So, Vacation was good.

Thursday I got my hair cut. It feels better, a little more light. Alli thought it looked "okay."

Friday Alli and I drove up to Ohio. We left at 9am, and we got up to Columbus by 4:30pm. Pretty good timing. However, we were suppossed to be over an hour north of Columbus before 7pm. No problem right? Well, actually, by 5pm on the north side of the city, all traffic stops. Just stops. I was on an exit ramp and no one was moving! People were getting out of their cars and standing around! So, after sitting for half an hour through this, I turned around over a median and got back on the highway to take a detour. Yeah, I didn't get back to where I had started until almost an hour later. Needless to say, we made it around 7:30pm…after my Grandparents 50th Anniversery party had already started.

Saturday through Wednesday were hangout days at the cabin with family. Highlights include:

• games of Midnight Risk, Euchre, Golf (card game), Apples to Apples, and [something-I-forgot]-10. 
• Monday's Amazing Race game that began at 12:30pm and ended at 11pm; we drove all over northwestern Ohio in search of clues like on the television show. My team, the Funtastic Four, got third place.
• cool talks with Mam-ma and Aunt Jackie
• 11 month anniversery date on Tuesday with Alli in Finley (IHOP and Garfield 2)
• sleeping the first night on a completely flat hardwood floor, the next two days on a day bed, next night on a hammock (when I woke up I stretched and fell out!), and the last couple of nights on an air mattress.

We left Thursday and went and visited Bethany in Mount Gilead, and found that there was quite an age difference between her parents and my mom who went to school in Mount Gilead. After Bethany had to go to work, we left and went to Muncie, IN. Along the way, one of the entry ramps to a state road we needed to take was closed, and there were no detour signs. So, I had to make my own detour, which added an hour onto the drive time (I made a large "n" shaped route instead of just going straight). Finally, we got to Aaron's house and met his family and cat who acts like a dog and old dog who acts like a cat. And he showed us his cool clock that twists apart and makes music and spins on the hour. Oh, and freaking out over a wall that is completely covered by mirrors. 

Friday we ate at Damon's (Aaron's favorite restaurant) and played Trivia and Texas Hold'em on these big screen projectors while we waited for our food and ate.

Got to Georgetown, KY before 6pm and met up with Alli's extended family. I managed to put my foot in my mouth more than I would like to remember. But we got Dairy Queen that night, and hung out.

Saturday we went to the Kentucky Derby Horse Farm and walked around a bunch. I broke a couple of pennies in half with my bare hands. Nevertheless, it didn't impress Alli or her sister. After getting back, I took out the camera Alli's dad is letting me use for my Basic Photography class in the Fall. It's pretty cool, and has a bunch of nifty features. Then we all got dressed and ready for Alli's cousin's wedding, and went to it. It was held at a Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church, and so I had an interesting time reading through their Welcome and What we Believe and all that stuff while waiting for the wedding to start. It was a cool, short wedding. Then we went to the reception after the family took pictures and all. They had a chocolate machine to cover cherries and strawberries and such in chocolate. During the toasting of the bride and groom, one of their friends came out dressed like Napolean Dynamite. Yes, he did the dance that Napolean did on stage toward the end of the movie. It was great. Then Alli and I danced some and hung out with people. Everyone lit sparklers as the bride and groom left for their honeymoon, which was a cool effect. Then we went back to the hotel and played three-person Euchre with Alli and her uncle Robert. It was a tough variation.

Sunday, we all got up and eventually got going by 11:30am. We said our good-byes and left. On the way back, we stopped in Grayson, KY and showed Alli's family around Kentucky Christian University. Then we headed back, and got back to NC around 7:30pm. We ended to day by eating pizza and watching Star Wars II: The Attack of the Clones. 

On Monday, we took Alli's family over to Old Salem and then we came back and met up with the rest of my family who got back from their trip. We ate at Carter Brothers, and then went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest. It was a great movie, though it was long. However, I had a really bad headache after it, so I let Bethany drive us home.

Tuesday we went to Greensboro, and because it was Alli's dad's birthday we went to Gander Mountain and a couple of pawn shops. Then we had to go to the mall for the ladies, so us guys walked and sat around, and got some snacks from the food court. Then we came back and cooked out on the grill, and had strawberry pie for dessert.

Wednesday we went to Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe water park and had fun. By the time we got back and got showers, I realized that I had busted up a toe on each foot. The one on the left foot is practically all blue and pink and purple and black. It looks nasty. It's not as bad on the right foot, but they still hurt. We took Alli's family around our church later that night, and then ended the day off with fireworks and ice cream. 

Then I had to go back to the apartment and go back to work the next day. Thus, I have not had time till now to do any real updating.

Hope you enjoyed reading about the vacation.

Charis,