Whirlwind Weekend!

As always, I can’t believe it is already Monday. The weekends seem to fly by, especially in the summer, as I try to pack in as many activities, adventures, and expeditions as possible! I kicked off the weekend by going to the Irish-American Festival on Friday at the Berea Fairgrounds. We haven’t been to the Festival in a few years and I had forgotten how much fun it is! This year, a few of our favorite Irish bands were there so we took advantage of the entertainment and enjoyed listening to New Barleycorn, Brigid’s Cross, and John McDermott. My mom was especially excited to see John McDermott because she had chosen his song, “Dance with me Daughter” for her Father/Daughter Dance at her wedding just a few weeks ago (I still need a post about the wedding!) After listening to a few tunes, we grabbed some dinner. While the Irish are certainly not known for their cuisine, we still found a few treats to keep us satisfied, including Corned Beef Sandwiches, Cabbage & Noodles, and Kettle Corn. Unfortunately the skies decided to open right as we were about to begin shopping so I didn’t get to buy any Irish trinkets—they always have the cutest jewelry, household items, and baby clothes—so I was really disappointed! After making a mad dash to the car and getting soaking wet, we headed home and played a game of Trouble and then headed off to bed to rest up before our busy Saturday began.

Chris (my stepdad) has never been an animal person, add in the fact that he is a neatnik and we had a slight predicament on our hands...named Chloe, the cat. Despite our most earnest efforts, Chris would not relent and let us bring Chloe to live at his house (our new digs). Sean (my brother) and I tried every tactic we could think of but all of our efforts were useless, which left us upset and Chloe without a home. Luckily, my Aunt Lili offered to take in Chloe and take care of her until I get my own apartment next year. Since Aunt Lili lives in Columbus, about 2 hours away, I decided to make a day of it and take Sean to the Columbus Zoo since we would already be down there. And to top it off, one of my best friends, Jenni joined us at the zoo. So Sean and I set off at 6:45am with a cooler of PB&J’s, pretzels, apples, waters, Twizzlers, and assorted other goodies; a wagon; a bag of sunscreen, sunglasses, maps, and baseball caps; and Chloe and all of her supplies. We also picked up Sean’s friend Johnny on the way so that he would have someone to keep him company. After dropping off Chloe and saying our goodbyes, we headed to the Zoo—somewhat sad to be leaving Chloe behind but excited about our adventures ahead. When we arrived, we met up with Jenni and got situated; applying sunscreen, putting on hats, and making sure our sneakers were double-knotted!

While I have been to the Cleveland Zoo, I had never been to the Columbus Zoo before, which is actually the #1 Zoo in America (who woulda thunK?) As the 2010 #1 Zoo in America, the Columbus Zoo tops the list, beating out the San Diego Zoo, Baltimore Zoo, etc! I never would have guessed that, but I can see why it is #1. It was a super clean park, filled with unbelievably friendly zoo guides, and tons of activities and interactive exhibits to keep the kiddo’s and adults entertained.

From petting flamingo’s to watching polar bears wrestle, Sean and Johnny had a blast as did Jenni and I. The only snafu in the plan was the scorching heat—Columbus was actually under a heat advisory for the day and with temperatures at over 90 degrees, not factoring in humidity, it was a toasty day! Of course Johnny and Sean reminded us incessantly of how hot it was and the copious amounts of water, juice boxes, and sunscreen we went through reiterated that fact! As lunch time rolled around, we found a picnic table in the shade to eat at and let the boys head off to play on the playground while Jenni and I spent some time catching up. After lunch we headed to the African Safari and checked out the elephants and tigers and ended our adventure at the Aquarium, where we got to pet sting rays and hold starfish. As we headed back to the car, Johnny and Sean were sweaty, hot , and tired and of course we had to trek across the scorching, multiple-mile parking lot to get to the car. After coaxing them to keeping trudging along with the promise of Frosty’s we finally made our way to the car, said goodbye to Jenni, blasted the air, and headed to Wendy’s. After getting 2 vanilla and 1 chocolate Frosty to go we hit the road. With Sean and Johnny in the backseat enjoying a movie and me in the front with the cruise control set, we were making good time…until Sean’s usual bathroom antics set in. Of course I told him to go before we had left the zoo, telling him that we would not be stopping on the way home and of course he insisted he didn’t have to go…until we were about half-way through with our drive. He began by insisting how much he had to go, which quickly escalated to his insistence that he was going to “pee his pants,” which topped out at him screaming, moaning, and crying that he could not hold it anymore! Despite my gumption to hold my ground and keep driving, I was more interested in keeping the seats in my car clean and so, we stopped. I was not too pleased with the bathroom stop and so I turned off the movie, which ended up being more of a punishment for me than for the boys...Finally we arrived back home, exhausted and hungry. After a quick dinner of burgers, watermelon, and oven-baked potatoes, we were all in bed by 9:00!

Sunday was just as busy—we started off the day by going to church and then went to the Farmer’s Market. I love going to the Farmer’s Market, I love to support the local farmers, eat local foods, and find delicious local treats to enjoy. One of my favorite treats from the market is the homemade peanut butter. If you have never tried homemade peanut butter before, you are missing out! The taste is unlike any other; honestly it just melts in your mouth! I love it on toast, with celery, in smoothies, and even just by the spoonful! We also picked up zucchini’s, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and freshly picked flowers. After the Farmer’s Market we headed home and began our Sunday afternoon routine of cooking. Even though Sunday’s mean the end of the weekend and the imminent arrival of another long week, they are my favorite day. Sunday’s at our house are filled with lots of cooking, laughing, relaxing, and best of all—Sunday dinner. We always have a big meal on Sunday evenings and everyone is expected to be there. Sometimes we invite the extended family but usually it is just the skeleton crew of my stepdad, mom, brother, and I. Last night we had roasted chicken, green bean and fingerling potato salad, watermelon, and beer batter bread (my all-time favorite bread!) After dinner we relaxed and I worked on gathering a few things to get ready for heading back to school (ugh.) For a sweet close on the weekend, we had blueberry-peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Another busy week ahead of me—I have a doctor’s appointment tonight, dentist on Thursday, and then on Friday we are heading to Atlanta for a long weekend to visit my cousins to wakeboard, tube, and catch some rays. What did you all do this past weekend? Anything good planned for this upcoming week? Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful day that God has given us!