So this past weekend we went to Ohio to visit with Scott's family and to hit up Cedar Point. We had originally planned to fly but decided to rent a car instead. Let me first say that an 8 hour drive with a child, a guy who hates car trips and a girl who is always paranoid about accidents is not the best way to start any mini vacation. However, I think we all surprised each other. Brooklyn did amazing on the trip there and back. It really shows how fast she's growing up. She didn't complain at all and was such a joy to have in the car. AWESOME! Scott even had an enjoyable car ride there but especially on the way home. Friday we spent the day with the Velazco's. This included a steak dinner and a trip to Fred's Ice Cream. I can't begin to tell you how much I love Scott's family. His mother and father have absolutely taken us in as family and they have been so kind to us since day 1. It is an amazing testament to the hearts they have. We don't see them often but it's great to see the relationships grow each time we do get to visit with them. I grew up with brothers and so did Scott so it feels pretty normal to hang out with Tim and Cory(scott's bros.) Although my family is drastically different than Scott's. :) Friday night we got to hang out with Scott's friend Deweb, his wife and daughter. I had heard a lot about them but this was the first time I got to meet them. Sadly, I was exhausted after driving 8 hours on 4 hours of sleep so I was probably no more fun than the mannequin in the movie "Mannequin" before she came to life. I did chat to Deweb's wife for a bit about Indiana. We grew up in neighboring towns so that was interesting. The rest of the time I spent convincing Scott that babies were fun and drooling with envy over their little Ella.
On Saturday we were off to Cedar Point. Now, I was looking forward to Brooklyn getting to ride rides but I must tell you that I have crippling fears of falling. I avoid escalators when possible or hold up lines by looking at each stair going by trying to time the right step....each time telling myself "Step now, no now, okay now!" I hate stairs you see through and must have handrails or I'm a mess. The list goes on but as you can see, I'm every man's adventurous dream woman. I decided to go on the sky ride first thing. This is a simple air trolley similar to a ski lift except their are two sides connected so it's much less open. I made it approximately 10 seconds. I don't remember much after that except tears, shaking and reminding myself to breathe. Brooklyn held my hand! It was horrible but Brooklyn wanted to do the Ferris wheel and I knew she had been looking forward to it. So, that was our next ride and I was determined to make it enjoyable for her. Well, I did it without tears and even managed to smile and take a few pics. We were up there for awhile so thank goodness I handled it well. That experience convinced me I needed to ride a roller coaster. The rest of the day I took Brooklyn on rides we both could do.....this included antique cars and the scrambler. :) Scott got to ride one coaster and then came back to hang with us. About 4 we decided to get in line for the two of us to ride a "big kids" coaster. I was pumped and mentally in the right place. We waited an hour and looking at the line we had about 20 min. left.....but Mother Earth decided I didn't need to overcome my fears that day. Storms showered us and cut our day short. The good part was Brooklyn had an awesome time and that was my goal. We also got good sleep that night and were well rested for our trip home. Before we left on Sunday we got to eat at our favorite restaurant in Marion and had more family time. I really loved getting to see Grandpa Graham so much too as he's the most wonderful person. He makes my heart smile and I think the word "sweet" was created by people to describe him.
Our trip home was truly rockin'. It was a very Query-Velazco sort of ride. I'm sure if we had a reality show and just that trip was an episode, it would be a viewers favorite. We spent our time singing along to Blue October, Stevie Wonder and Johnny Cash. There is nothing greater than hearing Brooklyn sing along to these songs she has come to love so much just like we do.
I truly love my family.