Ohio
16th Anniversary
October 26, 2010
State of Ohio
City of Springboro
The DeBusk Home
Day One
This was a unique year combining our anniversary and an overseas trip to Greece. Our three boys got to join us and are great travelers. It was fun to see them all enjoying the flights with their headsets and books and big smiles along the way. We spent the first day flying from Seattle to Dayton, OH. We had a lengthy but fun layover in Chicago and arrived at Jennifer and Greg DeBusk's house (Eric's sister) late in the night, crashing in their basement.
Day Two
We arose early to happy delighted children who immediately found their five cousins and began to play enthusiastically. Eric's mom, Joanne, had rented a 15-passenger van to cart both families around together. All the boys (DeBusks and Letsches) had a blast piling in together everywhere we went. We attended church with the DeBusks and Joanne and spent the afternoon playing and enjoying one another. Eric's Grandpa (GG) joined us for dinner.
Day Three
After a short morning of more cousin play, we headed out for an adventure in the big van. Greg and GG had to miss out on this one for work and rest, but the rest of the gang drove through the beautiful Ohio fall-colored countryside to a roadside attraction that took our breath away. It was the world's largest horseshoe crab! Quite a site to see, originally built for the Creation Museum but too big for them to display, a small church in Blanchester bought it. An added bonus was the discovery of Calvary (whew, the crosses were empty) and the empty tomb. . . right behind the church! The boys climbed all over the place and frolicked happily together.
Day Four
More rousing fun was had by the eight boys together along with great fellowship among the adults. At the end of the day, Eric gathered the entire family together and presented a talk entitled "Weddings and Warriors" tying together both our trips. All the boys were truly engaged in the topic. Greg then officiated at our wedding ceremony right in the living room of their house. What is after every wedding but a big wedding feast! So we all departed for Sammy's El Pueblo, a local Mexican restaurant, where we had a private celebration room for the rest of the evening. The food and the fun were exceedingly great.
Days Five through Ten
Up early, we left for Athens, Greece, which was celebrating the 2500th anniversary of the original marathon in 490 B.C. We were blessed to have a hotel that looked out upon the stunning Acropolis. Some of our highlights included flight delays that caused some question about whether we would make it there at all, meeting up with our church friends Joe and Laurie Hyink, touring the Parthenon, standing on Mars Hill, shopping and getting lost in the Plaka, Eric's tour of the town of Marathon, and the actual races. Eric ran the marathon (26.2 miles), and Julie ran the 10K through Athens both finishing in the Panathenaic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympics. Eric was pleased to have run the same route as his father had done 36 years before. Although we would like to have stayed longer, it was time to fly back to Ohio to our boys.
Meanwhile, back in Ohio, our boys were having homeschool with their cousins run by Aunt Jennifer. They cheered their cousin, Mitchell, through some very cold soccer tournaments, and got to pile together in the playroom in sleeping bags for bed. On October 31st, the kids and adults sported baseball jerseys for team "Cousins" with their names and birth order on the backs. As a full baseball team, complete with uniforms, gloves, and baseball bags for candy (made by Grammy herself), they enjoyed a jolly night at the Harvest Festival at the DeBusk's church. They made a great team!
Day Eleven
Reunited with the whole family again, we couldn't resist seizing the opportunity to have some family pictures taken. We looked fabulous! Eric and I gave the DeBusks and Grammy a break and took all the boys to Magic Castle for pizza and play for the afternoon. Even Eric climbed through the play tunnels after the boys. We had a blast, and there were more smiles than you could count.
Day Twelve
We packed up our stuff and all (DeBusks and Grammy included) headed to Grandpa's senior living apartment. He gave us the grand tour of where he works out, attends church, and dines. We stayed for lunch and saw his delight at having all of his great-grandsons around his table. What a treat! The Letsches flew back home to Seattle leaving our sweet family and many happy memories.
October 26, 2010
State of Ohio
City of Springboro
The DeBusk Home
Day One
This was a unique year combining our anniversary and an overseas trip to Greece. Our three boys got to join us and are great travelers. It was fun to see them all enjoying the flights with their headsets and books and big smiles along the way. We spent the first day flying from Seattle to Dayton, OH. We had a lengthy but fun layover in Chicago and arrived at Jennifer and Greg DeBusk's house (Eric's sister) late in the night, crashing in their basement.
Day Two
We arose early to happy delighted children who immediately found their five cousins and began to play enthusiastically. Eric's mom, Joanne, had rented a 15-passenger van to cart both families around together. All the boys (DeBusks and Letsches) had a blast piling in together everywhere we went. We attended church with the DeBusks and Joanne and spent the afternoon playing and enjoying one another. Eric's Grandpa (GG) joined us for dinner.
Day Three
After a short morning of more cousin play, we headed out for an adventure in the big van. Greg and GG had to miss out on this one for work and rest, but the rest of the gang drove through the beautiful Ohio fall-colored countryside to a roadside attraction that took our breath away. It was the world's largest horseshoe crab! Quite a site to see, originally built for the Creation Museum but too big for them to display, a small church in Blanchester bought it. An added bonus was the discovery of Calvary (whew, the crosses were empty) and the empty tomb. . . right behind the church! The boys climbed all over the place and frolicked happily together.
Day Four
More rousing fun was had by the eight boys together along with great fellowship among the adults. At the end of the day, Eric gathered the entire family together and presented a talk entitled "Weddings and Warriors" tying together both our trips. All the boys were truly engaged in the topic. Greg then officiated at our wedding ceremony right in the living room of their house. What is after every wedding but a big wedding feast! So we all departed for Sammy's El Pueblo, a local Mexican restaurant, where we had a private celebration room for the rest of the evening. The food and the fun were exceedingly great.
Days Five through Ten
Up early, we left for Athens, Greece, which was celebrating the 2500th anniversary of the original marathon in 490 B.C. We were blessed to have a hotel that looked out upon the stunning Acropolis. Some of our highlights included flight delays that caused some question about whether we would make it there at all, meeting up with our church friends Joe and Laurie Hyink, touring the Parthenon, standing on Mars Hill, shopping and getting lost in the Plaka, Eric's tour of the town of Marathon, and the actual races. Eric ran the marathon (26.2 miles), and Julie ran the 10K through Athens both finishing in the Panathenaic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympics. Eric was pleased to have run the same route as his father had done 36 years before. Although we would like to have stayed longer, it was time to fly back to Ohio to our boys.
Meanwhile, back in Ohio, our boys were having homeschool with their cousins run by Aunt Jennifer. They cheered their cousin, Mitchell, through some very cold soccer tournaments, and got to pile together in the playroom in sleeping bags for bed. On October 31st, the kids and adults sported baseball jerseys for team "Cousins" with their names and birth order on the backs. As a full baseball team, complete with uniforms, gloves, and baseball bags for candy (made by Grammy herself), they enjoyed a jolly night at the Harvest Festival at the DeBusk's church. They made a great team!
Day Eleven
Reunited with the whole family again, we couldn't resist seizing the opportunity to have some family pictures taken. We looked fabulous! Eric and I gave the DeBusks and Grammy a break and took all the boys to Magic Castle for pizza and play for the afternoon. Even Eric climbed through the play tunnels after the boys. We had a blast, and there were more smiles than you could count.
Day Twelve
We packed up our stuff and all (DeBusks and Grammy included) headed to Grandpa's senior living apartment. He gave us the grand tour of where he works out, attends church, and dines. We stayed for lunch and saw his delight at having all of his great-grandsons around his table. What a treat! The Letsches flew back home to Seattle leaving our sweet family and many happy memories.