The kids and I took off 3 days ago for a long weekend in Ohio. I know…dream destination! Several months ago I bought us tickets to attend Alive Music Festival in Mineral City, OH…and guess what? It’s 30 mins from Canton OH, and one of our favorite people lives in Canton…so we got to wrap a meet up with him into our trip. And since we’d be so close, we decided to start our trip in Cleveland.

Despite being tired and out of his element, Tommi was amazing and gave it his all in the pillow fight we had upon returning to our hotel room! poor Jackson was relegated to the fold out bed all weekend and was our bell boy and Tetris car packer.

I don’t remember ever being in Cleveland before, although mom and dad tell me I was there as a kid. I was pleasantly surprised by the city. First of all the traffic was almost non-existent. Strange for a big city. We stayed downtown, just a block from the Cleveland Guardians and the Cleveland Cavaliers stadiums, in a hotel surrounded by the bars and restaurants that Guardian and Cavs fans would fill after a game. So we had lots of options for dinner, but ended up at a BW3’s because Tommi was familiar with it. We had a fun waiter who brought Jackson a little cup of caramel sauce and a little cup of cinnamon sugar for him to dip his cheese curds in. Who would have thought that would be such an amazing combination!

We started our Friday at the Rock and Roll HOF. Again, despite being tired, out of his element and having cramps, Tommi powered through the museum so I could see all the amazing memorabilia-especially the Elvis and MJ stuff! A trip through the West Side Market found us some amazing macarons and cake pops which cheered Tommi right up…and arguably THE best buckeye I’ve ever had! We tried to top the market goodies with some blue raspberry soft serve later in the night at Chubbys in Canton…not quite Kings Island level, but still darn yummy!

Our stay in Canton was highlighted by our visit with Brad

Although I swear he is taller and skinnier than 3.5 years ago when we spent A LOT of time in his office with him, he hasn’t changed a lick and it was like we hadn’t spent any time apart. It was nice to see that he still has legs (haha) and he used them to bike to our visit at a local coffee house. It was super amazing to just sit with him in person and talk about fun things with no therapy involved! And it was super amazing that he left that therapist role and wanted to meet with us while we were there. The hug was pretty stellar too! He was amazed by the kids physical and social growth. He restrained from hugging Tommi when it was obvious he wasn’t ready for that, and although Tommi didn’t make a lot of eye contact at first, he quickly found his comfort level and contributed to the conversation. Tommi made Brad some cream puffs and two flavors of cream and Brad was elated by the Tommi Makes Goodies personal delivery!

He said they’ve been thinking about a return visit back to Indy and if they do it, he’d love to get together then too. And maybe, just maybe, if we return to Alive again next year we can see him then also!

As we drove away, Tommi said what we were all thinking “I’m so glad we got to see him. I love him”

The Alive Music Festival was great-there are so many musical acts from so many different Christian groups. And if you can make the last few hilly, curvy miles of the drive there, the Atwood Lakes Park is a large, beautiful park and the perfect place for a music festival. The kids were pretty much there because I asked them to go with me, but I think they both enjoyed it.

We’re almost back home now. The 4.5 hour dive easy but boring. We’ve had a lot of laughter, game playing and bonding the last four days. Tommi was a rockstar, especially being away from home for three nights and definitely out of his routine. I know the days when Jackson will be available to travel like this with me are numbered, and I’m grateful he wanted to go this weekend. I wouldn’t trade this time for the world.