A Splash Pad

Once we were all safely bathroomed, we walked along the river in the parks. We enjoyed a splash pad. It was really fun. 

I first got to show the kids how to walk through the fountain with the stroller without getting soaked. We did have a three hour drive a head of us, and driving in sopping clothes isn't fun.

Another way through the fountains, and this time without shoes.

I love catching sprinting pictures and their joy. (Not that I was the photographer--I was too busy taking care of Hopeful Hero...but you get the idea.)

Then there were some swings for us to sit on and enjoy. And it is nice to be in the pictures!

A few of the river.

We had so much fun in Cincinnati. I love having family close! We also planned the next excursion. Our cousins will come to see us in September and we will get to make Applesauce. I get to induct my cousins to the family---you're not officially a Cutler until you've made Applesauce. I'm so excited!

River Walk--Or a study in Bathroom Sprints.

On Saturday we headed to downtown Cincinnati to walk along the Ohio River. I had heard great things about the parks there. We took a few wrong turns and the boys loved the train bridges and the freeway passes. It's so much fun to travel with little boys!

We got to walk across the suspension bridge. And by We, I really mean my cousins and a few of my children. We made it onto the bridge and a quarter of the way, when the Peaceful Hero called out, "I have to go POTTY!" Well, that means that there is two minutes until we have an accident. So I got to turn around and carry Peaceful Hero in the Potty Sprint. I was very grateful for my cousins, since they were there to help out. 

Isn't my cousin beautiful?

On our way back--no accidents--we saw a barge and had a lot of fun. They were on their way back from another state, and we all headed back together.

While we walking back, we had another bathroom sprint, luckily it was a different child. Friendly Hero also had to go.

Almost to the bathroom. The man in orange laughed a lot and was very friendly to see me run back and forth with two different boys.

This was a really cool picture taken through the waterfall fountain at the bridge.

A Museum

We have a museum pass that lets us get into over 250 different museums for free. So we made sure that we went to the museum in Cincinnati that worked with our pass. It was a good museum. I think we would have been disappointed if we had to pay to get in, but since we got in for free it was a GREAT museum!

Right at the beginning we found some bug related items. Which had to be documented to show the Bug Hero. He was missed dearly by the children. We explained that Bug Hero was an expert on bugs. And after explaining what an expert is, we asked them what I, the Math Hero, was an expert in. After a few thoughtful moments, the Friendly Hero said, "Um, Children?" And he was right.

There was a fake cave exhibit. It was a section of the museum that was a cave, like two or three stories of walking around, tight sections, a waterfall, a river, stairs up and down, stuffed rats, a spelunker (reminding us of cave safety), darkness, ac blowing to make it colder, stalactites, and stalagmites. I thought it was really cool. The boys were very hesitant. There were two paths, and we took the easier path first and they didn't like it until the end. I then asked Friendly Hero what type of animals lived in caves and his eyes lit up, and he nearly yelled "DRAGONS!!" and Peaceful Hero added that they lived there because they don't like the light. And they raced around to the start and we did the easy path two more times at top speed to be like a dragon. They didn't want to do the other level, but My cousin and I did, so we led them down the steps and they were very careful. The Peaceful Hero was happy as long as my cousin carried him. I carried the Hopeful Hero. And the Friendly Hero was quite upset that his flip-flops got wet in the splash of the waterfall. He leads a difficult life.

There was a live bat demonstration. We watched part of it, before interest was lost. Hopeful Hero loved pointing at the bats.

 There was a fake glacier. I didn't know that the Cincinnati Valley was formed by a glacier. But it was, and we got to walk through a fake one. It was really noisy. And this is Friendly Hero's "normal face." The other option is tongue out.

 Here is the outside of Museum Station. There are about four or five museums here. But we only had the pass to one of them. But it was a perfect way to spend the morning.

 Peaceful Hero was a little bit grumpy about the bright light and that lunch was delayed. (And we can't really blame that...)

A Girl and A Cupboard

The Bug Hero had a conference this past week. He was gone for five days, and while that is not really long, it seems very long when you have little children. So we played lots with several friends and wore out my children. I also called in some reserves--what could be more fun than driving for three hours to see some cousins? Not much! We hopped in our car and drove to Cincinnati for two and half days while Bug Hero was gone. I am very grateful that my cousin and her husband were willing to let us come and invade.

We had seen them a month ago, and things change very quickly when you are less than 2. They were very impressed to see Hopeful Hero walking around without a problem. She loved opening up cupboards and trying to climb into them. She found this one in the kitchen and was smug that she could sit in it. Every time she wanted a muffin, she ate it in this cupboard.

When I pulled out the camera, the boys raced to make funny faces in pictures.

And she started laughing when it was just her, to smile for the picture.

I really love this little girl!

How to Babysit a Grandma

Our favorite part of baby sitting Grandpa and Grandma: going swimming every day! They were kind enough to take us to their hotel every afternoon and go swimming. Hopeful Hero watched us helping the boys and she wanted to be dragged around and kicked her legs and wanted to hang out at the ladder and jump in like the boys.

We took Grandma to the park. It is important for Grandmas to play at a park when you baby sit them.

 We also took her to a museum where we played on a fire truck.

 In the back of the fire truck.

 When you babysit a Grandma, you need to make her see how high you can be pushed on the swings. We took her to three different parks to show her all the fun things at the parks.

 Ending baby sitting a grandma with pictures, and making sure that at least one child wasn't looking at the camera at a time.

We were so glad that Grandma could come and visit us! We are looking forward to visiting her later this month! And for her birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday Grandma! We LOVE you!

How to Babysit a Grandpa

At the end of May, we had the wonderful opportunity to babysit our Grandma and Grandpa. We loved having them come. Our Librarian Hero gave Grandpa and Grandma two books about how to Babysit Grandpa's and Grandmas. So we did our best to make sure everything happened.

We read lots of stories:

And played at the parks:

 And went to the Zoo, where we "helped" Grandpa see the animals.

 Pointing out different animals to Grandpa (And trying to get into the cage to touch them.)

We don't have pictures of making sure that Grandpa got a nap each day and feeding him snacks.

We do have to apologize that we didn't get Grandpa cookies and ice cream together. We had them on different days. I promise Grandpa--you come back we will get you those together!

Fun Kids

 I am really enjoying my new camera. I can take really nice pictures of the kids. I get more of Hopeful Hero because she is fun to take pictures of and she doesn't do crazy things when the camera out.

Hopeful Hero was so happy to be standing and playing with me.

And a few silly ones, since this is how you smile, when you are three and a half.

Cinicinnati

We went to visit my cousins on June 13 and 14th, and now they think that we only ever go to Zoos. When they stopped by for a visit, we took them to our local zoo, and we have heard how awesome the Cincy Zoo was and we insisted that we go. On a side note, I really love my new camera. Really love it. The pictures we got are amazing! They make me look like an awesome photographer.

We had a lot of fun. Our first stop was the insectarium. (No real surprise) But our surprise is that one of the Bug Hero's old co-workers was there. She works there on Saturdays! Super fun!

This is Ivan the Lemur jumping up to touch the white ball.

 Hopeful Hero enjoying the Manatee. I love how zoos claim that they are one of two or the only zoo with a certain animal. Of course they are--no zoo can have every animal. The Cincinnati Zoo is one of two zoos outside of Florida to be a home of Manatees.

 They also have an awesome animal show. We got to watch an ocelot play with a toy. He was a baby and they were starting to train him to be an animal ambassador.

 We saw an Asian Fishing Cat.

 We also got to watch two cheetah's run at full speed. It was so awesome! (And look at how awesome these two pictures are? I love this camera!)

Our happy family!

When asked what the favorite parts of the zoo were:
Bug Hero: Seeing my friend.
Math Hero: Watching the Cheetah's.
Friendly Hero: Watching the Cheetah's run really fast! And the Ring Tailed Lemur named Ivan. That was cool.
Peaceful Hero: The elevators and escliators. (These were on the way to the zoo entrance.)
Hopeful Hero: + Squack=Animals. She loved all the animals.

Swimming Lessons

We are in the midst of swimming lessons. The boys love to go to the pool every day. They love splashing and playing in the water.

Warming up:

My cute helper. She is so sad that she doesn't get to go swimming too. She tries to climb through the fence. I had told her she couldn't take swimming lessons until she learned to walk. It's not any surprise that she started walking that same week. She still doesn't get take swimming lessons this year, or next. It's a hard life.

 Look at the smile on this kid's face. He is so happy to go swimming every day!

 Learning to float.

 Being an Alligator. When asked to be his favorite animal, he said that he was a "Walkie Talkie Doggie." And he crouched around on his hands and knees and barked. (I love him!)

We are starting up a second session and look forward to swimming as a family together!