Trip Overview

Well, we've been home since Monday night now, and let me just say that we had a great trip! It was great being there for Grandma's birthday which, in her words, "was more than I ever could have dreamed." It was also great seeing everyone up there. Hope everyone's doing okay!


So, here's an overview of our trip:

Wednesday

We left at like 6:30 in the morning (of course, we were supposed to leave at 5:30, but you know how that goes...) and arrived around 5:45 at Grandma's house. As we pulled up to Grandma's house, Dad pressed the break and we slowly slid down the road because of the snow that had hit that day. Dad said that was fine because he had to back in anyways...After we unpacked the car and ate a wonderful dinner that Grandma had for us, we went outside for some snow pictures, one of which Geno put on his FaceBook the next day.

Thursday

We awoke to find the ground blanketed with snow. Geno, Anth, and I arose somewhat late because of a semi-late night we had had the night before...Okay, like 1:00 AM, but that's beside the point! The day was pretty good, but we didn't do much. Anth, Zeke, and John played in the snow for a while, and Geno and I stayed in and did...well, pretty much nothing. Anyways, we went to Sears for Geno to "inspect"...and to get Grandma a new snow shovel; so we got her a back-saving one and Dad tested it on Grandma's driveway. That night we went to Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Tim's house for a Pizza Oven dinner. If you're from Canton, chances are you've had Pizza Oven pizza before. It is awesome...but not quite as awesome as DiCarlo's in Steubenville (sorry, I couldn't resist =P). So, we had a good time with everyone. Cousin Andrew was there too, so we talked technology a little; anything from Computers and game systems, to cameras and cars. Also, Aunt Janice (Grandma's sister) was there waiting to reveal her presence to Grandma until the next day for a nice b-day surprise. So, we had a good time visiting with her, too. While we there Aunt Jennifer, Aunt Janice and Mom all looked through a bunch of pictures for me to add to Grandma's b-day digital picture frame that I was preparing to unveil at her party. So, then we went back to Grandma's house and watched the tube for a while, then went to bed. And, yes, Grandma still has the TUBE...

Friday

This was the actual day of Grandma's b-day, but the party was scheduled for Saturday, and eventually rescheduled for Sunday because of bad roads. Friday was really fun, because that was the day that Aunt Janice was surprising Grandma. Aunt Barb and Uncle Don came to pick her up for lunch. Now, the story, as related to me, is as follows: Upon their arrival at the restaurant Aunt Barb, Uncle Don, and Grandma all sat down at a booth. Meanwhile in another part of town Mom and Aunt Jennifer were bringing Aunt Janice to the same restaurant for the big surprise. We made sure to give Mom Anth's camera so she could photograph the moment. The three walked in while Grandma was looking at pictures on Aunt Barb's camera (a clever distraction technique). Aunt Janice walked up to Grandma and said, "You know I don't like sitting in a booth." Grandma paused and looked up. It took her a minute, and then she burst into tears of joy upon recognizing her sister. While this was occurring, Dad and I were making our quest a few miles up the road to the mechanic to pick up the car. We had a nice walk, and after we picked up the car we went to Fisher's to get some coffee. Their coffee bar was closed, so we went to McDonald's. Surprisingly, their coffee is really good, and cheap comparatively speaking. But on the way home we heard a tumble in the back of the car. Can you guess what it was? You're right, our five gallon water bottle had toppled over and spilled about four of it's gallons out in the back of the car. So, Dad and I returned home to let the guys know we were gonna go look for a car wash where we could vacuum out the water. We couldn't find one, so we came back and used and entire roll of paper towels trying to soak it all up. Not enough. Just then Grandma and Aunt Janice got back and Grandma gave us a bunch of old towels to use. They worked pretty good, but still didn't dry everything out. The rest of the day was pretty laid back. Grandma got a bunch of her mittens out of the closet for us to use in the snow. One of which was a giant pair of mittens that basically looked like...sheep. They were warm, though! That evening Aunt Paula and Cousin Maggie came over to say 'hey' and covertly give me some more pics to put on Grandma's frame, too.

Saturday

We had to reschedule Grandma's party for Sunday, so we had this day kinda free. Dad was "testing" the shovel some more and eventually had Zeke and Anth run further diagnostics on the new device. After that, Geno and I joined the rest of the guys outside. Mom and Dad left to go...I don't know, somewhere. We took advantage of Grandma's sloped yard and started sledding. Then we took a break and helped a lady shovel her driveway. I don't know her name, but I know she needs prayer for her husband and son who have both had some medical issues lately. Guess what. Those sheep gloves I was talking about work, but it's virtually impossible to shovel snow in those things. You literally cannot swivel your wrist to flip the shovel over for the snow to fall out. Eventually Geno and Anth came to help me finish the lady's driveway, and after that we started sledding again. Now, we're guys, and being such you know we can't just accept sledding down a hill. We have to create things that allow us to be reckless! So, we built a jump. It was a nice jump, but not big enough. We had to knock it down and move it to a better spot at one point, too. Then, once our bodies were semi-battered from sledding we came inside to get cleaned up. That night a bunch of people came over for dinner. Andrew brought a Wii with him, and we had fun with that. We played all of the Wii sports games. It was hilarious watching Anth and Maggie duke it out in boxing. I though Maggie was gonna win, but Anth actually came out victorious. We also enjoyed seeing our NFC team, the Arizona Cardinals, crush the Panthers! What a cool game.

Sunday

BTW, this whole time we were keeping tabs on what was going on in the SAICFF. Geno was on Facebook a bunch checking up on things(congrats to HeuMoore on winning Best of Festival!). So, anyways, Grandma went to church and Aunt Jennifer, Aunt Paula, Cousin Katie, and Cousin Maggie all came over to help prepare for the party. Once everything was set, people started showing up for the party. Aunt Kay brought her pictures to put on Grandma's frame, so I scanned those up real quick and got them loaded on the frame. BTW, digital frames now have USB 2.0 compatibility so you can plug a flash drive into them now! So, that's what we did. Anyways, everyone showed up. We had a great time. The food was delicious. It was also cool because Dad's sister and her husband (Aunt Karen and Uncle Kurt) also live around and hour from Grandma, so they came up, too. It was nice being able to see them! That night after most of the people had left, we just kinda hung out with Maggie, which is always fun. We really enjoyed watching the Steelers smack the Chargers. That was great. I can't wait 'til we play the Ravens! So, anyways we did a few crazy things like a push-up contest and stuff. Oh yeah, since we were going to be in the car the next day(which was Zeke's b-day), we celebrated Zeke's b-day that night. He got a lightsaber kit and a lego technic thing, and a DVD game. So, that was cool. Maggie helped Zeke put it together, and I have to admit, it's a pretty nifty little thing!

Monday

So, we got up early in the morning to get packed and get going! Here's something funny: Snoopy would not go in the snow all week long, then the last morning we were there she all the sudden starts literally bouncing through the snow! She was just hopping making a little path for herself. So, she was all wet by the time she was done. Once we got everything packed we realized that, well, we didn't have everything packed, so we took everything out and had to fit it back in a different way. We drove for a while, and then stopped for a break and a nice big meal at Bob Evans. I had their new Western Boburrito, which was fantastic! Geno had his favorite, crepes. I think John and Anth both had the Meat-Lover's Boburrito. Mom had some kind of sandwich that looked good. Dad had...I think a Meat-Lover's Boburrito. And, since it was Zeke's b-day, he got a big ol' plate of pulled pork on mashed potatoes. Also, they had a new caramel mocha (with free refills) that I just had to try, so I ordered one. Before we left, Mom and Dad both had ordered one and as I was about to ask for a refill, Mom told the waitress we were all good and I didn't get a chance. But then she came back and I ended up getting my refill in a travel cup for the car. That mocha was really good. I told Anth I'd share the refill with him, but he took like two sips, and I had the rest; but since it was only like half coffee, it didn't affect me like the time I had four espresso shots...So, we got back on the road and, with only like one more stop, we made it home. When we started unpacking, we realized that the water that had been spilled in the back had really just been frozen and wasn't really dry, so the things on the bottom were all wet. We got everything in and had dinner, then went to bed.

Summary

So, overall, I had a great trip! I thought it was really fun seeing everyone and I hope to see everybody again soon! Hopefully we'll have some visitors down here this Spring!