Jun-Aug 2008

June
Our church has different auctioned events as fundraisers for the church, but since we're new members we've gotten special invites to parties that were planned before we moved to Cleveland. We went to a BBQ ribs tasting contest party where there were 5 different flavors we could all vote for. It was a great get together.

Later in the month we had friends over for a summer party at our place. We had good food and played some games. Why can't we get more people to come to our parties though? :(

Hollie got suite tickets for a Cleveland Indians versus San Francisco Giants game too. We enjoyed the catered food and comfy arrangements... even though they lost!




July
When the government stimulus check finally
arrived we were able to get a couple things
with part of the money. A Mac and...


I added the UA 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection to my collection of movies. Check out this video.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2M9FB76CF5G36

We took a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with a Cleveland Freethinkers group and stopped in Akron to see the Akron Art Museum. It was the first time we had seen the art museum since it had been renovated. The train wasn't running on time, but we didn't have anywhere else to be that day, so we both just sat back and enjoyed the leisurely ride.

August
Toward the end of July, Byron auditioned for Arsenic and Old Lace at the Huntington Playhouse in Bay Village. He was cast as a police officer and is currently in rehearsals with performances from Sep. 18 to Oct. 5.

The fourth annual 24 Hour Theatre at TNT took place on the 1st and 2nd. We titled it Once Upon a... 24 Hour Theatre this year. We again had five teams with a few less total actors than last year, but with more writers. This year Byron prepared Fairy Tales, Mother Goose Rhymes, and Aesop's Fables to be randomly drawn by the teams. We asked the writers to adapt the stories as closely or as loosely as they wished. We had quite a few returning facing but also a good number of new participants. The word is spreading! Ben still wrote on a team and helped organize things, but since he and Sonja now have a baby girl, Sonja couldn't devote as much time to the event. So Hollie and I decided not to be participants this year and tried to keep things on schedule while designing programs and making lots of copies.

On the 15th and 16th we spent time at the Mohican Adventures campgrounds and the Mohican State Forest Park. We went hiking and climbing in the forest, then set up our camp site. We got a camping package that included mini-golf, go-carts, and paddling 7 miles down the Mohican river by canoe, raft, kayak, or innertube. We chose a canoe. We enjoyed ourselves and managed not to tip our canoe over! In fact, we're planning to go canoeing again this Labor Day Weekend.

The Month of August

Well, August went by so fast. We started out the month by taking a little road trip to escape for a couple days. It was our 2 year anniversary on August 1st, so we wanted to just get away and relax. Byron found a drive-thru safari park called The Wilds, near Zanesville. So we enjoyed a day riding around seeing all the beautiful animals and country scenery. The camels came right up to our bus, and the giraffes, cheetahs and zebras were breathtaking. We had a great time taking LOTS of pictures...



We found a wonderful Bed & Breakfast called Whispering Hills in Dresden, Ohio. Dresden is the home of the Longaberger basket factory. The town is overflowing with baskets... but that's not why we went there. When we found the B&B online, it was perfect because it was a private cabin by a pond. It was also on a farm filled with exotic animals- that we took lots more pictures of. For breakfast, we just went to the main house and the hostess served us in her "Breakfast Nook."It was really nice because we were able to catch up on some resting & reading. We sat on the rocking chairs on the porch of the cabin each night to read. It was romantical. We did venture into Dresden to check out what all the hype is about those expensive baskets. There were shrines to baskets everywhere, including the World's Largest Basket and a Disneyworld-like area(complete with a giant basket of apples) beside the factory where people come from all over to buy... baskets. It wasn't the most exciting trip, but it was definitely relaxing. Plus, we learned about basket weaving!




When we returned from our little vacation, we jumped right into the 24 Hour Theatre. For 3 years now, Byron and I along with our friends Ben and Sonja, have organized the event. To sum it up- we create a complete show within 24 hours. Everyone meets on Friday night, determine what actors, directors and writers are on which team... then the writers stay all night to write 10 minute plays- actors and directors come in the morning, rehearse all day- then the curtain goes up at 8 that evening. It's so much fun!! We enjoy planning and organizing it, and this year it went really well. We had a lot more actors show up to participate. Byron was one of the directors. Hollie was on a writing team. It turned out that Byron ended up directing the play that Hollie's team wrote. All of the teams did a great job this year in performing and writing. It was close competition, but our play won People's Choice for the best play. Ben's play usually wins, so it was nice to beat him for once. We still love you Ben!!



Byron has decided to work for Flixster full-time for now. It is nice to work from home and make his own schedule. Plus, it is great since gas is so expensive. The best part is that we see each other every evening for dinner now. He quit Regal, so no more late nights at the movie theater- unless we go to see a movie! Yay! He also wants to get involved in community theatre, so he auditioned for a play. He wasn't chosen for the part, but he's made some contacts.

Check out www.flixster.com



We've also decided to start working out and joined our local recreation center. It's a Natatorium including a gymnasium, weight room, cardio circuit, running track, racquetball courts, 3 swimming pools, water slide (indoor), spa, saunas, kids workout center, and best of all a Subway restaurant inside. Byron just wanted to have unlimited access to the water slide. Hollie actually exercises... or tries to. Ha Ha!