Zoo

Zoo's are awesome! We got to go to Utah this summer and one of the first things we did, after a family reunion was go to the Hogle Zoo. I enjoyed watching the sea lions and seals preform. The boys were less impressed.

 Hopeful Hero liked walking around the small animal building.

 The boys are looking at some snakes.

 We got to go to a bird show there. It was really fun! The birds were flying over head and it was awesome!

 They asked for a volunteer and they picked out the Friendly Hero! After he said his name and smiled for the audience, the lady told them to release the California Condor. The whole audience gasped, and she quickly said, "just kidding, it's a morning dove!"

 Here is the bird eating out of his hand!

It was really fun to go to the Zoo with our Aunt K and Grandma! We are excited to come back to Utah again in December!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Mom, these were yummy. We should totally have them again!

Sign of a good meal! If it's all over her face, it was put into her mouth. If she's clean then the floor is a mess!

Here comes Kindergarten!

 Friendly Hero is on his way to Kindergarten! He is so happy! This is on the "first day" which was a back to school day. Our school is doing a gentle start---gentle on most kids and on the school and teachers. It must be insane with all the new kids and trying to get them ready.

 Smiling for his teacher!

 Waiting for the bus on the first day! He is so excited to go!

Climbing onto the magic school bus! I am so excited for him, and we are ready for this change and development as a family!

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!