"I reflected on the role of "keeper" that I have been entrusted with as a mama. We mamas are the keepers of memories. We are the ones to treasure the speech impediments, we are the ones to know the victory of a difficult math concept finally captured, we are the ones who know when to bypass broccoli and pull out the ice cream. This is why I write. And write, and write, and write. Because I want them to know how important they are, and how beautiful the small moments of their lives truly are. So I sit and remember and write. I am a keeper."
- Kara Tippets "And it was beautiful"
While I blog to remember the moments of the children and for the children, there will eventually come a time when they'll wish they had a little more of me to hold onto. Not physical, tangible things, but the tidbits of information and understanding that makes us each unique. So here it is, here I am... * I don't have a favorite color. Not really. I tend to lean towards gray because to me it can be calming, energizing, and goes with everything! * Prefer the sound of waves crashing on rocks instead of the beach. This stems from spending weeks at church camp on Kelly's Island. * Favorite cake is vanilla with chocolate frosting. * My favorite era is the 1950's. *I was in the second grade when my mom was diagnosed with MS and 29 when my dad died. *Peanut butter is my favorite... anything. Except crunchy peanut butter cookies. Those are gross. *Favorite beverage is lemonade. *Pet Cemetery still scares me to this day. *Funny Farm could be the story of my life. *Dislike the smell of flowers but still appreciate receiving them. *Rainy and snowy days energize me (goes back to the color gray thing). *My dream vacation would be going to Maine in the Fall. *I am not competitive and even will have the beginning of anxiety attacks at the start of a 5K where I am only competing against myself. *Halloween is my favorite holiday, Christmas is my favorite season. *If I could possess any talent, it would be to play the piano. *Owning a food truck where I can experiment with new recipes and get paid for it would be AWESOME!
As the summer winds down and school gearing up to start in a few weeks, the time has come to take an end of summer road trip. And not just any road trip. THIS road trip I worked out in complete detail, every mile and stop accounted for when I was on maternity leave with Holly! Four years later we finally hit the road to...
Dayton, Ohio!
First stop on our trip was Grandma's. We just can't head south, going right past her house without stopping in for a visit. Besides, there is just something simple and calming about starting your mini vacation off at the place of your youth. The place where time stands still, the place where memories live.
We also cannot stop at Grandma's without immediately stopping at our all-time favorite pizza place that, to our complete surprise, had a buffet for lunch! Never in my life have I felt that we got our money's worth of food as we did in that meal. Look at all that brown, bubbly cheese. The vacation could have stopped right then and there. How could it get any better? But I'm glad we pressed on.
Our second stop and first excursion (not to mention FREE adventure) was in Wapakoneta, Ohio in the backyard of this house:
It sounds bizarre and looked just as questionable when we pulled up, but Roadside America and Trip Advisor ranked it as a must do, so we did. Here in the middle of the city, on a normal street is the
'Temple of Tolerance"
Here is video I found on YouTube featuring the owner and his creation - a stone garden so amazing that no video or picture can do it justice. You just need to go!!
(Looking up at the Temple)
(View looking down from the top of the Temple.)
(View looking out at the rest of the rock garden)
Just when you think you're done and you've seen it all, a red gate grabbed our attention and the adventure continued.
The sign reads "In this tube is one shell casing for each American Military man and woman from Ohio who died in a war from 1812-.... 71, 288"
There were paths galore and so much to see. We spent about an hour there and would have stayed longer but we had an agenda to stick to so onward we went.
Second stop (and may be an unusual one to some, but also FREE) was...
Woodland Cemetary
Again, I know it sounds weird, but the hubby and I enjoy visiting historically significant areas and museums (and again) Trip Advisor ranked this as a must do, so we stopped. The Woodland Cemetery is one of our nation's fifth oldest cemeteries (started in 1841) and is the burial site of the Wright Brothers , George Mead (of Mead Paper), and Erma Bombeck amongst many others.
They even offer guided tours as even their trees have such historical significance.
One of the first tombstones you come across in the cemetery is "The Boy & Dog". Johnny Morehouse was playing near the Dayton Canal with his dog when he was 5 years old. One day, Johnny fell into the canal and his beloved K9 pulled him out. Sadly though, it was too late and Johnny had drowned. Just days after his burial, the dog showed up at Johnny's grave and kept watch morning, noon and night thus the monument built for him.
Since the Woodland Cemetery is set high on a hill with the city below, there is a great overlook terrace where many people go to picnic or just sit and think. Just beautiful.
We spent the rest of the time seeing who could find the oldest tombstone, the biggest, most unique. This is definitely a place that, without kids, we'd make a stop back to if we were in the area.
Our third (and again FREE, see a pattern) stop was the
'Miamisburg Mound'
As our town's mascot is the 'Indians' and Native American history is prevalent around here, I thought it might be nice to learn a little bit more.
The Miamisburg Mound is one of the two largest conical mounds in the United States. A partial excavation of this mound found skeletons covered in bark just 8 feet below the surface!
Further diggings and findings lead scientists to believe the mound is between 2,000 to 2,800 years old!
Although the history behind the mounds was fascinating, visiting the mounds was pretty much a bust.
The kids didn't really understand nor really want to stay still long enough for us to explain. It was a beautiful summer day and there was a park nearby. The history of the mounds didn't stand a chance.
We stopped at a local Mexican restaurant that, again, came highly recommended via Trip Advisor. Although I found it yummy and Bree wanted to order everything off the menu,
everyone else found all the food a bit on the spicy side.
Adventures were done for the day. The rest of the evening was spent in the hotel drinking endless amounts of coffee,
watching way too much TV,
enjoying the pool all to ourselves,
and staying up past bedtime playing games. But that's what vacations are about, even the road trip kind.
Saturday morning we hit the road at the butt crack of dawn to get to our fourth FREE destination
Jacob was surprisingly fascinated by the bombing planes and the fact our military can shoot down a plane. He talked and talked and asked lots of questions. Makes me wonder what his future may hold.
The fifth and final and still free adventure for the day was spent hiking at the Glen Helen Nature Preserve and the John Bryan Nature Preserve. Both completely worth visiting and re-visiting!
Who knew cliffs like this exists just two hours from home? I totally felt like I was down in Hocking Hills!
Lots of cracks and crevices to explore!
But my feet stayed firmly on the ground with Holly's.
Before heading home there was one last stop I wanted to make, if the kids were up to it that is.
Young's Jersey Dairy - a working dairy farm.
Sounded interesting to me and the kids were game if there was ice cream. Oh... my... was there ice cream... and ice cream.... and ice cream....
Then it was time to head home. We needed to catch up on some very much needed sleep so we could continue the second half of this weekend family road trip!
To be continued....
**I used Trip Advisor in most of my research for this trip. However, upon stumbling onto the 'Only in Your State' website, I read the following article and new we had to do all those stops too which added to our adventure.
