Visiting Ohio!

Over the weekend I had the opportunity it visit Columbus and Athens, Ohio. The trip was fantastic! I left right from work on Friday (the teacher I was in for had 10th period prep so I got to leave a little early--score) and drove to visit my cousin Molly and her family in Plain City, OH (it's about 30 minutes from downtown Columbus). We had dinner, played the Wii, and chatted. Her children and husband are fantastic! Erin (7) and Katie (4) are/were so sweet and kept me laughing:) Jake, who just turned one last week, was all smiles; he is such a flirt! Molly and John are doing well and it was lovely to get caught up with them and spend some time with them not surrounded by a million Sullivan relatives.

Saturday morning there were blueberry pancakes and feeding the family turtle, Bubba. After that I packed my stuff back up in the car and headed over to my other cousin Elizabeth's home about 20 minutes away (still in the Columbus area). At Elizabeth's house I had the opportunity to watch some home videos that her parents made when she and her siblings were growing up. I got to see a few clips of my parents; they looked so young and Dad had dark hair!! I love seeing old pictures and movies like that. Liam and Clara (Elizabeth's children) just turned five and are full of interesting conversation. Liam is a HUGE Star Wars fan and I promised to play him in Star Wars Monopoly the next time we see each other. The coolest Star Wars toy they had was Darth Tater (Mr. Potato Head with Darth Vader gear)! Love it!

After lunch, I began my journey to Athens, OH to visit Jake at Ohio University. Jake was at OU for the NFA National Forensics Competition. I LOVED seeing him in his element and with all of us friends and fellow competitors. I haven't seen him compete or hear any of his speeches in all the years he's been in Forensics (neither at MHS or at UWEC...I'm a bad sister). I'm glad I was able to see his last competition at the National level. The speeches were all super interesting, even the ones about international economics (at least I learned something). It was great to see him, albeit for a limited amount of time. I loved hearing WI accents and talking with people who know about the same places that I do. I'm glad that I went on the trip, even if I made it on my own. Good for me, I must say. I've never stayed in a hotel room by myself before and it was a little unnerving at first, but by the time I was ready to sleep, I was so tired that it didn't matter:)

An excellent weekend full of family, traveling, and learning!!