Kings Island Fun

Well, I am glad we bought Kings Island passes at the end of last year.  I think we've gone four times in the last two weeks - twice to the amusement park side and twice to the water park.  Today I took the kids to Planet Snoopy so Nate could hang the new blinds (pictures coming soon).  Morgan rode the big train for the first time and couldn't get enough.  I'm pretty sure he would have ridden it ten times in a row had I let him.  He is still doing this weird head-tilt smile thing when we take his picture.

 Tessa ran through the one water attraction in the amusement park a few times while Morgan enjoyed a snack.  She loves this one and Morgan does not, so the situation worked out pretty perfectly.

 I think Linus' Beetle Bugs is the favorite ride all-around.  Their smiles are priceless on this ride.

 We got to meet Snoopy for the first time this year.

 These last two were taken at the water park earlier in the week.  We met the Polca family for some evening fun on Wednesday night and the kids had a great time.

So far, the Kings Island passes have definitely been worth the money.  Hopefully they will run the same promotion this fall.  You can't beat $49 for a season pass.  Worth every penny.

Wordless Wednesday: A Lightning Bug Tale

In case you were wondering, the kids did eventually catch one in Tessa's net.  Such a fun memory!

Trammel Fossil Park/The Root Beer Stand

Today's playgroup was a bit of an accident waiting to happen.  Thought it was fun and great to see everyone, I was more of a nervous wreck with my daredevil of a two-year old.  The pictures are in reverse order of events, as we ended at the root beer stand.  The kids loved the play area behind the root beer stand where we ate lunch.  It butted right up to a train, and we saw three trains pass while eating lunch.  Unfortunately, the fence doesn't go all the way across, so there was an opening where Morgan could have escaped.  Fortunately, he was tired and spent a good deal of time cuddling in my lap.

 A typical lunch at the root beer stand: chips, a hot dog with cheese, and root beer.  (Yes, I let them have root beer, and surprisingly, neither of them drank very much of it).

 Before the root beer stand, the play group met at Trammel Fossil Park.  Such a cool, preserved area.  It is over 10 acres of land reserved for fossil hunting.  Tessa found three fossils, Morgan dug around in the sand.  Tessa was happy her friend from school, Lauren, was there.  Lauren's sister was in Morgan's class at school and when I asked him if he wanted to see her this morning, he started screaming, "No, No, No!"  When I said we were going to see her at a park though, he quickly changed his tone, "Okay, mommy.  Show 'Ana shoes."  He just didn't want to go to day care.  Sweet boy!  I don't know if the pictures do this justice, but it was a dangerous slope of a hill covered in rocks.  I'm thankful we made it out of there with no injuries!

A fun morning!  Tonight Tessa and I have a date with one of her friends from school and another mommy to see Brave.  We are both looking forward to it!

Tired

Now that summer is here and we are not traveling, I sure am wearing these kids out!  Tessa, who rarely naps these days, asked to lay down when Morgan went down today and was out like a light within minutes.  I actually thought she was pretending.  Score one for me!

 It probably didn't hurt that we met a coworker friend of mine and her two kids at Cottell Park this morning and she ran/climbed/played herself silly for over an hour.

 Speaking of sleep, my little man tried to get by on a five-minute car nap yesterday.  He refused to go back to sleep, so I was thrilled when he passed out while watching a show with Tessa yesterday afternoon.  Aren't they cute?  I love sibling snuggling for TV time.

 I also feel like I should introduce the newest member of our family, Golden.  Tessa won a fish by tossing a ping pong ball in a glass cup, and lo and behold, we have ourselves a fish.  I figured I should at least introduce her in case she has a short life span.  Time will tell.

 And aren't these pretty?  We hosted a party for Nate's coworkers and families this weekend and I decided we needed some sunflowers for the table while I was getting everything else at Costco.  I might have to buy them all summer!

Parky's Farm turned Photo Op

Well, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to Parky's Farm to ride the ponies after Morgan's nap the other day.  Unfortunately, pony rides end at noon and we arrived around 3:30.  So...we improvised.  We visited the ducks, checked out the vegetable garden, and took some pictures (at least I had the good sense to bring the nice camera to take some photos of the pony rides).  Tessa obliged me a bit more when it came to posing for the camera.

 I love this one.  I think I took six shots and this was the best one.  Morgan didn't quite understand what he was doing.

 Love this one too!  The smirk and the blue of the clouds in the background.  I think this one is a printer!

A few black and whites...

 And the one and only of Morgan...

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We had a fun, yet busy one, plagued by yet another sickness.  Morgan had some welts on his arms and legs and a fever, so a visit to urgent care suggested he had some spider bites.  Lovely...hoping he wakes up fever free this morning.

Just a Thursday...

We had a pretty great Thursday of this week.  I bought a couch (neither of the ones from the previous post), I had some great one-on-one time with Tessa while Morgan napped, and we had a very nice evening at Pomodori's to say goodbye to my cousin and his wife who are headed to Texas for a one-year medical fellowship.

I LOVED this picture of Tessa, who was practicing riding her bike Thursday afternoon, but got down and walked because she was too sweaty.  Can you say girly girl?

 After our couch shopping experience at Macy's, the kids earned their reward of riding the elevator for being good.  It took us straight to Barnes and Noble on the 3rd floor, so play and read we did!

 Tessa loves "reading" books to herself and others, mimicking the way her teacher does it at school.  I love that she loves to read.

 The dinner started at 7:00 and I was surprised that when we got in the car, the clock read 9:00 - way past my kids' normal 8:00 bedtime.  Once we were home, and saw the lightning bugs, that prolonged our evening and they didn't end up in bed until 10:00.  You have to love summer nights!

This is Tessa and Morgan with my cousin's daughter.

 Grandma and Tessa.

 My cousin's son joined in for this one!

Lightning bug post coming soon!  I got some great pictures of Morgan trying hard, really hard, to catch one.

A Little of This, a Little of That

This summer I am redecorating.  Finally!  We have moved so much that we have never really settled in to a house, so now that we are putting down our roots (and I currently am paying $0 for daycare), I am decorating our new abode.  So far, this week's projects have included this:

 I've seen tons of cool ideas with old windowpanes on Pinterest, and I found this one at Home Goods the other day.  I am planning to add a wreath or giant "P" or something along those lines with burlap to the frame.  I think it will look pretty cool when finished.

Project #2 was making our couches "work" in the living room.  When we purchased the house, we intended for these old, well-loved (and worn) sofas to go down in the finished basement and to buy something new for the living room.  Unfortunately, the stairwell and tight corner had another idea and I have HATED the way they looked in the front room.  But I decided buying new throw pillows was a much cheaper alternative to new furniture and would help tie in the window treatments as well.  I think it looks a million times better, and much nicer on the wallet as well.

 Speaking of couches, my next summer purchase is going to be a sectional for the basement.  We checked sectionals out at Front Room Furnishings over the weekend and here were two we kind of liked.  Any votes?  We don't have a ton of options because it has to be a 5 or 6 piece sectional to make it down the stairwell and most are 2-3 pieces.

And my last summer improvement project is going to be the blinds.  Currently, the house has aluminum mini blinds throughout.  I hate them.  Really, really hate them.  Currently trying to figure out what to replace them with: Honeycomb cellular shades, white faux wood 2-inch blinds, or roman shades.  Any votes?  I really need an interior decorator.  Any takers?