Clowning Around Columbus

We played hooky this weekend and escaped to Columbus to visit Uncle Justin and Aunt Brianna. Despite the fact that Justin turned our children into Illini traitors by drilling them in the OH-IO cheer, we had a fabulous time.

Apparently Talia found Justin's medical books to be quite entertaining reading. (Justin just finished his Ob-Gyn rotation--blush, blush.)

Jason also got some good reading time with Eli on his lap.

Eli, however, thought it was much more entertaining to play with Aunt Brianna.

So happy!

But even Eli couldn't compete with Uncle Justin's joy when he got the privilege of enduring multiple marriages to his nieces. Here's his grin after giving Brooklyn the big "I do." I guess polygamy must be coming back into style... :)

The weekend fun was augmented by our culinary excursion to Columbus's North Market, where we caught the tail-end of their annual Fiery Foods festival.

I splurged on a specialty waffle that actually packed quite a bit of punch. A hearty jalapeno-cheese grits waffle was topped with shrimp, green onions, and lots of cilantro. The tasty concoction disappeared so fast that my only regret was not taking a picture to savor the memory.

Unfortunately, Brooklyn learned that no matter how pretty the cupcake, there is such a thing as too much pink frosting. Ah, but the fun was great while it lasted.

After dropping a tired crew off at home for some downtime, Brianna and I slipped away to Trader Joe's to continue our appetizing adventures. Talk about a bonanza! I had a riot justifying all my impulse buys since I can't purchase anything similar close to home. Dark-chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, cilantro and jalapeno hummus, cranberry apple-butter, and don't even get me started on the macarons! Three days later, and I'm still drooling. My one faux pas was the canned aloe vera... What was I thinking? In case anyone else is feeling venturesome and courageous, I still have an unopened can that I would love to get rid of. :)