My Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandy with Jackie and I. This is my mom's brother and his wife!
The kids...Mark, Taylor, Drew, Kyleigh.
Aunt Sandy, Shirley, my Dad and Uncle Bob....talking about old times! 
We spent the night at a hotel in Columbus (along with hundreds of little league baseball players at a tournament). So Day 2 started out when Jackie and I met my friend Debi (she used to live here and moved back to Ohio...we have been friends for 22+ years) and her daughter, Jennifer for lunch!
Jennifer is preggo (due in August with Rylee)...here she is opening her baby gift that I brought for her (Gymboree, of course...gotta get Miss Rylee off to the right start in life).
After a delicious lunch at Molly Woo's (I wish we had these here...yum) we were on the road again! We finally made it to Toledo and my cousin Greg's house! We chilled for a (very) few minutes and then we were off again. This time to an old, old friend's house for dinner. My parents and her parents were best buds back in the day and even though we lived states apart....we probably saw them at least once a year. Boy, I could tell you some stories about those visits (but won't because the statue of limitations might not be up, ha!). We had a delicious dinner and then went to her parents house for dessert. Drew thought it was so cool that we were doing a "progressive dinner". This is me, Lisa and Jackie.
This is Roger (Lisa's dad)and his new hot rod!
The kids on Roger and Sherry's porch swing (in her beautifully landscaped backyard..omg!!). Drew, Taylor, Gabby and Lily
Lisa with her girls!
Drew and Lily were close to the same age and had very similar personalities......they hit it off perfectly!
This is when the real fun began! We were outside on the back porch enjoying our dessert and the beautiful weather and from out of no where a storm blew in! Not just any storm...a huge windy, thunder and lightening, get in the basement kind of storm. We headed inside and within seconds, the power went off and we were all standing there in the dark. So we headed to the basement where we hung out for the next hour until the storm blew over. 
Drew...entertaining the crowd!
Saturday was Day 3 and we were up bright and early and off on another adventure. This is my dad's all time favorite restaurant when he goes home. He loves Red Wells and it is a must to eat there at least once. It is yummy and we thought about going back again but ran out of time! They specialize in open faced roast beef sandwiches and some of the best gravy you have ever tasted! Yummy! 
After lunch, my dad drove us around for hours to see some landmarks that were on our list. This is my Grandma Kruse's house (my dad's mom)...the one we remember going to anyway.
This is the house where my mom grew up. My dad used to pick her up for dates here.
The church where my parents got married and my Grandmother went for many years. I remember visiting here when I was a little girl!
Right across from the church (and the next street over from her house) is this school. My mom went to elementary school here and also taught here when she graduated from college!
This was my Grandma Drake's house (my mom's mom)
We also visited the cemetery and placed flowers on graves there.
Drew sitting on the "Bierly Bench"....his great, great grandparents. 
Saturday night we attended the wedding of Emily and Dave. This is my cousins daughter. It was outside at the Toledo Botanical Gardens and it was gorgeous! They couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather (well, maybe about 10 degrees cooler).
Drew getting his groove on at the reception!
Emily enjoying her wedding party!
This is my cousin Lisa (Emily's mom)...she was finally getting to relax and let loose after months of wedding planning!
On Sunday, Day 4...we all headed up to my Uncle Bob's cottage on the lake. Lisa and Dave (Emily's dad) really needed to get away and de-stress from everything. Drew had a blast being pulled on the back of the boat!
My Uncle Bob...the captain of the boat. He was married to my Aunt Vir (my dad's only sister and sibling) who passed away in 1990 (I think). 
The boys....riding around in the golf cart!
My dad and his cousin...Linda!
My cousin Greg and his wife, Lisa (yes, another Lisa).
Mollie, Taylor and Drew on the jet skis! We didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked at the cottage because we had another dinner engagement that evening. We went to eat a yummy dinner with Shirley's sister in law, Marilyn, where I unfortunately didn't get any pics! 
Monday was Day 5 and of course eating was on our agenda! Ha! My dad had been talking about Tony Packo's the entire time we were there and we finally made it there. I never really watched MASH but apparently, Jamie Farr made this place famous through that show. It was very good! There are hot dog buns all over the place signed by famous people from the president (current and past) to the rock group KISS. 
The whole gang enjoying our lunch!
Drew checking out the buns!
He insisted I take a picture of this one....Jerry Seinfeld....so I did! After our lunch...Greg and Lisa took us to a few outside malls and we just shopped around for a bit. Dinner that night was at Rosie's...a delicious Italian restaurant!
Well, Day 6 was supposed to be our drive home, but since we were so close to Amish Country...I really wanted to visit there. We pulled a few strings, made a few phone calls and bingo...we scored another day! So after saying our goodbyes to our family and friends in the Toledo area....we (me, Jackie, and the kids) were off to see the Amish! It is so strange to see these buggies driving down the road and parked at the stores and restaurants!
We came across this sign and I told Jackie to go back so I could take a picture! How funny!
An Amish house with their laundry hung out to dry!
My friend Debi only lives about 45 minutes from the Amish country so her and Jennifer met us again. Luck was on our side because Debi's sister is friends with this Amish man and told us where he lives and to go visit. He and his wife Mary were the nicest people and took us on a buggy ride through the town, let us tour the inside of their house and took us to visit his barn with all of the animals. It is so interesting how these people live. It was beautiful out there and they keep every blade of grass in pristine shape! I would have loved to have taken more pics...but it is against the Amish standard to take pics so I was on my best behavior (even though it about killed me). 
We left Amish country and headed south! We stopped somewhere in Kentucky to spend the night about midnight. There was a Steak and Shake right next to the hotel so we went for a midnight snack. We were deliriously tired at this point and COULD NOT stop laughing! Taylor set my camera on the table across from us and set the timer to take this pic!
This picture pretty much sums up Day 7.
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