Melissa has never been to Michigan and we had been planning a trip up there for months before the pandemic hit. We decided, since we won’t be back to Ohio anytime soon, that now was the time to go, if we were going to go. So we decided to visit Ann Arbor with our friend Faye. One day we’d love to come back and visit the Upper Peninsula because neither one of us have been up there. Ann Arbor was really cool and we are at a super yummy Vegan place.
So, Melissa and I have a VERY big announcement…
July will be our LAST month as Ohioans.
The Merritt’s are heading SOUTH!
Melissa’s transfer request was accepted and she was offered a position with her current company in…
NORTH CAROLINA!
This was a move that we knew would EVENTUALLY happen. With my thyroid disease Midwest winters are incredibly painful and difficult, we both love warm weather, and we both wanted to be closer to her family. But we decided it would be smarter to make the move before we started a family so, we bumped it up a couple of years!
There are so many things I love about Ohio. It’s been my home for 24 years. It’s where I grew up, where I became who I am, where I met my wife, and where we got married. But we are both ready for a fresh start somewhere new. A new place to create many happy memories and raise a family.
I will miss all of my Ohio peeps but we will be less than 2 hours from the beach so pack your bathers and come for a visit!
Today we took the boys to Cedarville OH to the Indian Mound Reserve.
They LOVED it.
I’ve always wanted to try kayaking but have always been too nervous to try. Well, our friend Faye wouldn’t take no for an answer so while Melissa was at work I conquered a fear.
And found a new love.
Faye’s boyfriend went on a fishing trip with a buddy so we took Faye on a hiking trip! We visited John Bryan State Park and explored Yellow Springs after. Then we went and had ice cream at Young’s Jersey Dairy.
It was an amazing day!
Melissa and I took the boys on a 7.6 mile walk along the canal. We packed a picnic lunch as well which means we got to break in our backpack cooler we also got for our wedding. The boys were pooped after. Once we got home Rusty took a drink of water, laid down, and licked his paws. Toby crashed on the couch and barely moved until bedtime.
Melissa discovered that there is a 40 mile trail that runs along the canal. Our plan is to walk all 40 miles over the course of the next few months.
We decided to head to Fort Wayne on Saturday to visit Science Central, do a Costco run (adulting…amiright), and try out a new restaurant that a friend of mine recommended to me called Bravas.
You’re never too old to be a kid. We built things out of metal, danced, went into a tilted room (which made me nauseous), built robotic cars and raced them, pretended to be Mastodons, used a robotic arm to move moon rocks, and Melissa even went on the high rise bicycle (she’s braver than me).
Melissa and I went on quite the adventure this past two weeks. Melissa’s childhood best friend’s wedding was in FL and so we decided to make a vacation out of it and since my Grandfather lives in FL, we decided to go visit him as well.
We left on February 12th. We got up SUPER early (I think around 3:30am) to start our trip. Our plan was to drop the boys off with Melissa’s Grandmother for the few days we’d be gone, stay the night, drive to FL, and then come back to NC after the wedding to spend a few days with her before driving home.
We arrived in NC around dinner time. I had fallen victim to a very bad cold and so I had been loading up on medication during our trip, something I never do since I try to use natural remedies. But since we were traveling I decided this was easier. The natural medicine I wanted to buy wasn’t available so I settled on Mucinex. BIG MISTAKE. In my sickened state I didn’t think to read the labels. Mucinex (the liquid kind) has Sucralose in it. I am HIGHLY sensitive to it. So on top of feeling miserable from a bad cold, I now had severe stomach issues. So when we got to Grandma’s I ran to CVS to get the medicine I originally wanted. When I got back to Grandma’s, I barely ate a few bites of dinner before I headed to bed to sleep off the stomach issues.
We woke up super early (again), said goodbye to Grandma and the boys, and made our way to FL.
We arrived at my Grandfather’s around 7:30pm. My cousin, Lauren, and her boyfriend were visiting at the same time so we got to spend a few days with them as well. We also had amazing weather while we were there, although, compared to Ohio in February, any temp above 65 is amazing. It was sunshiny and HOT. We loved it.
While in FL we were also able to meet up with Hannia, one of Melissa’s friends from college. She’s from Costa Rica but was visiting her Mum in Miami so she drove over to spend the day with us! We went to the zoo and the beach.
We left Sunday morning to head to Tampa for Jess’s wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL.
Sadly, right before the wedding we found out Melissa’s Grandfather had passed away. So we diverted our trip slightly. Instead of heading back to NC after FL, we drove to VA instead. t was a sad time but it was nice seeing Melissa’s family again and meeting new family members. Also, I got to snuggle one of the cutest babies ever.
After spending two days in VA we headed back to NC, stopping for a couple of hours in Savannah on the way.
We took the boys to the beach (their first times). They were not fans but it was also super cold, rainy, and windy. We told them they need to get used to the beach and sand because one day (soon hopefully) we will be living near the beach.
It was nice spending a few extra days with Melissa’s Grandmother and visiting a few local places Melissa likes. She took me to her favourite pizza place in NC. It was REALLY good.
We left early in the morning on February 22nd and made it back home to Ohio at around 10:30pm. It was an amazing trip but with all the driving it was exhausting.
14/10 would do it again. And again.
Today is Melissa’s 29th Birthday!
Happy Birthday to the best wife a gal could ever ask for. I love you so much, my Darling.
She loves hockey so we went to see the Fort Wayne Komets play (I won a free shirt).
We left on Dec 22nd and spent a few days in Wilmington NC with Melissa’s Grandmother.
Melissa took me to the beach and to the aquarium where she used to work in high school.
More Christmas lights and enjoying some much needed relaxation time.
After Wilmington we traveled to Fredericksburg VA to visit some more of Melissa’s family.
Home at last.
Stop #1: Dickens of a Christmas! at the Ohio Village
We learned about the history of Christmas trees (I knew all the trivia answers), made some 19th century style ornaments, made a string of popcorn and cranberry garland, tried some old fashioned spiced cider, and coloured some 19th century Christmas cards.
Stop #2: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Wildlights!
Stop #3: Armstrong Air & Space Museum Holiday Lights
On our way home we swung through Wapakoneta and saw the mini light display they had set up. It was super cold and began to sleet (it made the photos look cool) so we, literally, ran through it.
An Awfully Big Adventure 