By Thursday the weather in Ohio had changed. You never know with Ohio in August. Sometimes you get hot, sometimes you get cold. Sometimes you get them both in the same trip. Thursday at Cedar Point the high was somewhere around 72. Honestly thats not that cold- but when you live in Florida and you are used to a heat index in the triple digits, it does have a certain amount of chill to it. As always, I packed us some sweatshirts for Ohio, so we pulled those out for our day at Cedar Point.
Asa took the day off work on Thursday and him and Peyton went off to ride the big coasters, while I stayed to hang out with Hayden and my mom. There were more people than I expected by some things still had really low waits, like the swings!
And of course for lunch we had mini corn dogs and cheese fries. Cedar Point is no dining destination like Disney. But they do fries really well. (You can get the exact same mini corn dogs and cheese at Casey's Corner in the Magic Kingdom- but it's just not the same without those fries!)
Hayden and I also rode the Lake Erie Eagles.
And then we swung by my old stomping grounds in Camp Snoopy, home to my first job and some of my favorite people I still know to this day.
While it looks a little different, it's still the same Snoopy Photo from '99.
When Snoopy photo first opened, we had cameras and took pictures like Sneak Peeks throughout Camp Snoopy. We all had our own cameras and named them-Peanuts characters of course- and my camera was Linus. I've always had a special affinity for him. So when he was out taking pictures, I decided to get mine taken with him. Fun fact: I once put on the Snoopy head from the costumes.
Hayden meanwhile went on the tilt-a-whirl and it didn't sit too well with him.
He wasn't thrilled with Camp Snoopy after that.
So I told him we could take the train to the front to see if he felt any better. But as our train was pulling out of the station we saw Asa and Peyton's train go on Steel Vengeance. Not long after they texted me saying they were ready for lunch- so we ended up taking the train on the full loop around.
And of course Peyton wanted to get in on the mini corn dogs and cheese fries as well.
Asa and Hayden decided to stay in the back of park to do Gemini and Magnum and I told them I would check out Dragster on our way to the front. It hadn't been running our whole trip, and Thursday was no different. They were working on it the day we were there though. Peyton eventually asked them and apparently it needed a part, which was shipping from Germany.
The ride being down didn't stop Hayden from trying out the seat though.
We circled the park a lot on Thursday (it was another 20,000 plus step day for me!), because we went to the front and then the back several times. Hayden doesn't have a good frame of reference for where things are in the park and would just announce what he wanted to do and off we went- no worry about where it was in the park.
We did get to go on some of my favorite though- like the ferris wheel and the windseeker. Even Peyton and my mom did the windseeker (they're like swings 300 feet in the air!)
I also tried to convince him to take transportation instead of just walking everywhere- we took the skyride a couple of times.
This is our waving hello to Calib picture!
I know I had made several trips to the fair and been to the zoo this trip, but I can't ever pass up a petting zoo. So we stopped to see the animals at my request.
After a long morning of being down, the Pipe Scream was finally open.
And then it was back to the front of the park for more spins around the Iron Dragon. I walked up to Valravn to see what the wait was- but Peyton passed. That one is so much like Shiekra, I think he views it as a waste of his Cedar Point time.
Hayden decided he was hungry by now, so I suggested another Cedar Point favorite: the Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel. Calib and Peyton used to devour these things when they were little.
We also took a spin on the old antique cars.
And raced horses on Cedar Downs.
Then I introduced cheese-loving Hayden to cheese on a stick. He really liked that one.
We were set to leave, but Peyton really wanted to stay and ride a few more things. So Hayden, my mom and I decided to take a quick walk out to the beach. Apparently now they have a little bin to put your shoes in. I wonder if that keeps them anymore safe. Notice the fine print that Cedar Point is not responsible for anything lost or damaged. I once got my shoes stolen on this beach at like 2 in the morning when I was out there with my Snoopy crew.
The water in Lake Erie is COLD, and I was not prepared.
But I put my feet in anyway!
The Cedar Point beach always gives me lots of good memories, so I'm glad we went out there even for just a bit. Ah, nostalgia.
Back inside the park we hit a few more rides, before meeting up with Peyton and Asa at the Raptor.
Of course before we left, we had to stop by Sneak Peeks. Asa and I weren't a thing when we worked here. In fact, he worked there the summer I was getting married to someone else. But, despite all this, I do have a special place in my heart for the place where I met the guy I couldn't live without.
Fun fact: I first met him when he came swinging in from those green doors right behind us, and I thought 'who even is this kid, and why is he here?' I usually got a heads up when I got new employees at Sneak Peeks, but for some reason, Asa slipped through the cracks and I had no idea he was on his way.
And that was that for Cedar Point this time around. But, we have passes, so we'll be back at least a bit next summer!
Hayden, meanwhile, had had quite the day and was exhausted.
But he didn't want to hold anyone back from ice cream, so despite wavering on weather or not to go, we all yelled at grandma to stop rather abruptly on the way home.
On the way home we had to stop at the fair grounds. Because flowers don't last the entirety of the fair, they have two shows: on on Tuesday and one on Friday. But, that means everyone has to come get their stuff out on Thursday night to make way for all the new stuff on Friday. And *someone* (ahem, us) has to reset all the tables and cards for the next show. Peyton and I laid things out (maybe not with the best of attitudes when grandma ropes us into this and then wants to take a picture).
While Hayden swept the floor and Asa helped dump water out of vases.
Asa and Peyton had eaten such little food, by the time we were done at the fairgrounds they were starving, so grandma treated us to a late night taco bell trip.
I was exhausted on Thursday night and I had to be up to get my mom over to the fairgrounds by 8:30 so she could help with things. I took her over there and then came back to help the boys. They were entering arrangements in the second show, but hadn't done any of them. Asa and I also took another quick walk to borrow some flowers off a hill along the bike trail. (I believe these to be wild flowers and community property, so it isn't stealing, I swear!)
The river somewhere along the way had picked up a lot of water, and the rocks we had climbed on Wednesday morning were long underwater.
I took the flowers back to the boys so they could work on their second set of arrangements.
And we made sure to get them into the flower building before the 11:00 deadline.
Of course before we helped with judging again, grandma offered to buy us lunch- and of course the boys picked the 'beef it's whats for dinner' tent again.
I also got a waffle for dessert! I ate so terribly all week, and there's not a reliable scale at my moms. But, when I got home it turns out I had lost a couple pounds. It must have been all the walking! (And squatting- cleaning out that pond was like an hour long squatting marathon session).
Back over at the flower building, we got to work helping the judges put on ribbons and recording who got what on our handy dandy clipboards.
Asa, meanwhile, went on a run around Fremont for his lunch and took note of the various sites.
When all was said and done, the boys had won a few more ribbons to add to their collection.
Hayden got a first on his fairy garden, and Peyton got a third.
In their miniature designs Peyton took the second, and Hayden took the third.
And while Hayden's trash flowers didn't hold up very well (we might have taken some flowers people were throwing away on Thursday night to use in arrangements for Friday), he did win second for 'an inviting path', while Peyton took third.
While the judges and all the official flower building people (thats my mom) had their post-judging meeting, I took the boys off to pet some more animals. We went by the poultry and rabbit barn,
and found a baby cow to pet. (In the dairy barn, of course. The beef barn makes me sad.)
And then we stopped by to see the sheep and goats again.
We went back to the Flower Building, but my mom wasn't done yet. These are our displeased faces.
When she finally finished up we made a bee line for the parking lot, but then got distracted by the house barn right by the exit.
Back at my moms, the pond had filled part way overnight because of the rain and Asa was filling it up the rest of the way. We even got her a little solar fountain on Amazon to help keep the water moving even the littlest bit.
I gave the boys a couple of dollars for their hard work and they went down to Kobe's Corner, a little store just two blocks down from my moms that sells candy. Usually they can find Shockers there, but they didn't have any luck this time.
I was taking their picture as they left, and I realized my moms porch is going to be all different next time I come. She's getting a new one. But, I still remember when my dad painted the porch red, so I took a few pictures.. you know, for prosperity.
When they got back they were ready to log some more working hours and scrub off the side of my moms house.
Meanwhile, I helped my mom tally up the points from the second show.
Asa left work a little early on Friday so he could go to the fair. We parked on the street instead of dealing with the mud in the parking lot and walked the rest of the way. (See, when you eat like we did- you have to get your steps in!)
My Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Dawn came down to the fair on Friday night for the boys to show them their winnings. Look at Peyton so kindly holding Aunt Bonnies stuff while she used the restroom.
We went through some barns, too, until the weather looked a little too threatening and then we headed off.
Aunt Dawn and my mom went to retrieve the car, and not only got double parked, but also got stuck in the mud. (This is them diagraming out for Peyton what exactly happened).
Asa and Hayden, meanwhile, stayed behind to see the Demolition Derby which I think they enjoyed. If nothing else, it was quite the spectacle.
Friday was our last night in Ohio, and Peyton decided now was the time to tell grandma just how creepy he found the painting that hangs in her hallway.
I thought it had been here since my parents moved in. But apparently my mom bought it at a grocery store when she was in high school. They looked it up, and apparently it is a Renoir. But Peyton started texting everyone to see if they too found it creepy. Ray replied with 'that ain't right', but in all fairness didn't notice it when he was sleeping in the room right next to it. And Cort responded with 'Except for the eyes that follow you wherever you go, it's not creepy at all'. Either way, my mom was amused at Peyton's terror.
Saturday morning we got up to head down to my old school. When Asa and I had been there a few nights before, there was a sign on the doors that said 'sale Sat 9-3' and I was excited at the prospect of going in to see what it all looked like now.
But, it was all locked up with nobody in sight. We found out later that the sale had been two weekends prior and nobody took the sign down.
My mom did finagle her way in after I left though and ended up with a couple of bricks and a desk she said I could have! (Asa isn't as excited about the prospect.)
She sent me a few pictures, so I'll post them below so anyone who wants can see.
My mom said a salvage company is coming in to take out the wood and anything architectural they can save. I mean it is a cool building, and was built in 1904.
I can't decipher what everything is. But, I know this is my first grade classroom, and the drinking fountain outside that classroom in the hallway by the bathrooms in the basement.
I believe this is the third floor, so that doorway was my 4th grade classroom, but the space outside was used for the gym and the stage is where I was in the talent show in 3rd grade and where I helped the the haunted house in 8th grade, among other things. I also square danced and played dodgeball on those floors. It was used for a variety of things.
I'd never actually been up in the bell tower, but my mom got to go up there too. I was sad I missed it.
Anyway, after we were unable to get into the school my mom was off to the fairgrounds to turn in the flower book, and we walked down to Spiegel Grove. While I don't love Ohio, it does have a certain amount of old charm. You won't find any brick streets here in Land O Lakes, Florida. I mean, Ybor has them so if I'm that interested, I can go down there. But, still.
Spiegel Grove, aka the Hayes Presidential Center is just a few blocks from my mom and is where President Rutherford B. Hayes spent his post-presidency. His home and his museum are all on the grounds.
He's also buried there, so it's the easiest president to check off our list on our dead presidents tour. But, obviously, we checked this one off our list long ago. Still, it's been awhile since we took any pictures there.
His kids and his horse (if you know where to look) are also buried there.
The gardens are really pretty too. Asa and I have a dip kiss picture here from our wedding. In fact, it is the original dip kiss picture. So, we took another one.
And then wandered the gardens before walking back to my moms house.
But by now it was time to get to packing up to head home.
While I worked on that, the boys finished up on some jobs. Peyton sprayed some weed killer.
While Hayden painted the garage door.
Then they sat back and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. They really did a number on grandmas back yard for her.
Before we headed out to the airport, my mom took us for one last meal at Chuds.
And she totaled up the boys work that she offered to pay them for. Peyton's response: "Oh, I didn't realize his was a business lunch".
But I believe, when paychecks came out, they were both pleased with their employer. Truth be told, they would have done it for free. I have good kids, you know. But, they are excited to have their money for CEO Taku.
Asa and I enjoyed our stay in the recently redone back bedroom, but the lack of blinds was an issue. My mom had gotten some, but we didn't get around to putting them up until 15 minutes before we left for the airport. At least we know they will be there next time!
And then it was off to the Cleveland airport to wait for our flight home. (Also google is stalking Asa because the creepy picture came up for him while he was messing around on his phone at the airport.)
A two hour uneventful flight later and we had arrived back in Tampa to 92 degree heat at 8 pm! Just how it's supposed to be.
Calib was happy to see us, too. He worked a lot while we were gone and kept the house clean, my plants and my fish alive, and the dogs and cats happy so I was pleased. We also brought him a burger from the Beef it's What's for Dinner tent. We asked them not to put the burger on the bun, froze the burger overnight, and brought it home with the bun in a ziplock bag. Calib said it was pretty good still.
That's it for our trip to Ohio. It took me all day, but I got through my blogs! Yesterday I had the crazy idea to go to Disney the day after we got back, so I have that blog to do too. Plus I'm giving Hayden until after Labor Day to be off 'school', so I'm working on putting together some things for him. Peyton and Hayden just got back from their first Teen Advisory Board of the new school year, where Peyton was elected Vice President. Calib has a ton of hours this week, and Asa has been swamped at work. So basically we're getting back into the swing of things here.
Next Up: I'll be back with our Disney Quest blog from Sunday soon, but until then we've got an on-call weekend and a possible hurricane on the way.
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