get two days off. Grandma was happy to see him! We also gave her the birthday cards we had picked out. I really wanted to find a '9' and a '5' shape, but I had to settle for these. She got a kick out of it anyway. Apparently, today she got her 95th card in the mail. (I clarified on the count: our cards count as one).
The other big story of Friday was the pinata we bought. Originally, when we were at the store late at night on Wednesday, I found the pinata while waiting for mom to pick out a birthday card. I pitched that we had to get it, she could swing at it with her cane, and it would be amazing. But, we decided everyone might not love the idea, so we didn't get it. Thursday when we were up, everyone was all 'why DIDN'T you get the pinata?!", and then we decided we could still get one for the big party. So, on our way back into town on Thursday night we went back and got it. We decided to go with the classic pinata, though the giant pizza and dinosaur were tempting.
Grandma was excited to help stuff it, apparently in her 95 years, she had never stuffed a pinata before! Calib and Peyton finished filling it up, so it was ready for Saturday.
We spent the afternoon visiting with grandma, and when she was busy with other visitors, or not feeling so well, the boys did an awesome job of being patient and hanging out. Plus, grandma's house has the best blocks. The little bin full of them has been there since I was a kid.
Friday was much quieter at grandma's too, so it gave us time to visit with Bridgette. She lives in Seattle, so we don't get to see her all that much. (She's my cousin, but Hayden insisted on calling her 'Aunt Bridgette') The boys were enamored with her crazy way of tying shoes. They kept calling it 'black magic'. One second they're not tied. The next they are. Poof. Magic. Peyton was also very excited about his shoes, because we got them while we were up there, since he didn't have a single pair of tennis shoes that fit him. But what was the most exciting about them, is that they aren't hand-me-downs from Calib, because Peyton's feet are now officially larger than Calib's, so my hand-me-down shoe strategy for those two is out the window.
We also made a trip to the cemetery. Which, I know it's kind of weird to take pictures in the cemetery, but my grandma really wanted us to go out here. This is where HER great-grandfather is buried. She never knew him, but he served in the Civil War. Peyton thought that was really cool, because there's as much of a generation difference between him and gigi as there is between gigi and her great-grandfather that served in the Civil War. We've talked about going out there every time we've come up for a few times, and we were hoping grandma would feel up to going out there, but it just didn't work out this time. We took pictures for her though.
Friday night we left Toledo, and headed out to Cedar Point. When we booked our very short trip to Ohio, the boys immediately asked about going to Cedar Point. It's one of their favorite places. I wasn't sure we would be able to squeeze it in, but we figured it would work for Friday night. We decided to make it even more fun for them we'd book a night at Hotel Breakers, which is right at the park. We got a room big enough for everyone, including my mom, and we checked in right around 6. The room was awesome. We had a kitchen/dining area, a living room with a pull out couch and two pull out chairs, a walk-though bathroom, a bedroom with a huge king sized bed, and a Jacuzzi tub! Plus, we had a lovely screened in patio, and a nice view from all of our windows.
But we were there for the park. They're at the point in the season where they are only open on the weekends, and Friday nights has limited ride availability, plus they're only open 6 to midnight. I wasn't sure it would be worth the ticket price for Hayden, mom, and I to go into the park, without all the rides open, but I had a friend who works there reach out and get us comp tickets. It was super nice of him, and we so appreciated it. (If you read these blogs, thanks again Mike!) Our first stop was the new ride, the Valravn. It's pretty much the Shiekra transplanted in Florida, but Asa, Peyton, and Calib still really enjoyed it.
There was a very short wait for them, so mom, Hayden, and I went on some other rides while we waited. Honestly, every single thing besides that was walk on. This was awesome, but by the end of the night, Calib wasn't feeling all that well, since he hardly had any time from roller coaster to roller coaster. It was pretty much just running from ride to ride. But holy geez, did we fit a ton of rides in. It was cloudy all night, and we totally thought it was going to pour on us, but it never did.
We did get stuck in Toledo traffic, and we were a bit later than I had hoped leaving grandma's, so dinner kind of got forgotten. Instead we snacked on Cedar Point Cheese Fries (which are the BEST), and pretzels. We had to wait for the pretzel, but it was the best. Cedar Point food doesn't really have anything on Disney, but the classic park food is still just my favorite.
Along the way, Peyton also played some Pokemon Go. He insisted he HAD to have the Millenium Force Gym, and he showed grandma how it worked. She even collected a few Pokestops for him while he was on a ride. Peyton also got a kick out of the renamed Rougarou still apprearing as the Mantis on Pokemon Go.
The Millennium Force is Peyton's absolute favorite ride, and he got to ride it twice, while Hayden went on the Iron Dragon six times. Mom and I took turns going with him, so neither of us would get motion sick going on it so much. Top Thrill Dragster seemed to be up and down all night, but they caught it at a good time, and at least got to go on it once.
It is Halloweekends at Cedar Point right now, so there are lots of decorations, and extra activities. None of us wanted to go into the haunted houses with Asa, so mom happily obliged to go with him.
In a couple of places in the park, there are various monsters/scary clowns who will try and scare you. Hayden especially hated the idea of this, but there was a solution- they were selling 'no boo' necklaces that light up, so the monsters know to leave you alone. I tried to say Hayden was fine to get through the areas (since it was $10 for the necklace), but grandma bought him one while he was on a ride to surprise him.
In true grandma fashion, even with the necklace on while she was waiting for Hayden to get off the ride, she made friends with the monsters. One of them even assured Hayden (while being completely not frightening and explaining she was wearing contacts, and there was nothing actually wrong with her eyes), he was fine with the necklace on, and nobody would scare him, which is probably the only way I got him to stand for this picture.
Calib was also a little freaked out, and was happy to stay close to Hayden, and wear his No Boo Necklace for him while he went on some of the spiny rides, the rest of us sat out on.
We did also get to see the latest casualty in the graveyard of all the old rides. Goodbye, Mean Streak. It might have given you back aches and head aches, but it's a little sad when they tear down a ride that I used to work at, even if it was just to fill in for breaks.
We had been on the hunt for a cheese on a stick place all night, and we finally found one, so I was excited. Apparently, my kids had never had cheese on a stick. Total parental fail.
Cedar Point at night is one of my favorite places, ever. So many fun, good, happy memories!
Speaking of which, Asa and I did go up to Sneak Peeks (even if it isn't called Sneak Peeks anymore), to take our picture where we first met.
Towards the end of the night, the park was even more empty, and sometimes Hayden was the only one on a ride. Calib, mom, and Hayden were also half of the people on the bumper cars.
It was a super fun evening, the rain held off, and even though we missed some rides that weren't open on Friday, we were happy to be able to go.
As a bonus, our room was just a short walk from the resort exit, since we were at the very end of Hotel Breakers. Calib wanted to walk out on the beach, so we took a small detour before heading back to our room.
We got back to our room a little before midnight, and set up all the beds, and had some snacks and drinks. But, without a real dinner, and just splitting some snacks, the boys were still hungry, so we decided we'd order a pizza to be delivered to our room.
I had brought the boys swimsuits since Breakers has an indoor pool (which we never did use), but they decided to put on their suits and get in the jaccuzi tub. Calib and Hayden started out in it, they convinced Peyton to get in, and then they all insisted there was enough room for Asa. I even dipped my feet in. After walking around the park, it was lovely.
When the pizza arrived, they decided for some odd reason, that eating it in the Jacuzzi was a good idea. Then Calib discovered his plate would float. Eventually, cheese ended up in the tub, and they had to get out. But, you know, eating pizza in a Jacuzzi tub at Cedar Point at one in the morning will probably make the highlight reel of their childhood, so it wasn't for nothing. They all thought it was amazing.
By now, it was super windy, and POURING down rain, so they went out to the patio to check out the huge waves on Lake Erie.
I think it was around two by the time we all settled in our beds for the night.
The next morning, mom got up and headed out to Toledo to help Aunt Patti with the party, while Peyton and Asa went to get coffee and take our the Giant Wheel Gym, which they could do from the beach without even going into the park. Then, we all had breakfast on the patio. The weather was a little chilly for us, but really pretty lovely.
Asa and I also took a stroll on the deserted beach, so I guess going to Cedar Point this late in the season really does have it's perks.
We packed up our stuff, checked out around 11 and headed out. Making your way around the back of the park, you can see them taking down the Mean Streak. So sad.
Oh, so our rental car was fun. They had to upgrade us since they didn't have any little cars left. And for some reason, we had Oklahoma plates which we all thought was a little funny.
The boys had asked if we could stop at the ice cream place, Toft's, on the way out of Sandusky. They really do have the best ice cream (and chocolate milk), so Asa and I were happy to oblige.
We got to grandma's for the party, but she wasn't quite ready for visitors yet, so we waited and pulled out the Bowlatronic, a staple from my childhood that my cousin Tim replaced when the one we used to play on died. Apparently, he found it on Ebay a few years ago. Peyton won the tournament, and was crowned the Bowlatronic Champion.
The great part about being there on Saturday for grandma's party is that we got to see a whole slew of people. My cousin Joanne and her family were there (which is always a good time! They're the one's who were in DC with us), along with their puppies, Pongo and Miss Kitty. Everyone decided it would be best to visit grandma in waves, as families (we joked we needed a sign up sheet to see who was up next), so while Joanne's family visited, we were on dog duty.
Then, we were up, so the boys told gigi all about their trip to Cedar Point. They especially enjoyed telling her about the pizza in the Jacuzzi. Mom even showed her pictures from her Ipad of the event. Grandma approved.
When someone else was up to visit, we made our way outside, because the rest of the Sattler's had arrived. It was the first time we'd all been together since Thanksgiving at Disney, so of course mom needed her family picture.
Clint showed up with Elemeno, and then started asking Calib how his driving was going (it's not). When we told Clint he hadn't accumulated many (any) hours, Clint asked Calib if he wanted to go driving with him. I was pretty sure this was illegal, but I was run over on the matter. And, I mean, it went fine.
Everyone came back in one piece (Clint's car included), so no harm, no foul.
Shout out to Aunt Patti, too. And mom of course. But Aunt Patti hardly slept, and still managed to feed a crowd. I helped out with a couple of batches of Nancy Reagan Mac and Cheese.
Chris Ainsworth also Facetimed with the party. He's a distant cousin of mine who lives in Wales, who had recently been to visit grandma. So she was excited to see him.
And Asa gathered the kids for a game of baseball in the backyard. They all came out of it pretty filthy, but they had a good time.
It was then time for cake and the pinata! Everyone there at the time, couldn't fit in grandma's room, so we opened up her window and lifted up the screen, so everyone could see and sing to her. It actually worked out really well.
We decided grandma would get the first few swings at the pinata, using her cane. Asa took the risk, and held it for her. He figured if he got wacked by a 95 year old, he probably deserved it. Grandma LOVED it. I'm so happy we ended up getting the pinata after all, it was such a fun addition to the party.
After she had successfully given the pinata a few good hits, we congratulated her and took it outside for the kids to have a turn. We did it right outside her window, so she would be able to see.
All the kids got a few hits with the plastic bat, in age order. But when nobody was getting too far with that bat, we decided everyone could have another go using grandma's cane (Some of us thought this was a better idea than others). Gwen ended up breaking it open, and the candy fell out for all the kids to gather up.
But even after all the candy fell out, the pinata was still pretty intact, so my Uncle Warren took a few good swings at it, resulting in a severed head pinata.
We passed the head back in to grandma so she could see.
After the pinata, all of the Sattler's visited a bit with grandma. Garrett's birthday is today, like I said, so he also got a birthday hat.
My sister-in-law's mother also made the trip from Cleveland to Toledo, so she was happy to take a picture of all of us with grandma. Having the open window worked out pretty well for that. She took the picture from the window, as we all gathered around grandma.
Our flight left late on Saturday, because Asa really shouldn't miss a Sunday shift (because of his shift differential), plus we had somewhere to be Sunday, so we said our goodbyes to grandma to allow the next family in to see her.
After all, she had a whole bunch of people waiting to wish her a happy birthday!
We did have to do a little shifting of bags, and pack some extra things, plus we needed to weigh our bags. I've never done any of that on a random sidewalk, but you do what you have to do.
It was super awesome to spend some time with Bridgette and Joanne though, and my cousin Nikki, who I haven't seen in ages, showed up while we were on our way out, so I at least got to say hello.
Mom then decided she needed some more pictures. I probably should have put my purse down. Oops. Hopefully that doesn't make the Christmas card.
And of course, the ever hospitable Aunt Patti packed us snacks for the airport. We arrived home a little after midnight on Sunday morning.
Our super busy days didn't end there, though. The Broncos were playing the Bucs in Tampa on Sunday, and I had promised Peyton I would take him. Calib decided he'd like to go too, but Asa didn't want to take a day off and lose his shift differential, so it was just the three of us. (Hayden is not a football fan).
Since we don't have season tickets, we had to buy single game ones, but it really wasn't all that pricey, and we got to sit on the opposite side, where mid-way through the game we were in the shade, instead of baking in the Florida sun.
Oh, and we got a flyover, which is my fave!
It was a pretty predictable game. The Bucs sucked, the crowd was pissed, and the other team was cruising. The good news is that at least one of us was happy: Peyton was there to see his beloved Broncos, not the Bucs. I told Asa we had a new rule, we only go to games where at least one of us is rooting for the other team, so we aren't ALL disappointed.
Peyton was most excited when the Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch in the first round this year. But, Paxton hadn't played yet. (Un)Fortunately, Trevor Siemian, the Broncos starting QB, got injured, and Paxton came in for his first NFL throw (and touchdown), all of which Peyton got to see. He was super excited about that.
Last week, the Bucs game was delayed over an hour because of lightning. We saw the sky getting darker and darker, and could see the lightning in the distance, so we knew it was going to happen again.
When the weather delay happened with just under 7 minutes left and the Broncos winning 27 to 7, we decided to try and make it back to the car and leave before the downpour.
We did end up making it back to the car before the downpour, but then we were stuck in traffic forever. It was a good decision to leave, however, it was an hour and a half lightning delay, and even when they came back it was still raining and miserable.
Yesterday and today we've just been playing catch up and running errands. I do have some other odds and ends for you, if you're still here reading (I know this is a LONG one!)
We worked some more on our Candy Bar Election, and even made some campaign bags. We sent some out, and took a few more to Ohio with us.
Plus, we have info sheets for each state to keep track once we start voting in the General Election.
We also held the Conventions, which we reported from live. Oh my gosh, the videos are amazing. But, what's even better are the Bloopers. We'll make a compilation of those towards the end.
I've also still been packing. There's no closing date yet. (Lets hope it isn't the middle of November- I just booked Calib, Peyton, and my trip to Denver for then!) But, in the meantime I'm still sorting and packing non-essential items. Our neighbors have been great (for the most part, they all hate to see us go), and have been giving us boxes. One of the boxes was just too big to pack anything in. Hayden asked if he could have it, and I obliged. So he drug it out to the front yard, gathered up his friends, and they made a house out of it. There was only a few arguments, and one minor injury, and I think they did a pretty awesome job on it.
I liked the attention to detail, and I took a ton of pictures of it, I figured it'd be one of those things Hayden wanted to remember.
A week ago Sunday, we were home for football, and had a slider bar. It was one of my favorites. I think this Sunday we'll do a repeat, but we'll see what the boys think.
While we watched football, Hayden had some more of his friends over to his house.
They gave it a few more details, including a water slot, and a list of rules. The house is still going strong. They had it in the front yard, and when it started to rain, they carried it down to Mark and Maddie's garage for awhile. It's getting a whole lot of use. It was actually back in the front yard today.
We're now technically in our weekend, but we're laying pretty low, after being gone for a few days, the boys aren't so much into going anywhere. I'm lobbying for a Disney trip tomorrow, because it's the last night we'll have a chance to see the Electrical light parade. But, I also don't want to leave Porkchop, since we had yet another vet visit, and he's now on meds and pain killers. Apparently, he got into it with Phenom while we were gone, and poor Tracy had to deal with it. (Thanks again, Tracy!) But, it resulted in a couple of lost teeth, and one we had to get pulled at the vet, thankfully without surgery. Luckily, they were one's they wanted to extract anyway, and the $89 visit was much cheaper than the extraction estimate. So, there's that.
That's it from here. I know it was a long one, kudos if you made it through.
Next Up: More Candy Bar Election School work, maybe some Disney, and possibly a hurricane!
No comments:
Post a Comment