Finally! The part of the trip about Ohio. It was nice to be at Nels and Christina's. Nels is my brother just younger than I am. We were always close growing up and it's hard to be across the country from each other now. They have 6 kids, so the house was a cacophony of noise with all 11; a symphony composed of shrieks, laughter, and chaos. 
Dan took Morgan, Malynn, Sophie, Nels, Haley, and Nicholas to Cedar Pointe, the roller coaster mecca of the US. 17 roller coasters, with the 2nd highest in America, packed into one thrilling theme park. Since poor Malynn is "the shortest in 1st grade, dramatic sigh", many of the rides her 6 year old cousin got to go on, she missed. Sophie is the same height as Malynn, but she didn't seem to mind so much. Nels, with the Hansen family virtigo curse, stayed with the little girls, while Dan of the iron stomach took Morgan, Haley, and Nicholas on the high flying rides. They came back late, sweaty, exhausted and full of joy.
Christina and I played with the kids and went to Kaden's horse riding physical therapy. We ate at Pizza Hut, which was far more entertaining than it should have been.
On Saturday we started the church history part of our tour by going to Kirtland. The LDS church owns the original township part of it-- Whitney's store, the woodmill/ashery, and the homes. The aura of reverence these places hold, never cease to amaze me. Of course, three adults could never contain the joie de vivre of 11 kids, so there wasn't much reverence to be found around us. Tour #2 ruined. The thing is, there are some amazing places there. The upper room in Whitney's store was where they held the first school of the prophets. At least the kids will have been exposed to opportunities to feel greatness even if they are too young to appreciate it. 
(The kids standing on the bridge over the creek where several of the early Ohio saints were baptized. They did understand the importance of that.)
We went to the Kirtland temple after that. It's owned by the Community of Christ (formerly known as the RLDS church). Tiny as far as temples go. Despite all the building has been through, it still carries a spirit of sacredness. Great care has gone into its renovation.
Another part of Ohio that I loved seeing was the Amish community. Wooster is right in the middle of Amish heartland. They were in the middle of their oat harvest. The sheaves of stacked oats were beautiful. There are two sets of ruts in the roads: those wide ones made by cars, and the metal scarred narrower ones made by the buggies. We went to Lehmans Hardware Store. They have a website. Go to it. The store was a wonderland! I think I went crazier than the kids, if that is possible. Yes, it is! The store was wonderful! If it wasn't so humid, I think I could live in Ohio.
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