Day 9 - North Canton

Today we spent the day at our cousins Pam and Mike's house with their son Drew, Mike's mom Carmella, and our other cousin's Debbie, Dave and their daughter Amy.  Pam cooked a great baked pasta and sausage dish along with the best panzanella with home-made garlic croutons we had ever tasted. 
Our cousin Amy baked a wonderful citrus cheesecake. I don't even like cheesecake very much, but thought that hers was really special. Not only was it delicious, but it was beautiful to look at, too.

After dinner, Mike gave us a sample of some very excellent Port. It was a lovely addition to a delicious meal.



A little boy neighbor from down the street came over. He and Amelia really hit it off and they played in the backyard together for hours. Keeping them out of the flower beds took some doing, though.

All of our Ohio cousins except for Brittany and Molly were there.  We took a family picture in the back yard. It was so great to get to see everyone again.

After dinner we played the game Wits and Wagers Family, which worked great for a wide range of ages.  Mimi was partners with Mike's mom Carmela, who turned out to be surprisingly competitive.  We played teams and first prize went to Shannon and Aunt Joan with a close second for Amy and Drew.  (Tiebreaker Question: How many Oreo's are in a standard 18 oz package?*)



Later we played Smart Ass, which despite the slightly inappropriate name, was another great family trivia game.  We tailored some of the questions just for Amelia (What is the name of the large yellow bird on Sesame Street?) and she really enjoyed getting to play.  Mimi won so we named her the "Smart Ass of the Day".


When it was time to leave, it was pouring outside and Mimi didn't have her umbrella.  Cousin Pam came to the rescue with a fashionable rain cap for her.

Unfortunately our visit to Canton was drawing to a close. We were sad to leave because we always have always have so much fun in Ohio. When we got back to Aunt Joan's, we spent the rest of the night packing so we could get an early start the next morning. We planned on meeting our Cousin Brittany and her boyfriend Johnny in Charlotte, NC for dinner.



We'd played our last game. Our car was packed. The alarm was set. Charlotte or bust! What could go wrong?


* There are 3 rows with 15 cookies in each row for a total of 45 cookies per package.

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