Sacramento Cooper visit and Iron Chef Grapes!

The Sacramento Coopers visited us last week and we had a whirlwind good time! Dave, Becca, and Charlotte flew in Saturday April 18th. They all went to City Barbecue that evening while I was at home visiting my Grandmother. I got to see her less than 24 hours before she passed away which was a blessing. 

Sarah and Jenna on a little slide

Sunday: Dave, Becca, Charlotte, me, Jenna, Sarah, and Matthew (basically both families minus Erik) went to CocoKey. I've always wanted to go there since I heard it was a fun indoor waterpark that you can just go for the day. A benefit over Great Wolf Lodge. We were having a great time there until one of the lifeguards measured Sarah. Apparently she is 47 inches tall and you must be 48 inches tall to ride the water slides. Well Sarah was so upset. She is a daredevil and loves to slide! She is also a great swimmer. They wouldn't let her swim to prove that she is a good swimmer. Jerks.....

Matthew and Jenna on a slide

Dave and Charlotte

Now Charlotte is out of the slide

Good job Charlotte!

 Monday: In the evening I had to teach so the whole family (minus Gina) + Sacramento Coopers + Grandma and Grandpa went to a Clippers game. The Clippers lost and Jenna read a book the entire time but everyone else seemed to have a good time.

Tuesday: Erik worked and the girls were in school. So Dave, Becca, Charlotte, me, Matthew, and Grandma and Grandpa went to the zoo. Charlotte wanted to see monkeys so we went to the gorilla section and saw them playing. It was a great time. Then we went to Culvers for lunch. They had never been to Culvers and said it was overrated. I disagree.  Culvers = Awesome!

Charlotte pulling Matthew in the wagon at the zoo

 Wednesday: We went to my grandmother's funeral, and were gone all day. I'm glad we could go. My sisters and Dave M. went on a trip to Washington D.C. and visited the spy museum while they were there. They picked up these nifty glasses for the girls.

Who are these girls?

 No family get together is complete unless we do iron chef. Becca and I picked a secret ingredient: Grapes! This was actually a very difficult secret ingredient. It's hard to make a savory dish with grapes. The battle was Dave Vs. Erik. The sous chefs were Grandma and Becca. Erik ended up being victorious

Iron Chef Grapes

 Erik made:
1. Grape, nut, and tomato salad. A fresh salad that could have used a tangy cheese to complement the sweetness
2. Penne in grape sauce with ricotta. The sauce was a mixture of wine and grape jelly. It was very sweet but the ricotta helped to balance the sweetness. It was still tasty
3. Grape sushi. This dish was Erik's best. He made a sweet rice with grapes, then rolled up the grapes in sushi wrappers. Next he made a homemade caramel sauce and drizzled that on top of the sushi. Yum!

David made:
1. Grape chutney on crackers. This (in my opinion) was Dave's best dish. The grape chutney worked really well with the cream cheese and the crackers. It was delicious!
2. Grape avocodo salad. This salad had a soy dressing on it and was different and creative. I didn't love it though.
3. Marinated flank steak. The steak turned out really good. Even though Dave marinated it in grapes, the grape flavor didn't shine as much in this dish.
4. Grape ice cream. Dave took vanilla ice cream and added smashed grapes kind of like cold stone creamery and put it in a graham cracker crust. This dish was really yummy.

North Market

 Thursday: Becca, Grandma, and I went to Charles Penzone to get pedicures then to Starbucks. We wore our fancy flip flops to starbucks with our pretty feet. Becca and I got a sparkly blue and Grandma got red nail polish. Then in the evening we went to the North Market for dinner (yum yum!) and to see the Emperor's New Clothes at the Columbus Children's theater. This may have been a little too old for Charlotte but my kids loved it!

Hayden Falls

Friday: For lunch, Dave went to Kogens and Tokyo sushi to get us a variety of sushi. Yum! It was all good! Then we went to Hayden Falls to see this beautiful waterfall and walk around the park. Later in the evening we went to Handels for ice cream. Becca and I walked home (2 miles) because we were trying to walk 10,000 steps a day.

We are so glad the Sacramento Coopers came to visit us. It was a fun week!!

In other exciting news, we bought a house: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5276-Springdale-Blvd_Hilliard_OH_43026_M45809-81876?row=3

We actually had to pay over asking price because houses are selling like hotcakes around here and it already had a few offers. So we will close on May 20. We are so excited!! We are planning on renting it out for some extra income. Hopefully we get good renters.