Great Wolf Weekend

Here in about 2 hours we are headed up to Mason, OH...going to the Great Wolf Lodge. Along with mom and my sis and her fam...8 of us in all will be dipping our toes in the indoor/outdoor pool, trying out some crazy looking water slides...and really just being a bunch of pool bums the whole weekend.

All eight of us haven't "vacationed" together in a couple of years...and we wanted to find a place that didn't require a great deal of travel...so the Great Wolf Lodge is where we landed. Looks like a pretty cool place...here's the itinerary:

-Swim all day today
-Eat dinner
-Play cards (this will be a sanctioned Rummy weekend...remember, we play for the coveted mouse, which I've had for sometime now!)
-Tomorrow...swim, water slides ALL DAY!
-Eat throughout the day...
-Rummy at night...
-Sunday...same as above!

I'll try and get some good pics...

Basement Wrap-Up!!

What all started back in early March...is now coming to a close. WOO-HOO!! As much as I have throughly enjoyed taking on this project myself along with several good buddies...I am ready for it to be DONE!

A few 'small' things to wrap up:
-shave a few door bottoms
-put flooring down in the bathroom
-total clean up

Here are a few pics of where we are now with everything...

Two Thumbs Up!

Last night Holly, Bryan and I went to the 12:01am showing of The Dark Knight. Ooooohh! I think that was the first time in a long time that we all three were up together that late driving in the car.

We went to Hamburg up in Lexington...best theater in town (my opinion). LOTS of people were there...not too many "older" folk, lots of young 20-somethings. Ran into a few former yutes...

The movie was awesome...very well done...got a little long towards the end, but I like long movies (if they are good!) Christian Bale has made out to be a great Batman...Heath Ledger will win a post humus oscar, he played the role of the Joker like no other...very dark, very spooky!

We got home around 3am...obviously slept in this morning, going to the pool a little bit later.

Overall...two thumbs up, hope to go see it again!

I love Hollybird

I love my wife Holly more than anything on this planet...I can't begin to write out how she has blessed my life, there's no way, not enough room, words just couldn't speak it right.

I'm so proud of the fact that she simply loves people...read her blog entry here...and keep on praying for her.

4th of July

This post is a tad bit late...the basement consumed me and Holly most of last week (painting trim, doors, etc.)

Holly's mom and dad came down on the 4th of July...we took them to a Red's baseball game. It was also a fathers day gift to Lloyd and myself! Had a great time at the game, despite the 2 hour rain delay! The Reds pulled out a win and everybody was happy.

When we got home...we blew things up! I really enjoyed watching Bryan light up some of the "stuff." Yes, I was very careful and being a responsible parent. There's just something very "father and son" like when you are shooting fireworks off and letting them light things. Almost a passing-the-torch deal!

Never thought...

Never thought it would get to this...I'm (like many others) HATING these prices...

Vacation Pics!

Sunday Bryan asked me how many times I've been to Kings Island. Hmmmmm...that's a good question. Instead of just saying "alot" I began to think how many times I'd been there or at least approximately.

My earliest recollection was around 8 years old, so let's start there:

Ages 8-18 = at least 15 times (couple of years I went twice)

As a youth minister...19 years going almost every year and again, some years I went more than once! = 30 times

So let's say from age 8 till 40 I've been to King's Island approximately 45 times. That's a lot of Beast riding!

My first ever roller coaster was the Racers...I think I was 10. My sister Lisa and I got on (the blue car)...she had ridden it before. As we were climbing the hill I began crying my eyes out...Lisa is trying to convince me it will be okay and that I will love it. As the coaster peaked over the hill racing towards the bottom, my crying and tears turned into shouting for more throughout the rest of the ride. What a day that was! Now I don't even like the Racer...too slow and too bumpy!

Here's some pics from the Treo: