Last Weekend in Cleaveland, Ohio

Last weekend was the 2007 Enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Scott's sister, Stephanie, asked us if we wanted to meet up with her and family. What a great idea!! She surprised her husband and bought tickets to the enshrinement. I'm always up for a road trip and knew it would be a great time. We would also get to meet our new little nephew, Max :) Friday after work, we set off for about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive up to Canton (Cleaveland area). We were able to get a room one hotel away from where Steph and her family were staying, so that was perfect. Saturday morning we drove into Canton, paid someone to park on their front lawn, and off we went. Mark and Scott were in football heaven!! The rest of us were there to tag along, but had a great time as well. It was fun to people watch, all the testosterone oozing from every direction in and around the building. The bust room was a definate, WOW! and there is a lot of interesting football memorabilia. We spent a few hours there, (I'm sure Mark and Scott could have spent more time), but alas we were off to grab a quick bite of lunch.

We then drove down to Millersburg, Ohio, in the heart of the largest Amish settlement in America. We found a fun place to take the kids called Rolling Ridge Ranch (animal park). We paid quite a bit for this wagon ride, and I thought, "what a jip, $12.95 for a wagon ride. After spending about an hour in what seemed like Africa, it was WELL worth the money. The animals came right up to the wagon and the kids fed them.(zebras, moose, llamas, big steer with huge horns, osriches, bisons, deer) I was pleasently surprised at this place. We had so much fun and the Amish driver, Jake, even let the kids drive the wagon for a minute. After the wagon ride, we played in the petting zoo and saw a bunch more animals. We spent a few hours there, then were off to drop Mark and Scott back at the Hall of Fame for the Enshrinement Ceremony. The rest of us continued on and enjoyed dinner at IHOP. Our hotel had a great area with a pool, mini golf, and little climbing things. While my kids swam, Max had a great time running around, with Stephanie being the shadow. Sunday, we got up and headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was disappointed that there is no photography allowed in most places there, so snapped a few shots outside. Most of the "cool" stuff in the museum is underground and they keep the lighting on the dark side. With so many people there, it was a bit overwhelming to keep track of the kids. Scott and I really enjoying visiting the museum. We saw stuff from classics to now. Elvis, the Beetles, David Bowie, the Police, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, amazing stuff. I think Stephanie and Mark enjoyed the museum too, but Max was about done with all the visiting so that made it a bit challenging for them. We saw some great exhibits, got some fun souvenirs, and about 1:30pm, headed for home. We saw some great places, got some great pictures and had some much needed visiting time. Thanks Steph!! What a great idea and what a fun weekend we all had!!