Pancakes for breakfast

After Cedar Point, my mom, my sister and I drove up to Rochester to see Robin and Steve and Matthew and took a detour thorugh Houghton to see campus. Matthew has grown so much since Christmas! He is very verbal and learns really quickly. He helped to make our breakfast Thursday morning. I am weeks behind on these pictures- this was the 12-13th of July!


  

The highest fastest roller coaster in the world....

Though the picture does not do it justice nor have any redeeming artistic value, you are looking at the fastest and highest roller coaster in the world. In the center of the frame you see an upside down U. That is the Top Thrill Dragster. Yes, the name is cheesy, but the ride is unbeaten. My family went to Cedar Point in Sandusky OH after Mindy's wedding. Cedar Point is a roller coaster enthusiast's dream come true- 16 roller coasters including three that have at some point been the highest and fastest coasters. We went for the highest first and worked our way down. Top Thrill Dragster, henceforth known as TTD, is hard to describe because it is not like any other roller coaster you have seen. You are strapped into a dragster and sent forward to the Christmas tree of lights (this may be familiar to NASCAR fans or other racing fans). When the lights say go, and it is a terrifying wait since you know what is going to happen to you, the train is hydraulically shot from 0 mph to 120 mph in like 3 seconds. Yes, you read that right 120 mph! You go up 420 feet at a 90 degree angle with a 270 degree twist. The signs talking about the ride warn that sometimes the train does not make it to the apex and not to panic, you will just return to your starting position. Rebekah and I were not sure that was reassuring- going down 90 degrees backwards....When you reach the 420 foot apex, which we did with no trouble, you see Lake Erie briefly before you head down at 90 degrees with a 450 degree turn. I apologize to Cedar Point for my initial skepticism that a 30 second ride could be that exciting. It was. My mom said they should send you around twice. I am apparently wussier than my mom, because when I got off I was shaking. A lot. I am not sure I would have made it around twice. The website has some point of view videos of the different coasters. It does not do this ride justice. After this one, the rest were only okay. There were several others we liked and did not like, but the TTD was wild.

The 2 other biggies got mixed reviews from the fam. Wicked Twister (my dad had stopped riding rides by this point because of his torn and bruised hamstring- not a good idea to injure your self on your posterior end before riding on roller coasters) was good. Rebekah and I almost blacked out on Millenium Force which has a 300-something foot drop. Too many Gs I guess. We did like the Raptor a lot- our last ride of the day before hitting the road for PA.

  

Mystery man

A mysterious shot of Andrew taken by ????
Andrew is the only Houghton friend we actually got a picture of at the wedding (except some balcony shots or their heads).....someone needs to e-mail us some!

  

The wedding ceremony

Mindy and Michael got married a year to the day after their 2nd date and 53 weeks after they met. My friend from high school Mandy got married the next week (picture later), almost 7 years after meeting her husband! I figured out the other day that Doug and I have been dating or married for over 9 years....more than 1/3 of my life. It makes me feel old!

  

The bride-to-be

Before I comment on this picture, I would like to mention that while Rebekah was in Charleston, we celebrated the 4th of July with her and Luke Ulrich and his girlfriend Megan Preble. Luke had the enthusiasm of a small child at Christmas because fireworks are legal in SC and not in GA. He and Megan brought a ton of fireworks and while Rebekah and I cowered behind cars we had a practically professional pyrotechnics display in our front yard. You would not believe what they sell to ordinary people to shoot off themselves! We had a grand time and I even lit 2 fireworks myself! Rebekah also lit some and we concluded it was the most exciting fireworks display we have ever been to, perhaps just because of the proximity. I was tempted to make everyone watch a video I have on how fireworks are made, but Megan had to work the next day.

Anyway, back to the wedding, this is a picture of the lovely bride-to-be, calm and relaxed just hours before her wedding. Mindy was a beautiful bride even in her shorts and shirt. We bridemaids had fun at the beauty shop. The hairdresser was one of Mindy's patient's wives (I think his only wife but I am not sure how to word that). He stopped by with a breakfast pizza for Mindy and all of us. She has quite an impact on her patient's lives. Not that that is a surprise, but a good reminder of why she is my friend too.


  

The rehearsal dinner

After our kayaking adventures, Rebekah and I trekked from here to my parents' house in Beaver Falls PA. I continued on the next day to help Mindy and Michael with the final details of their wedding. This is one of Mindy's last conversations with Michael before marrying him. I don't remember taking the picture, so I am guessing someone else did- perhaps my high school friend Jon?


  

Flipper

I have just returned from a journey of many miles in the North, but this picture was taken while my sister was visiting before we went North for Mindy's wedding. We went kayaking in the evening and saw at least 30 dolphins some within 10 feet of our kayaks. It was beautiful!