I have always cherished my sweet Cleveland time. Our Vegas, Cleveland, Chicago, Glen Ellyn and Seattle trip in a little over a week was definitely a whirlwind. This visit was our first time out of the middle of the Pacific Ocean since we stepped foot on Maui back in August of last year. We spent about two days in each city, give or take a half of a day. Because of all of the running around, it was very important for me to take those little moments and try my hardest to make them turn into a lasting memory.

We walk in the door and my mom hands me twenty pounds of pork butt. Why not? Even though it took some convincing, we decided that just ten pounds of kalua pig would be enough for the family. My dad has a meat smoker, and he is great at using it. What do you call someone that is good at smoking meats? A smoker? That doesn’t sound right. Anyways, he is a pro smoker and in this case we gave the meat a good few hours of smoking before we put it in the crock pots to cook overnight. Wait, let me backtrack. My story isn’t quite fair. We didn’t exactly walk in the door and get meat handed to us. We picked up my favorite pizza of all time first and enjoyed it before I was given the task of hacking up the meat. Romito’s in Independence. Google it. Plan a trip to Independence, OH just for the pizza. It’s worth it! Thanks, mom for knowing how much I love it and making sure we had it on my first night back.

We served our kalula pig with jasmine rice and some traditional mac salad. As you can see, we were going for the Hawaiian “plate lunch” at our impromptu family get together. After hours of video games, time with family, Hawaii-inspired mixed drinks on the patio, and reviewing Jennie’s beautiful wedding pictures, we turned in for Cleveland Day Two.

Time to walk the dogs! It was a great little Metroparks hike with streams, waterfalls, and rocks to trip over. The temperature was perfect, and we felt so lucky to get a perfect Midwest summer day after all of the heatwaves we have been hearing so much about. We took the kids to lunch and I made Josh drive me to get some ice cream. He’s going to be great at driving! He’s so much better than I was when I started driving. I can’t believe he’s already 16. I feel so old. I changed this kid’s diapers. And…wait, and Adam is 10 now? I was there when he came into this world! Has it really been ten years? My brothers are growing up. I just have to accept it. It’s difficult, but that’s life. I love those kids.

Kent and I took Josh and Adam to a drive-in movie. There’s a great old school place not too far from my parent’s house, and we had the perfect spot, perfect snacks, and perfect company. It was the perfect summer night!

We decided to partake in some old family favorites before our trip to Chicago: The Art Museum, Mongolian BBQ, and Big Fun. It was a great few hours before being forced to wave our handkerchiefs in the warm Cleveland summer air.

Such a short time in Cleveland but I am happy we all had a lot of quality time together. I feel like we made lasting memories. As Kent and I enjoyed the sunset through the printed windows of the Megabus I was already planning my next trip back.