I now call Clintonville home, but like so many others here in Columbus, I did not grow up here.  Thanks to OSU my husband and I are transplants.  I really like it here and if given the choice we would not move back to the east side Cleveland, but a visit back to your roots  is especially gratifying when you have a small audience to help you enjoy the  highlights of your past.

First we rode The Rapid downtown…

We passed the usual looking scenes..

As well as a few new ones..

We visited The Great Lakes Science Center…

Also a new place to those that grew up in Cleveland.  We decided to share one of the best things about Cleveland with our friends; Murray Hill AKA Little Italy.

First we had the worlds best pizza at Anthony’s and then had the worlds best treats at Corbo’s.

I tried making these photos smaller-but they really deserved to be big!

Then we rolled back to our downtown hotel that overlooked Playhouse Square.

Of course there was swimming.

Monday was a day of disappointment.  First we headed to Edgewater Park for “a day at the beach.”  Never mind that I poo-pooed that beach choice the whole way there.  We NEVER went to that beach growing up.  It turned out you couldn’t use flotation devices there so we packed up and headed to my beach-in Willowick.  Well, remember how we learned about erosion back in school-my beach was a perfect example.  It is the beach of no more.  So we headed out to Mentor headlands where we all got sunburned and found lots of sea glass.  A memory-check!

Then we headed back to Shaker to eat at Best Steak (not me-just everyone else!!).  The sign said closed for a few days-but it looked much grimmer than a few days.  My poor husband was about brought to tears.  So we went across the street for the worst Chinese food in the dirtiest restraunt I have ever been in.  It didn’t help that husbands families other favorite deli, Sol’s, was gone too.  W hat were we thinking-we should have gone to Corky and Leni’s!

But now we are home and the reality of  my life here in Columbus is hitting me over the head.  I promise some crafty posts sometime soon!

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First I need some of this……

lemon mint water!  So cool and refreshing!  Add a few sprigs of mint and a few squeezed lemon quarters and chill.   OK now onto the real recipe…

Remember when you would come home to the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookie bars?  Well I don’t because my mom didn’t make them but, a  Jake’s friends Mom often makes us these tasty treats that I just couldn’t match.  Mostly because what makes them good are the things I tend to replace to make the treat more healthy; white flour, margarine, sugar.  The list could go on and on.  So I bought the Toll House Semi-Sweet chocolate chips just for the recipe.  Now that I have the recipe I would replace the chips with a different brand.  Yes I am a bit of a chip snob.  I prefer dark chocolate.-oops there I go again……

Original Nestle’ Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 lg eggs

2 cups chips

375 degrees

combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.   Beat butter and sugars and vanilla extract in a large bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Grdully beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chips.

Grease 15×10 inch jelly roll pan  bake 20-25 minutes.

So I realized my jelly roll pan is much bigger as I started to spread it in my pan so I tried to form it to a rectangle that was 15×10.  Actually it worked out great-since I like dark crispy cookies (the ends of the bars)a nd everyonre else likes soft cookies (middle).  But as you can see the vultures are ready to attack!

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This is the first summer in the past several that we have not spent a whole week camping at Delaware State Park.  Last night we camped just for the night while Jake went to a Birthday party of one of  his best friends  near by.   I spread the moth broth on a nearby tree.  Later when I checked there were several moths visiting but I thought I would wait until the girls were with me to take photos.  Bad idea-after returning from watching Lilo & Stitch drive-in style  we excitedly checked again-nothing!  But this morning I did find this guy outside the bath house

not such a good shot…but he was big!  Side note-the bucket of moth broth was hijacked into the woods by some raccoons.  Yes, the whole bucket was gone this morning.  There must of been some party going on in those bushes!

I love this park.  There is so much to do here; hiking, fishing and it is really big.  Today we went for a bike ride.

And of course there is always the beach.  I use this term very loosely… as  well this is the best we got here in the middle of Ohio..and it aint much! But my kids love it.

The photos make this place look pretty good-buyer beware!  Litter everywhere, duck poop everywhere, cigarette butts and foul language everywhere.  And not your regular old potty talk.  Lord knows I can keep up with the best of them!  But, grown men calling their friends  pussy in front of theirs as well as everyone else’s kids.  I sort of draw the line with that and the “C” word!  The sand is granulated dirt and the water is muddy green color.  Sounds great huh?

And there were these creepy crawly things EVERYWHERE!  Anyone know what these are?

It was a lot of packing up and unpacking for one night but all in all it was fun and glad we got to get away for the night!

This week Molly is attending camp at a craft museum as she has for the past several summers.  It is only 1/2 a day so I am hoping  to find some time for a few activities at home too.  Stay tuned.

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