painesville

i met charlie years ago at church camp...i don't know what year we met, but it feels as though we've been friends our whole lives...the crazy thing is, we only ever spent the one week a year together, and it was probably only 5 years or so that we were both at camp...friends are amazing...
anywho, charlie married his high school sweetheart, and four kids later they're both still happy and in love...the last time i visited, in the summer of 2008, they only had two kids...i was excited to visit again and meet the newest additions:)
the drive from bloomington to painesville was easy..around 6 hours i think? i got there a little earlier than expected, so my greeters were charlie's daughters, who are7 and 5...the house has a nice front yard and a big back yard...plus it's toward the end of a dead end street, so there is very little street traffic, and the kids can play in both yards w/out parents worrying all the time...
since my visit was before the beginning of the school year, all the kids were home, except the youngest boy, who was with amber (charlie's wife) who was out grocery shopping...the oldest boy (who was 2.5) was sleeping...after he woke up i understood what charlie and amber were saying when they said if they'd had joey first, they would only have had two kids instead of four...he's energetic, and enthusiastic, to say the least...about everything...

this was another visit that was all about spending time with friends and family, not so much about seeing somewhere new...i stayed mostly in the house, hanging out and enjoying time together...
one night, we walked to the end of the road, which has a farm on the end...the kids love the horses, even though they're also a little scared of the horses...so cute...
one day we drove to geneva-on-the-lake, to eat at a place called eddie's drive in...geneva-on-the-lake is a small town, mostly touristy on the shores of lake erie...it's the kind of town where families used to have summer cottages...swimming in the lake is one of the few things to do...there are restaurants along the main street, which runs parallel to the lake...back in the day, i'm guessing the town was the kind of place families spent the entire summer...that doesn't really happen anymore, but people do come for a week at a time...

eddie's is a classic place...not much on the menu, none of it healthy...fries, burgers, hotdogs, shakes, fish sandwiches, etc...a 50s style diner...we parked, got everyone out of the car (with all four kids in car seats, getting in and out of a car isn't easy or fast) and figured out what everyone wanted...the meal itself wasn't great or bad, but it was fun...and my shake was tasty:)...i think all of us fell asleep in the car on the way back to painesville...food coma and all that...
that night, after dinner, chrissy and her husband nathan came over...chrissy is charlie's little sister, i think the age difference is 10 years...chrissy is married now, it's amazing to see her all grown up...the last time i saw her at church camp i think she was 12 or 13? i got to go to her graduation party when she graduated high school, back in 2008...awesome to catch up with her:)
the next afternoon, my last afternoon in painesville, herb and linda came over for a while...herb and linda are charlie's parents...i've known them since church camp as well, their entire family came every year...herb tells the corniest jokes ever, and everyone always laughs...you can't help it...it was fantastic to see the entire family during the days i spent in painesville...they're awesome...
my last morning, i was up really early, in order to make the drive back to chicago...a long drive...and an expensive drive, the tolls in northern ohio and indiana are crazy!!!