gardens, boats and berries

Like many others I started my summer with a mental list of all the things I wanted to do. Luckily it is only 3 weeks in and I have begun to cross things off my list. I contracted pink eye over Memorial Day weekend and was in tears when I thought it would ruin all my plans for seeing family, picnic-ing and boating. Although I looked terrible with yellow goo streaming out of my fuchsia shaded eyes, as soon as I was no longer contagious I hit the ground running.

Sunday Morning before Memorial Day, Dave and I planted flower pots, made a delish lunch on the grill and relaxed in the shade of our front yard. Late afternoon I decided it was time to get out, so we headed to downtown Columbus to the Old Deaf School Park to see the topiary gardens. I loved visiting this Columbus attraction because it is where my grandparents went to school and met one another. Much later, after the school moved locations, a Columbus artist created topiaries to resemble the painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. After our jaunt in the park we drove to German Village to eat dinner at The Olde Mohawk. We both had delicious signature meals from the 70 year old restaurant. Mine meal consisted of turtle soup and a Mother Mohawk. After dinner we took a stroll down the cobble stone streets admiring the architecture and gardens of the old houses. We ended up at The Book Loft, a historic home transformed into a ten room book store where books line the walls from floor to ceiling in every nook and cranny of the old building.

On Monday (Memorial Day) we were able to get to the lake for some quality boating time. Although I don’t have any pictures, it was a wonderful afternoon lounging, drinking and eating with my family.

The next Saturday I hit the Columbus Arts festival with Jen. We met each other downtown and explored the little booths of overpriced art. I wanted to walk away with something from the fair so I bargained for a knit stuffed owl, which was the best I could do with $5 cash. Jen splurged on me and treated me to my first Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. It was delish! The Columbus Museum of Art was also open to fair go-ers this weekend so we took a break from the heat to admire the changes that are happening at the museum. They are renovating their typical exhibits for something more hands on and interactive. They had opportunities for people to make their own art at different stations. Jen and I created pieces using twist ties to display along with the rest of the artwork.

On Sunday Dave and I drove down to the Hocking Hills for some more boating with the Herrings. We packed up our cooler and spent the afternoon lazily canoeing on the Hocking River. We took many breaks to chat or jump into the cool water from a rope swing (unfortunately we had nothing to reach the rope which was dangling over the water so we just jumped off the wooden ledge built for the swing).

Today I spent the morning picking strawberries at Circle S farms just west of Grove City near the Big Darby Creek. My mom and I sloshed through the mud in search of the biggest, reddest berries. We snacked on a few in the bright sun before heading home to try our hand at strawberry salsa. Like I said, 3 weekends into the summer and I’m already diving into all my favorite summer activities. Next weekend bachelorette party and in two weeks I’ll be married. I think this will be a summer to remember!