Kirtland, Ohio
Both Eric and I had ancestors come through Ohio in the mid-1800's, traveling by boat on the Erie canal and landing near Cleveland. His eventually followed the Oregon trail to Idaho and Oregon and mine moved with the Mormon pioneers to Utah. My extended family has a reunion every two years for some of these ancestors and this year the reunion was in Kirtland. It is only 2.5 hours from us so we decided to join. We didn't know anyone there but it was still fun to learn about these ancestors and what they did in Kirtland.
Cadie and Eric learning how to chisel rock at an old limestone quarry.

A really cool water-powered saw mill:

The extended family worked on service projects at an old historic farm, including planting lilac bushes that were taken as trimmings from our great... grandmother's plant dating back to the 1850's.

We were able to attend church services in the Kirtland Temple. This beautiful building is 175 years old and was originally built by the Mormons in Kirtland. It is now owned by another church that conducts tours but it was really special that our extended family received permission to hold meetings inside.

During non-reunion time we wanted to check out Lake Erie. Did you know that Lake Erie has some pretty great beaches? I did not. Too bad we didn't have our swim suits handy. This place deserves another visit in the future. When I am less large. Especially since we found an awesome burger/dawg/ice cream place nearby.

On the way home we took a little time to explore Cuyahoga Valley National Park and found a... drum roll please...
SKI RESORT!

This is what a ski resort looks like in Ohio and yes that is the entire park.
Well - we will have to visit Cuyahoga again but probably not with skis (unless they are cross-country). There are hundreds of miles of bike trails and a passenger train that goes through up to Cleveland. All in all a great extended weekend.

Recent Activities
This summer so far has revolved around daily swim lessons - which usually means staying at the pool all morning and then long (and much needed by all) afternoon naps but we have managed to fit in a few other fun things.
Alum Creek beach with neighbors, this is our little mermaid:

Music and crazies at COMFEST (incidently had a pretty great kid's music stage):

Watching the Tour de Grandview professional bike race: 30-some laps of a mile-long circut around our little town:

We tried camping out in the backyard but it was too hot and the kid was still bouncing off the walls at 11:00pm...

Water fun in the backyard with neighbors and playgroup:

And of course the 4th of July parade and multiple celebrations that included water fights and a hula-hoop contest. C did great with the fireworks this year, a welcome change from last year.


Now for a sneak-peak at the adventures Eric has been experiencing:

Hair today, gone tomorrow
My sister Paige is visiting us - that means lots of at home spa days!
Pedicures are my favorite right now - especially since my feet have started swelling...

I finally had 8+ inches of non-bleached hair and so I asked Paige to cut off enough to donate.
Before:

Piggies:

The cut:

The skinny little 9" ponies, the donation site said that it takes hair from 6 donors to make one wig. I'm guessing it would take more than that if everyone had my fine hair.

The final look:

Cadie does not like my new do but she has been getting plenty of attention as well. She has been asking for braid "crowns" every morning. I would strongly recommend having a cosmetologist/aesthetician in your family.

Swimming and Strawberries
How many strawberries can you eat before you turn into one? Cadie is on her way to finding out. We joined some friends (and brought along neighbor Kelsey) at a strawberry farm and took home 7 lbs. of fresh strawberries and full bellies (from both berries and the shortcake we had at the market afterwards). The grocery store ads just came out and strawberries are cheaper at the store this week than they were at the farm. Well, the experience is worth something right?

Cadie started swim lessons this week which meant that we were at the pool everyday - hurray! Although we had some chilly mornings - sometimes Cadie would stay wrapped up in towels for a while after lessons before she would get back in. I'm doing my best beached whale imitation but when I get up the nerve to get in, the water sure feels nice!

Recital Video
You need to follow this link to view the video on youtube (limited access viewing). I'll take it off in about a week.

Recital
I know I am totally hormonal right now but I could not stop the leaking eyes today as my baby got on stage today for her ballet recital. She walked right up to the front center of the stage and started twisting and shaking her tutu for the audience while Miss. Irene lined up all of the girls across the stage.

Strike a pose: Cadie and Annalise after the recital.

The video is rather lengthy but I'm trying to find a secure way to post it for grandparents and other close friends to watch. I'll post a link soon. Too adorable - grab your hankies!

Indiana and Wisconsin
We found a gem - only 5 hours from us are the shores of Lake Michigan. Fine sandy beaches, dunes, freshwater as far as you can see with small waves (although Eric has done some research on surfing the lakes during windy, large-wave weather). Gorgeous! Friends have been telling us about this but it was hard to believe without seeing it in person.

Eric had a conference in Madison, Wisconsin and so we made a road trip out of it. We spent a night in Indiana near lake Michigan and spent some time enjoying the beach. I loved the grasses and sedges growing in the dunes.

Cadie loved running/tumbling down the dunes - I wish I had taken video! We are still finding sand in her hair.

Then on to Madison, our hotel on the campus of UW with views of Lake Mendota. There were plenty of things to do while Eric was in meetings.
Children's museum:

Geology museum with dinosaur bones and a black-light room full of rocks that glowed. The zoo would have been a bigger hit if it was not 96 degrees and humid but the herpetology building was pretty cool - Cadie was fascinated with the amphibs that were shedding their skin. I thought the baby lion was adorable.

One highlight was unexpectedly joining a protest at the capital. Long story short - we stepped out of a museum and onto capital square just in time for the protest. A lady approached Cadie with a bucket of sidewalk chalk, and now amidst the calls for a recall and other choice sayings, Gov. Walker will find a few spiders and sunshines (hard to distinguish between the two) on the sidewalks in front of the capital.

All in all, a good trip. We will definitely go back to Lake Michigan and Madison is a nice place, how about having this as a commons area on campus:

Friends and Fun
We had a visit from friend McKade and his family!

Cadie was in heaven to have a friend sleepover. She really wanted to give up her bed and sleep on the floor somewhere. I'm not sure where this idea came from - maybe from a library book we have? Kade's family were here during tornado weather so we chose to have fun at an indoor play area with more friends.

Downtown Columbus recently tore down an old shopping mall and created a green space park. As part of the opening celebrations they had a Friday fun day for kids. Cadie rode the carousel three times.

Her version of cornhole:

Future enginerd: