Hocking Hills Getaway

Last weekend we went down to Hocking Hills in southeast Ohio for a weekend of relaxation and hiking. We rented a little cabin in the woods that had its own pool table and hot tub. It was awesome.

The hiking day didn't start off too well... poor Alice got car sick (ala Jay in the Smokey Mountains) and tossed her cookies a couple of times. Julie gave her a Dramamine in between hikes and that just made her high. She was swerving all over the place on her way back to the car. She was a real trooper though and stuck it out the entire day.

We felt so sorry for Alice because of what she went through that during our campfire outside the cabin that night we took it upon ourselves to take turns tossing stones into the woods when she wasn't looking. We completely freaked her out that there was a bear or a cougar stalking us and she was a nervous wreck by the time we finally let her in on our group secret... a mere 2 hours later! Yeah, we're a bunch of Steves.

Photos of our first hike to Ash Cave... it's amazing that this is in Ohio since we're so used to the flat fields. We saw a snake on the hike that had to be 4-5 feet long as it just crossed the path. I'm so proud of Julie and Kara for their calm reactions.

Kurt saved the day for holding up this tree from falling on us. =)

This was a photo on our second hike to Old Man's Cave... somebody actually called this place home for a number of years.

The happy group in its way to Old Man's Cave.

Notice Julie isn't standing out on this rock jutting out over this open expanse. She was hugging the treeline a safe distance back with Mike and Kara. Notice the people below...

Here's a shot of the group... you gotta love the Gorillapod.

Here's a shot of Julie in Ash Cave...

OK... We Suck at Blogging!

Alright, we admit... we're the worst bloggers in the world. In our defense, it's been a long couple of weeks. Just about the time we get ready to post something... we get distracted. We're so very sorry to all of you. =)

We'll try our best to get you caught up.

Barrett Makes a Comeback

Just days after dealing with the loss of Scarlet we thought we were going to lose Barrett as well. After returning home from Hocking Hills we found that Barrett was not able to even lay down due to them amount of fluid that was building up in her chest and lungs. We went to bed Sunday night thinking it would be her last.

On Monday, the vet informed us that she had a bad heart (I'd try and say the technical term but can't even begin to remember what it was). She was placed on some heart medication (ironically the same medication that Julie's grandpa takes), antibiotics and aspirin in the attempt to get rid of the infection in her heart and lungs.

The medication is supposed to make her go to the bathroom much more than normal so for the next few days Barrett got to come with Julie and I to work. She hung out in my office all day just laying down behind my chair. She was a model employee and is up for a raise and more vacation and sick days.

She looked and acted much better today so she spent the day with cousin Lisle at mom's house. She is eating much better and looks to be back on her way to being mischievious. We'll see what the vet says next week during her followup visit.

Farewell to Scarlet

Last week, we were shocked to hear that Scarlet's kidneys had both failed... without dialysis she was given only a week to live leaving Kurt no choice but to have her put down on Friday. On Thursday evening she got to come over and play with Barrett one last time and then head to home for a swim and a hamburger. We'll miss her a lot.

Hope City Mission Trip

We had an absolutely amazing time down in Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. It didn't take long to make us all feel completely spoiled for how good we have it back home.

Three years after Katrina went through... and it looks like storm could have happened last week. The amount of devastation from that hurricane is pretty humbling. Below are some photos from our trip... we have thousands so if you want to see more you'll just have to come home sometime. =)


This is the Hope City camp. It is a collection of fifth wheel trailers and double wides. It was actually quite comfortable accomodations. Boys slept in one trailer and girls slept in another so they didn't have to hear us snore. The trailer in the middle was the shower and bathroom facilities and also had a men's and women's side.


This is a shot of the entire group from PMC just before we went out to dinner at the greatest BBQ joint that any of us have ever experienced... The Shed. It was absolutely amazing and was recently featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.


The trip down and back was great... because we didn't have to drive. We chartered a huge bus that transformed into bunks at night so we could all sleep. It was a great way to travel.


Our last night in Mississippi we had a campfire at the beach and the kids played with fireworks and sparklers. These photos of the kids spelling things with sparklers and then taking a photo of it with the fireworks setting on the camera turned out sweet.