COSI

Over Labor Day weekend our friends from Michigan were here and we were looking for something to do inside since it was cold and supposed to rain. We settled on a trip to COSI since none of us have been to the new one. When I say new, it's been there at least ten years, but most people my age grew up with the original COSI. The kids have been wanting to go for awhile so they were pretty excited. It was the last Monday they were open for the season, and the final day before they closed for their annual two-week cleaning, so we were in luck.

The ball tossing maching in the courtyard was a big hit. You hold these balls up to the machine and they get sucked up inside and then spit out into the air. Then they rain down onto whoever is standing there. I was really proud of the kids because they collected balls and gave them to our friends' little guy, Baby Joe.

Of course you can't go wrong with shootable water.

And submarines are cool

(to some people....if you like feeling claustrophobic, which I do not)

Dr. Jordis loved the little-kid area...

...and the soda shop in the Progress exhibit.

Xander was fascinated with this rotary phone. It was really weird to have to show him how to use it.

Giant Lite Brite!

For dinner we went across the street to have dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse.
Three active kids made for a wild and crazy dinner hour.

And the food was good, too!

Weekend in Michigan

A few weeks ago we took a 4-day weekend to go see our friends in Michigan. Last July when we went to visit we stayed at Joe and Jen's house, but they just had their first baby and we brought the kids, so this time we spent three nights in a king room at a brand new Hampton. There was a golf center a few blocks from our hotel so one day we took the kids to play their first game of mini-golf. Jordis got a hole-in-one on the second hole. It was really hot and humid that day, but we had a fun time.

We also did a lot of eating. Joe and Jen have some friends who own a little cafe, and we had a great lunch there. I had a turkey sandwich that was made on cranberry bread with a homemade cranberry orange mayonnaise. It came with some wonderful homemade coleslaw. I went in there not very hungry and ended up eating my whole sandwich, coleslaw, Jason's coleslaw and a dill pickle or two. They also make homemade desserts and sent the kids home with some brownies. We also ate at Strawberry Fields which is a place Joe and Jen took us to for breakfast last year. I had some really good hasbrowns with bacon, peppers, onions and cheese, along with some strawberry soup. Great combination, huh?

One day, Joe took Jason and Xander out in their boat on Lake St. Clair, while Jen and I took Jordis shopping for a little girl time. She was so excited to sit next to the baby in the car. She gave him his pacifier if it fell out of his mouth, and she entertained him with his toys. We went to an outdoor mall and I bought Jordis an ice cream cone at the Nestle store.

I also let her pick out a special treat from the gourmet dog bakery to bring back home for Bubba. She thought he'd like a s'more.

Back at Joe and Jen's house the rest of us became chopped liver as Jordis spent the evening tending to the baby. She was all up in his business at diaper change, helped give him a bath, held him, fed him, and gave him a thumbs up when he seemed happy in his swing. She thought we should bring home one of these baby things for our house, until I told her the play room would turn into the office if that happened. She wasn't so sure after that.

On our last day we went swimming in the amazing heated hotel pool and then took the kids back to the outdoor mall for dinner at Max & Erma's. It was the nicest Max & Erma's we've ever been to, which is surprising since their corporate offices are here in Columbus. The kids were excited about their take-home cups and I gave them some coins for the fountain. It was a nice end to a great weekend.

That state up north

Last weekend we took a little jaunt up north for our anniversary and spent the weekend with some friends. Joe used to work with Jason and decided to move back home where he ended up meeting and marrying Jen, who I love. They're a lot like us and they "get" us since we lead similar lives, so we really enjoy their company. We were welcomed to Detroit by a gorgeous double rainbow. In fact, there was a rainbow each of the three nights we were there. I figured it was Michigan's way of laughing at me because I'm an Ohio State fan and was coming up there to spend money.

Joe and Jen also had a welcoming committee of their own.

I'm not a fan of big dogs, but Popeye and Armund were sweet puppies. On Saturday we went to breakfast and then they took us up to Frankenmuth, home of Bronner's the world's largest Christmas store. We spent three hours in there. They had everything Christmas that you could imagine, but my favorite part was the huge selection of ornaments. We left with four.

Then we went shopping and to eat. Frankenmuth is set up to look like a German village and had pretty flowers as well.

That night we stopped for ice cream and watched a movie before bed. On Sunday we got up and went to lunch, then to the marina to take a ride on Joe and Jen's new boat.

They keep it docked at Lake St. Clair so they can just go hop on at their leisure. These are the Twin Sisters Lighthouses.

We rode out to Harsens Island and docked at Riverside Grocery, a cozy little place where you could get some basic staples, ice cream, or a meal from the tiny pizzeria.

As if Jason wasn't already wanting a boat after our trip to Louisiana, Joe is on my bad list was kind enough to let Jason drive us back to shore. Here's Crockett and Tubbs...

After going home to walk the dogs and take a rest, we ended up at Olive Garden for dinner and then sat in the hot tub for awhile before calling it a night with some TV. On the way home we stopped at Motown.

They had a large group there so we got to jump in on their tour instead of roaming around on our own. We had two different guides and their presentations were very informative. Both were very knowledgeable and I was shocked that they could answer random questions from the crowd about things that went on way before their time. It was a fun way to end the weekend.