Long Weekend in Ohio

Friday the kids and I dropped Matt off at the airport for his trip to Japan at a very early 5 am and then set off for a long weekend back in Ohio. The plan was for Emily and Chris to go to my parents house for the weekend (they live two hours from Columbus) while Sam and I were meeting Val and Noah (who were driving over from Illinois) in Columbus for a fun weekend of playing, swimming, shopping and late night chats. I also had plans to catch up with my SILs, BILs, nieces, nephews and some friends while in town.

Four hours into my drive Val called. Noah had been throwing up since 2 am. After we waited a few hours to see if he got any better we decided that Val was better off staying in Illinois. Thank goodness she did as Noah was really sick, and now Maia and Val are sick too. So now my plans had to change.

My parents decided to take all three of the kids, leaving me alone for two whole days without the kids. It was very weird. I kinda of just wandered around for a while, wondering exactly what I should do. You know we always dreams of kid free time, yet when it comes we have no clue what to do.

Friday night I went over to visit our friends Matt and Kate and their three sweet girls. Kate and I then met up with our friend Jess for some drinks and dinner. It was a blast just sitting and talking and catching up with them. We also made lots of plans for our beach vacation this June. Before we knew it we had shut down the restaurant and it was after 1 am! We went to Jimmy Buffet's Cheeseburger in Paradise and the food and drinks were great. I highly recommend the place. I have to share a picture of our drinks. Aren't they cool?



Saturday I went and got a real haircut and went shopping. I can't remember the last time I spent real money on a haircut. I decided to bite the bullet and chopped 4.5 inches off and added some long layers. Here is a few pictures. Of course these are from today and after being in the car 10 hours it doesn't look so hot.



After my shopping trip I went over to Becky and Rod's to visit and see my niece and nephew. We were able to watch the Buckeye game (talk about a nail biter) and catch up on the latest family gossip and I got to see my niece and nephew for the first time since Christmas. I also got to learn a new recipe. Thanks for the yummy pizza burgers Becky! Matt and the kids will love them.

Saturday night I got to go out! Kidless! With friends! In honor of St. Patty Day Matt and Kate got a babysitter, as did Steve and Jess and we went out to the arena district in downtown Columbus for some St. Patty Day fun. We caught up with other people that we go on our annual summer beach vacation with. It was weird seeing some of them dressed. After all, we always see some of them in beachwear.

Sunday I spend the morning walking and driving around parts of campus. So much has changed since I graduated 9 years ago. I'm going to blog separately some pictures. After my walk down memory lane I went to Steph and Adam's to spend the night. It was really nice getting to spend time with them and the kids, even if Noah made me be Buzz Lightyear all night.

Today I met my parents for a kid swap. I know it is crazy but I swear they all three grew in the two days we were apart. I missed them. And for the first time in a long time, I missed Columbus too. But now we are home, and it does feel good.

Thanks everyone for a great weekend. Val and Noah –– can't wait for you guys to visit! I promise you even a better time than we would have had in Columbus. See you soon!!