Easter in Ohio

Since it didn't make sense for us to travel all the way home for Easter, we asked Abby if we could visit her for the holiday. She agreed, and we headed north towards Cincinnati on Good Friday.

Because she likes organization and knowing what to expect, Abby made a chart of what we wanted to see and do during the weekend.

Friday evening, we went to Jungle Jim's, a CRAZY HUGE food store. If you ever have the opportunity to visit it, you are sure to be as overwhelmed and amazed as I was. They have pretty much everything you could ever possibly dream of eating there....and a lot of things you wouldn't want to eat at all.

Abby had to do wedding things for one of her colleagues on Saturday, so Eric and I hung out with her dog Moose. He tried to have fun with us, but he really had a hard time being separated from Abby, since we are not as much fun as she is. (It's ok, Moose--we understand.)

We went to a newly-opened IKEA nearby, which was quite an experience. Eric had never been into an IKEA, and we like their stuff, but what we didn't realize was HOW popular a new IKEA can be. The parking lot of the store was completely full, so we had to park at a school and be bussed to the store. There were THOUSANDS of people in that store. Insane.

We also went to a Skyline Chili restaurant for dinner. Eric can't go to Cincinnati without visiting Skyline.

Sunday was family fun day! Eric had put his foot down against having a traditional Easter dinner, so after church, we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.

Then we headed to Ohio Caverns. (It has become a strange habit for us to visit caves when we're hanging out with Abby.) Nate, our sixteen-year-old guide, gave us our own private tour through the cavern.

Here we are with the biggest stalactite in the cavern--it's called something like the King Crystal...but I can't remember the exact name, so let's just call it the Giant Crystal Carrot 'cause that's what it looks like.

We rounded out our family fun day by going to Young's Dairy for ice cream. We were too late to participate in the Easter egg hunt (shucks!), and it was a little to chilly to do any of the other fun outdoor activities, so we ate our giant piles of ice cream and headed back.

We did, however, take advantage of this excellent photo op. Isn't it strange how well Eric's beard fits in with the goat cut-out?

Thank you, Abby, for hosting us again--we really enjoyed our Easter weekend with you!