The Hazard Chronicles

I feel like my face is about 6 sizes too large for my skin. I had a great day at the lake though! Anyway, we’ll get to all that a little bit later (that was my version of a “teaser”). This week has been absolutely action packed and I think I’ll just start at the beginning and go through each day individually.

Sunday

Our shower wall fell down even more. The landlords came over and took a look. They were visibly stressed about it and once again it made me glad that we are renting. I am convinced that unless you get a strange sort of adrenalin rush out of living on the edge of frustration and financial ruin renting is totally the way to go once your home outdates the largest trees in the area (our house is 110 years old). Anyway, they say it will be fixed for us when we get back from our trip. In the meantime we will be using our oh-so-nice-and-very-patient neighbor’s shower.

Monday

We got a bike trailer from Craigslist. We have been looking forever for a good deal on one of these, and apparently the rest of Cleveland is too. I seriously think that bike trailers are the hottest for-sale item in the area, and that a used bike-trailer shop would soon become a leader and trend setter among Cleveland’s businesses. Sadly, I’m not joking about this- Cleveland’s economy really is that bad. After much hard work and many frustrating phone calls Rachel’s diligence finally paid off though, and we are now the proud owners of a brand new used trailer. Let this be called the “Summer of the Bike."

Tuesday

We went on a bike ride. But we didn’t bring the bike trailer; a babysitter is even better than a trailer. Rachel and I went to a local park and had a hot dog roast- just me and her. And then we got on the bikes and explored the beautiful surrounding neighborhoods. At one point we came across an entire ropes course that was hidden in a grove of trees on a street corner. I was a little too faint-hearted to attempt the 40 foot high obstacle course without a safety line, but we did practice our amazing tight-rope-walking skills in a less intimidating environment about a foot and a half off the ground. It turns out that neither of us are going to be joining any circuses in the near future.

Also, on Tuesday I got a new motorcycle. Well, sort of new. Technically it doesn’t run. But it could. I got it from a friend who is graduating in a couple of weeks and moving to Nevada. He didn’t want to bring it with him and he knew that I liked motorcycles so he decided to give it to me. So now I am the proud owner of a 1979 Honda CB750. I am actually really excited about trying to get it running. I have been wanting to try my hand at motorcycle mechanics for some time but was always too scared of breaking my perfectly good bike. Now I have something that I can’t really break since it is already broken. Woo hoo!

Wednesday

Cinco de Mayo- and our 5^th wedding anniversary. We went out to breakfast (two babysitters in one week!) to celebrate, and will continue the celebration when we return from our trip by spending a day at Cedar Point- a large theme park in the area. Looking back I can honestly say that it has been the best 5 years of my life. When we first got married I never would have guessed that we would be living in Cleveland with our three kids at this time. It has been a wonderful adventure so far and I can’t think of any other person who I would rather share it with. Rachel is truly amazing.

Also, today was my last day of finals and the day that we packed for our trip (“I’ll stand on it while you zip it up”).

Thursday

Our goal was to leave by 7:30. We pulled out of the driveway at 7:37- not too shabby. Our first destination was Dayton, OH and the Boonshoft museum.

Dayton sure lays claim to some interesting people. When we first got into town we stopped at a grocery store for lunch and it was all Rachel could do to keep a straight face as the person buying food, the cashier, and all the rest of the people in the line entered a colorful conversation about the esteemed qualities of “beer an’ ‘mayters” (tomatoes). Later, Rachel walked into the bathroom and noticed the water running. Being the good citizen that she is, she turned it off. Then a yell comes from one of the stalls- “Hey- don’t turn off my water! I’m going to use that when I’m done!”

Interesting people.

The Boonshoft museum was great and provided a nice way to break up the drive. After our picnic lunch we jumped back in the car and watched the miles roll by as the kids slept in the back seat. When they did wake up they just played with their toys and enjoyed the ride. Our kids are wonderful. We drove into the night and when it was finally time to stop, our kids were already down for the night in their car seats. Since we are such great parents, we didn’t want to wake them up by toting them into a hotel, so instead Rachel found a nice abandoned parking lot, locked the doors, and turned off the car. This was as good as any hotel. Like I said before, Rachel is truly amazing. I couldn’t have picked a better girl to marry.

Anyway, our plan worked well until a little after midnight when “security” (an old lady with a flashlight driving around in an old Suburban) asked us to move. We drove a couple of miles to a truck stop and finished out the night there.

Friday

We woke up and continued our drive through Missouri and into Oklahoma. Now, there is something wrong with Missouri. I don’t mean any offense to anyone who is reading this who might love the state. But when 24 hour “adult” book and video stores outnumber the gas stations then there is a problem. We would seriously see one these sleazy places with the passing of each mile. Yea- Problem.

In Springfield we took a short detour to visit the Zoo. We were there for a couple of hours and the kids loved it. Even the babies got excited about the petting zoo and the goats that would come out and lick their fingers. It was also a refreshing stop for the drivers and made the miles go by a lot easier once we got back into the car.

We pulled into Tulsa around 4:00, and after a quick stop at the mall for some sandals we finally arrived at Griffin and Ashland’s (My bro and sis-in-law) beautiful home at the top of a “really big hill” in Cleveland, Oklahoma. They just bought this house not too long ago and have put a lot of work into it. Like, a lot a lot. It looks great now though and we had an enjoyable evening shooting BB guns off their deck at various targets set up in their large back yard.

Saturday

Saturday morning we dropped Jackson and Adalie off at Ashland’s parent’s house and the rest of us drove down to the lake. Ashland’s parents have a boat and we had fun driving around the lake. Evelyn loved having the wind in her hair and watching Griffin do the wakeboard thing. Rachel tried wakeboarding too. I’ll say it again- Rachel is truly amazing. Amazingly stubborn. She was in the water for well over an hour trying to get up on the board. Every time we would come back around to give her the rope she would smile and say “again- this time I’ll do it.” Well, she did get up a handful of times but never for more than a second or two. But she is undeterred and convinced that next time she will be doing back flips off the wake. In the meantime, I got an impressive sunburn.

That night we had a fabulous dinner that Ashland’s mom made and then had a long talk into the night with Griffin and Ashland.

Today is Sunday. We are driving down with Griff and Ash to visit Haley and Matt (My sis and bro-in-law) in Texas. We will be there for the next week. Stay tuned to hear about all of the fun things we did with them.

Our day at the Lake. Griffin was the coach. Rachel was the eager student. The rest of us just got sunburned.

BB guns in the back yard. This is what they do for fun in Oklahoma.

Evelyn thinks that she is a monkey.

Jackson likes goats. He was so cute!

This is the Diner where we ate breakfast after sleeping at the truck stop.

The babies at the Boonshoft Museum. As you can tell, we had to exercise constant vigilance with the burp rag.

Here's Rach modeling my new motorcycle. Give me one summer and this will be a nice classic bike!

And of course, here is me demonstrating my supreme balance.