Cleveland, Ohio Thanksgiving Trip

Tony at beginning of the flight...so excited!

Tony at the end of the flight...tuckered out! I'm not sure how Richard managed to carry all the luggage and Tony through the concourse, but shortly after this we finally saw Poppy who Tony ran to, thankfully!

We flew to Cleveland on Tuesday, Nov. 25 and spent the week visiting family Richard had not seen in ages and some I had not had the opportunity to meet yet. Tony met lots of new cousins and had a great time playing with them.

That Tuesday morning, Cleveland had a blizzard and we thought for sure there would be plenty of snow for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, it rained a few hours before we landed and turned it all to sludge. There was a small patch of snow on Aunt Diane's front lawn, that Tony played in while it lasted Wednesday morning.

Wednesday afternoon, my in-laws drove us around so Richard could revisit where he grew up when they still lived in Ohio. We visited the old Lake Hurst home, which was just 2 blocks from Lake Erie..what a massive lake! The flocks of geese just hanging out in everyone's front yard was quite a site also.

Our next stop was the hill that Carl and Richard spent many winters sledding on. Richard had really hoped that he would get the chance to take Tony on this same hill, but according to this picture of the hill, I don't think it would have happened, even if we had snow.





From the snow hill, we headed to Little Italy. I was disappointed that we didn't take time to get out and sight see a bit in Little Italy. All the little specialty shops were adorable, and the original brick streets were amazing. They have the houses packed in side by side. On every corner, you can find restaurants in the basements of the buildings. Sorry, no pictures :(



Thanksgiving day, Richard and Tony spent the morning working puzzles, dinner was being prepared, and family arrived. Richard got the boys going with a bit of fighting. I think it might have been a first for some of the cousins...they were a bit unsure if they should really be wrestling with this big goof on the floor with him. Of course, Tony had no troubles attempting to take down his Daddy.

Friday, my sister-in-law Kendra and I got some time in to hit the deals at the stores. Merry Christmas to us was what this trip was all about. Friday evening, the guys enjoyed a heated game of poker while the ladies hung out and munched on (according to Richard) real Italian pizza. The evening was topped off with the kids having the entire basement to enjoy and play.



Saturday was our last day in Ohio. We had hoped to make it to downtown Cleveland to sight see, but after a 3 hour debate about whether to or not between everyone, we ended up doing nothing that entire day and had lunch in a 24 hours Irish coffee shop.


Overall, the trip was good and it was a great time enjoying family. We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving.