Easter Evening in Cleveland- Sunday. April 5, 2026

     After our last couple of trips and the promise of several more in the coming year. Julie made Scott promise that we wouldn't go anywhere crazy over Easter break.  For a quick little overnight, though, we had kicked around the idea of a short jaunt to Cleveland.  Emma had wanted to go there on her own and was glad she could sleep in the car as we drove.  She's been working nights for the last couple of weeks.  She was disappointed and angry when she learned yesterday that we had decided against going.  We re-examined our plans, made sure that Anna had a way to get Wyatt to daycare on Monday, and decided we would go.

     Since it's Easter today, the day started with Abby looking for her Easter basket.  She found it behind the living room curtains.  For some reason, the Easter Bunny also seemed to have left his glasses behind too.

      In the early afternoon, we went to Julie's parents and dropped off a small arrangement of Easter flowers.  Then we went on to see Scott's folks.  His mom had a ham dinner planned for 2:00.  Uncle Brian and Aunt Jenny were there too.  They kept teasing Abby that it was some other holiday than Easter.   After dinner, Grandpa made an Easter egg hunt for Abby in the basement.  We then started on the trip to Cleveland.

     Julie described the drive to Cleveland as "uneventful."  No stops, and no problems.  Emma slept most of the way.  After she came down from her sugar high, Abby slept for a while in the car too.  She used the neck pillow that the Easter Bunny had brought her this morning.  We had texted Scott's cousin Laurie to see if she might want to get together with us this evening.  She was sorry to say that she had been exposed to COVID at her office and was feeling some symptoms.   

     Our hotel is pretty fancy, with big interior courtyard.  Even Abby enjoyed the view out of the glass windows in the elevator.  Our room is large with a living room area in it.  The dogwood trees out front are in bloom.  As we pulled off of the interstate, Scott and Julie both recognized that we had stayed in this area once before, back in 2021 (as COVID restrictions were just being lifted, ironically enough).  We weren't at this hotel, but we recognized the restaurant called the Winking Lizard.  It was closed today, but we had a late supper at the nearby Bob Evans.  Unfortunately, the hotel pool was cleaned and is being refilled, but it is supposed to be open tomorrow morning before we leave.