The Wedding

The real reason for our trip, or at least a good excuse, was for Alex's wedding. He was the only nephew when Dave and I were married. He and Kelsey make a beautiful couple and although we didn't see much of them on our trip, we had a fun time at their wedding and reception.

The candy bar at the reception was a big hit with the kids (and adults).

We got everyone on the floor for the Chicken Dance!

Game Night at Aunt Robin's

It was fun to get everyone together at Robin's and play some games, soak in the hot tub, and tease her dog Gizzard! Bryce taught everyone his new favorite game, "Dutch Blitz".

Ty helped grandpa out with his uno cards.

Turkey Run

We have been trying to fit in a hike at Turkey Run state park (Near Terre Haute, IN) the last few times we have gone, so, it was fun to finally get to go. Dave made the boys wear their big packs to get conditioned for their upcoming Philmont trip and Brett wanted to carry a pack too! It was a nice day, not too hot and lots of shade. There are a variety of trails and difficulty levels.

The "ladder trail" is everyone's favorite. We opted for the direction that lets you go up the ladders, leaving lots of downhill afterward.

Paige, Brett and I took a "short-cut" and waited in the visitors center for the boys to finish. We enjoyed watching the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and racoon as we waited.

The rollercoaster park of all rollercoaster parks!

The day after school let out we made the 14 hour drive to Indiana to go to our nephew's wedding (wink, wink). It was a good excuse to go to Cedar Point the amusement park with the most rollercoasters in the country. Sure it is another 6 hour drive, but when will we get closer! So, along with Aunt Beth and cousins Chloe, Corinne, and Kelli we drove half way and crashed at Dave's childhood friend, David Lunceford's place. Dave was not concerned at all about calling him the day before to see if 10 people could spend the night at his house. And in reality, he didn't mind he has a big house with lots of space. The kids were so excited to get to the park. We really hadn't planned on going until Brett was tall enough to ride all the coasters, but when an 8 year old is tall enough to ride Millenium Force which has a first hill of 200 feet I think we can find enough to keep him entertained. Paige liked Mantis, It was a big stand-up rollercoaster.

Bryce and Ty were mostly interested in Top Thrill Dragster: 420 feet, 120 mph. So, fast you don't know how high you are and don't have time to be scared, but we couldn't talk Paige into trying it.

Brett would have spent all day on Millenium force if we would have let him. It was the biggest coaster in the world in 2000. But he had fun on a lot of other rollercoasters too. Absolutely no kiddie rides for this boy. The bigger and faster the better!

I have always told the kids that Millenium Force was my all time favorite rollercoaster and it still is : tall and fast, but doesn't beat you up!

The Corkscrew was fun for the kids not so much for the adults, a headache maker for sure. We spent 2 days at the park and the kids will be talking about it for years to come. They all loved it.