C-I-N-C-Ikea

AND the summer of trips continues! We just got back from a rocket-run stay with one of Kellen's college roomates, Greg, in Cincinatti. It's amazing what 24hrs in a new city can do for you! We had a wonderful time. It was fun to hang out with Greg- it was like we were in college again, hanging out at their apartment, just the 3 of us. Only now we are grown up, hanging out in his back yard, talking about home improvements, our dogs, and job promotions. We got in Friday evening, went to dinner at an adorable Italian restaurant (where they filmed a scene from Rainman, how fun!) in Newport, KY and then went to the Hofbrauhaus, a German beer house. It was quite an experience! Saturday Greg took us around on a tour of the city, its burrows, and amazing river views. He just got a Jeep Wrangler and we rode around with the tops/sides off. FUN. I fell in love with this city. It very much reminded me of San Francisco, only without the 50mph winds. And it's only 2 hrs door to door- even better!

In the back of the jeep on our way to dinner

HOFBRAUHAUS

They only served 6 beers- all brewed there. You can kinda see it on the board in the back to the left. The only other house is in Germany.

Here is a quick video of what it looked like with the band playing. Everyone was singing along, it reminded me of the piano bar at the neon cactus (only with lederhosen)



I had to take a picture of this. I

am pretty sure that a full mug weighed 10 lbs.

Greg was thrilled I was taking his pic

Greg and Megan

Action shot! I believe we were doing a polka 'twist and shout'

more action shots

While I had a great time catching up with Greg, I also had my very first Ikea experience. WOW. That is all I have to say. Why did I not visit this mecca of happiness before now? I do not know. It is all I ever dreamed of and more in the land of housewares and Swedish delights. Greg took us there for entertainment- and I am pretty sure 4 hrs into it, he was regretting this decision and Kellen was questioning his friendship with him. These guys saw me drooling on myself over lamps and rugs for 4 1/2 hrs straight. I had a blast; Kellen had a stroke (j/k). It was fantastic! :)

VICTORY IS MINE!
I was literally skipping out of this store.

note that all i have in my hand is a lamp shade, two flower pots and a scrub brush....

......and the boys had the rest of the loot.

The boys figuring out how to get everything in. I love the look on Greg's face!

Cool views from Mt. Adams

Just around the river bend

I was still on my Ikea high

Roomies

Another view of the city. I loved how many of the houses had patios on the rooftop.

Cedar Point

WOW. This has been a busy month, and it just keeps coming! I don't know why but I realized Kellen and I somehow managed to cram all of our summer plans into the very last month of it. It's been crazy around here but totally worth it!

Last weekend we went to Cedar Point with a college friend, Joey. he lives in fremont, ohio which is the cutest little town in america. it is the hometown mellencamp sings about. it was so darling! so we picked him up and drove the quick drive to sandusky. we had a nice evening of visiting on friday, spent 13 hrs (yes, 13!) at cedar point on saturday, then had a liesurely day by the water and historic (well it seemed so anyway) downtown sandusky. it was a great little get-away and spend some quality time with a good friend.

Friday night dinner on the water

first thing saturday morning! we stormed the gate, were the one of the first in line, and ran to our ride of the day!

i thought it was such a neat concept to have the park on a peninsula- it was so neat to see the water everywhere

this was the story of our day...waiting in lines! joey captured our feelings pretty well. it wasn't too bad, our longest wait was 1 1/2 hour...it went fast but was super hot in the sun on your feet

train ride time

we ended the day with my favorite...the ferris wheel!

pretty views at sunset

at the top of the ferris wheel

perfect ending to a great day!

view of cedar point from the water, sunday morning

we thought this was crazy- they update the date each day out of the foliage...gotta love small town USA

Quick Garden update...
we have more stuff than we know what to do with! i have been getting creative to use everything!

i don't know why but these were so so cute to me with the colors

these are the sunflowers i started from seeds. i still can't believe something so small can grow into something so big!

the day's 'kill' as kellen calls it

Happy August!

3rd Annual 'Family' Camping Trip

Summer wouldn't be complete without camping! we have gone with a bunch of my dear old Purdue nurses for 3 years now, and each year it never disappoints. these girls hold a special place in my heart. we have gone through nursing school together (where we proudly dubbed ourselves 'the future nurses of America,' ha), graduated and lived as neighbors, got our first jobs together, been in or a part of each others weddings, witnessed each other move into our first houses, and i am sure we will be a part of each others futures just as much. i love how we have grown up as a group!

Okay, enough of the sappy talk. on to the fun!

i am one of those campers that likes to have all of my food ready to go when i arrive. something about raw meat and no sink kinda creaps me out, so i do all of my prep work ahead of time. its a lot do to right before leaving, but way worth it in the end. plus i get to enjoy my campfire time by sitting rather than at the table preparing.

preparing the hobo dinners! i used a zucchini from our garden, it was HUGE!

this year instead of meat, we used smoked turkey sausage. it was really really good- i think it will be our new way to make hobos.

YUMM

Kellen gearing up and training in the living room with his pack

Jess had some leftover glowstick necklaces from 4th of July, and Megan had the great idea of putting them on the dogs so they didn't get lost in the woods at night.
he's blurry, but you can kinda see our glow worm!

i also put one on Kellen so i wouldn't lose him either. it made for some laughs when he went out into the woods for a 'nature' hike

okay, so now i am going to go through the steps to make a 'breakfast in a brown paper bag.'
Megan did this in girl scouts and swore it worked- we were all skeptical. very skeptical.
BUT it did! it's really cool! so for all of you camping buffs out there looking for a new way to cook, here you go. i think this idea will also entertain the kids!

what you need:
brown paper bag
eggs
bacon, strips cut in half
S & P
campfire
prongs
patience

meet megan. she will be our lovely guide through the process.

step 1 :rub the bottom and lower sides inside of the bag with bacon to get the grease/fat as a barrier. this helps things not stick.

step 2: place bacon down in bag (we used 3 half pieces, 1 1/2 total strips)

step 3: crack egg into bag on top of bacon

step 4: sprinkle with S & P

step 5: fold bag over and pierce tongs through both sides of bag so that it hangs

step 6: place over coals to cook. it took about 15-20 minutes. the bag will get a little charred and thats okay.

a fully cooked bag!

step 7: place bag on plate, tear off sides and eat right out of bag. ENJOY!

the lovely group

captain does not share well. i brought raw hide bones for him and Lulu, and of course he took hers and carried them both around in his mouth all night. we tried telling him thats not the way to impress a lady

didn't you get the memo? blue bandannas and striped shirts are for cool chicks only.

this is how we roll!
jess burrowed her mom's old minivan, and gutted out the back so all of us could fit!
i love this pic of megan and captain.

on our way to canoe!

somebody is ready for the boat!
i love this smiling happy dog!

megan, me, stacie, and jessica

i swear captain swam more than he was in the canoe for our 11 mile trip

crazy things

he kept swimming under and around our canoes!

party barge time!

I'm not sure who was the muddiest/wettest in the family at this point...
we only tipped over once! and it's still a very sore subject between me and kel, don't ask

Poor Megan! She had surgery on her wrist few months ago and still has to wear a splint. So she covered it with a trash bag so it would get wet! Way to use your resources!

finally clean but worn out after a long day

let's be honest- camping is really all about the food. we were coming up with all kinds of ways we can use the pudgy pie iron- and i came up with a breakfast sandwich. it was delish. i didn't even offer any to kellen!

on Sunday we always go hiking down to the creek to wind down the weekend. i love how predictable the weekend has gotten year after year. i know some people would think doing the same thing every year gets old, but i feel a bit of comfort out of doing the same thing with the same friends year after year.

yuck. this picture still makes me cringe

waterfall

this says it all. a worn out dog is a good dog.
he got a bath as soon as we got home- before unloading anything. we threw him in the plastic baby pool, combed out all the burrs and suds him down!

We had such a great weekend with some great friends! Looking forward to next year's trip already!