Family Trip Day-2

On the second day of our family trip we checked out of our hotel early and headed to go and get breakfast at the best place to eat, we were told.  It was very good but I don't think they get a lot of little kids there, it was a little difficult keeping the kids entertained.  Breakfast was great, Blaiden got a chocolate chip pancake and Adilene got bacon, sausage, and ham, all her favorites.  Once were were done there we went right to the zoo.  Everyone was very excited about this because the Columbus Zoo is one of the largest in the country.

When we were home loading up the car we had a hard time deciding on which stroller to bring.  We wanted the double stroller but knew if we brought it we wouldn't have any room in the Jeep for our bags so we just brought our normal single stroller for Adilene.  When we got to the Zoo we decided that this was the wrong decision, thankfully there was a place to rent strollers so Blaiden was happy he didn't have to walk all day.  I was also very happy that I wouldn't have to hold Adilene while Blaiden rode in the stroller, she is getting big.

We spent the morning slowly walking through most of North America animals.  Blaiden loved the bears.  We took a train ride and looked at prairie dogs.  There was also a place that you could ride a small pony and Blaiden wanted to take a ride.  I was going to walk with him but while we were waiting in line he just kept saying "mom I can do by myself."  I guess he is starting that independence phase that last the rest of his life (so sad).  I let him do it and I think the smile on his face says it all, he was so proud of himself!

After that it was time to take a break eat a snack and let Adilene drink a bottle.  There was a lot going on so our break didn't last long.  Then we were off the the petting zoo with all the farm animals.  I think this was Adilene's favorite part of the day.  She could not get enough of petting the sheep and goats.  Blaiden also had a great time.  Fred and I had to keep the kids moving because we wanted to see as much of the Zoo as we could and didn't know how the rest of the day was going to go.

It was getting close to lunch time and there was also some very dark rain clouds coming so we thought it would be a good idea to find a spot to eat lunch.  We started looking a little late and it started to rain like crazy before we found a place to go inside.  We found a building that we could stand by and stay out of the rain.  It was a good thing that we ended up buying PB&J sandwich stuff the night before because that is what I had packed just in case we needed it, so we ate that for lunch.  I had to use an apple slice to spread the peanut butter but it all worked out and Blaiden thought it was a great time.  Once the rain calmed down a little we went into the closest building that we could find and it was where the elephants were.  I think these were my favorite animals to see because they were so active.

It was getting close to nap time for Adilene and so when the rain finally stopped we put the kids in the strollers and walked for a little while until she fell asleep.  While she was sleeping I stayed with her and Fred took Blaiden to go on a pirate boat ride.  They had so much fun and Blaiden loved that the pirates were shooting water at them.  Then it was time to go to see most of the African animals.  We got to see the cheetah run, where they demonstrate how fast they can run.

We ended our day with a fun little carousel ride, although I am not sure how much fun Adilene thought it was in the end.  We also got a few different treats to cool us down, Blaiden got an icey thing, Fred got ice cream, and I got dippin dots, Adilene got the best deal and shared with all of us.  By the time we got back to the car we realized that we had been at the zoo for 8 hours, that is a long day for the kids.

The original plan was to find another hotel to stay the night again but once we got to the car the only person that wanted to stay was Fred.  The kids were very tired and getting grouchy, we hadn't ate dinner yet so we were all hungry and we didn't have a specific plan so doing anything would take a while.  For me the thought of the kids sleeping in there own beds was much more appealing then everyone trying to get some good rest in a hotel. Fred conceded and we came home.  I was a little sad when we all woke up the next day but we had a good trip overall.  

Family Trip Day-1

Fred took a few days off work in July so we could take a little family trip.  We had found yet another deal on Groupon (I love Groupon) for a hotel/water park in Columbus and thought the kids would love it.  On our way down there I realized I forgot my camera so we had to use our phones the entire trip.  We didn't really have any specific plans but knew we wanted to play at the water park one day and go to the zoo another day.  When we got to the hotel we couldn't check in but the water park was open so we headed right to the water.  Blaiden was thrilled to see this place and was so excited that he ripped his clothes off and ran into the first pool he saw and immediately got yelled at by lifeguard for climbing things he shouldn't.

The water park was awesome because it had several different areas but none of them were more then 1.5 feet deep so we didn't have to use any floaties.  There was a section with little slides and some fountains that was meant for little ones and so Blaiden and Adilene had a good time in there.  Then there was a part that was for a little bit older kids, it was like a large play ground with slides, bridges, stairs, and nets.  There was also this huge bucket that would dump a ton of water about every 5 minutes.  You had to be 40 inches tall to go down the larger slides in this area but Blaiden got to go down twice before they measured him and said he was to small. One of the lifeguards stopped Fred at one point and just said, "That kid of yours isn't scared of anything is he?"  Blaiden was running all over the place that I finally had to just follow him wherever he went.  Not that I minded, I love the water as much as the kids do.  We went down the slides about 100 times it was so fun.

Adilene had just as much fun, I think her favorite part was walking through the deepest part of the kiddie area.  She had never been in water that was that deep and she could still stand before and she loved it.  Another fun thing for her was sitting at the fountains.  Fred was playing with her and she would just stick her entire face in the water!  I also took her down a small slide where she got soaked a few times, she came out laughing every time so I think she was having fun.  It was a good thing we only have 2 kids because we each had to be in charge of one because they were both all over the place.

We left after a few hours and let the kids take a nap in the car while we went to find some lunch.  It was a shorter nap for both of them but they seemed to be in a good mood.  When we got back we could check into our room.  We didn't know what we should do next so Blaiden decided we needed to go back to the water park.  On our way back down we found an arcade so we stopped in and played a few games.  It was really fun, funny story was Fred and I were very confused when we first got there because everything was digital, we kept looking for the tickets to come out but they went on your card, guess we haven't been to an arcade for a while.

When we went back into the water park there were only a few people in there now so I asked Fred if he would watch both kids while I went down a few of the big water slides, he kindly said yes.  I went down one and they were all standing at the bottom waiting for me.  Blaiden thought it was the coolest thing ever and kept saying "next time when I am bigger I am going to do that slide."  We stayed a while and played then it was time to get changed and go find dinner.

We didn't really know where we were and after driving for a while the kids were getting tired, hungry, and grouchy.  We finally had to stop at a grocery store and get PB&J stuff and some lunch meat, we're fancy like that.  I fed the kids in the car and on the way back Fred saw a fast food place we had never heard of so we stopped and got some great chicken. Since everyone was eating Fred stopped at a repair place and fixed our taillight that we found out was not working. The night was kind of hectic but finally the kids went to bed and they slept pretty well.

This post is getting pretty long so I guess I'll continue with day 2 in another post.

Pool Days

July was the month to be in the water.  When I first thought about writing this post it was middle of July and we had been swimming about 3 times a week.  Last year Blaiden could not be in the water without screaming and holding on for dear life if he couldn't touch the bottom.  Then this winter I put him in swim lessons.  Now he thinks that he can actually swim and has no fear what so ever, the only problem with this is he actually does not know how to swim.

Adilene has been a water baby from the beginning.  This girl is never as happy as she is when she is in the water.  She was also in swim lessons this past winter and she was going all the way under on the first day! Something her brother still has a hard time with.  She loves making bubbles and when the hose is on the the backyard she will put that water right in her face and laughs every time!
The point of this post is to just share a few photos and for me to remember how much fun this summer has been.  I have enjoyed the kids as this age so much, they play together, their personalities are shining, and they think everyday is so exciting!

 

4th of July

I love the 4th of July, BBQs, parties, parades, and best of all fireworks, it doesn't get much better than that!  This was Fred's holiday to work this year but it turned out to be pretty slow and he didn't have to miss anything.  I had gotten a Groupon for some cheap fireworks and so a few days before the 4th we went to go pick them out.  Blaiden loved this part and could hardly contain himself in the store.  He kept saying "I want that one, I want that one!"  We ended up with 2 packages that were filled with the fountain type, because we thought the kids would enjoy those best.  I also got some sparklers because they are so fun and I wanted to see if Blaiden could handle them this year.

Since we didn't know what we were going to do on the 4th we decided to shoot off our own fireworks on the 2nd.  Adilene couldn't make it until it was dark so she missed out on most of the fireworks this year, she only got to see a few smoke ones which no one was that interested in.  I also planned to have some smore's before our first fireworks.  This was Blaiden's first time eating a smore and WOW he was in heaven!  I think he liked this more than the actual fireworks.  When it was time to set the fireworks off, Blaiden and I went and played on our neighbors trampoline to burn off the last bit of energy he had while Fred got everything ready.  It was so fun playing with him.  We didn't make it through all of our fireworks before it got to late so we did the same thing the next night too.  I got the sparklers out the 2nd night and Blaiden almost ended up in the ER from burning himself, I guess he is not ready for those yet, maybe next year.

On the 4th, Fred was on call, but he actually got to do a lot with us.  That morning we headed to the parade.  The kids had a blast and Blaiden ended up with an entire bag full of candy.  We ran into some people that we knew (side note, when this happens it makes me fell like we should stay here forever).  Adilene was the cutest little girl at the parade and she had a great time, until the end when the fire trucks had the sirens going.

We came home for naps then got our swimming stuff on and headed to a pool party.  The kids had a great time in the water and Blaiden even jumped off the diving board! By the time we finished eating dinner the kids were exhausted and so we came home.  We knew that we had another chance to watch fireworks during the Hall of Fame week so it was an early night for us.