The Accidental Boilermaker

We took a short trip to Decatur to visit Mimi over the weekend.  We spent some time at the garden helping out with chores.  Evelyn and Jameson took turns giving rides in the little wagon. Mimi also got the kids to help wash the porch furniture. And Nate got to drive the riding lawn mower. Sunday morning we went to church. Then Mimi treated us to brunch.  For some reason this trip, Jameson did not adjust well to the time change.  He woke up Sunday morning at 4:45 and at one point during our meal, just put his head on the table and fell asleep.

Katherine came to visit for a few days.  We took the kids to the zoo. They got to pet a snake. And feed the giraffes. And ride the carousel.   We did pretty much the whole zoo which was nice for Katherine since she had never been before. Katherine treated us to ice cream at a new parlor by Nate's work.  It was the perfect choice because they have dairy and vegan options which worked great for Kate.  I got Dutch cookie which had pieces of windmill cookies mixed in. We also went bowling. Evelyn and Jameson had lots of fun.  Jameson even scored two spares in a row during our first game. On Katherine's last day, we got coffee and treats before she had to leave for Chicago.

I ventured out by myself this morning with all 5 kiddos. We walked to this small neighborhood park that we’ve actually never been to before.  I scoped it out yesterday to make sure it would work. It’s a little sketchy, but overall seeemed acceptable.  The best part is the park is a reasonable distance to ask two 4 year olds to walk. Jameson decided he wanted to walk too which was great and meant I didn’t have to wear Violet. The park had 4 swings, 2 big kid and 2 baby, and 3 of these ride on things, one of which was a two-person one. And 1 slide. And a really nice green space if you wanted to kick a soccer ball or throw a football.  Everyone had a blast and we stayed for almost 2 hours. It was almost like the limited playground equipment meant they had to use their imagination more. Or it was a novel new place. Either way I’m glad we went. 

I orchestrated my own birthday party today.  I had lots of little helpers.  We made streamer wands. And played with balloons.  (Big thank you to Nathan who helped me blow up balloons last night). During nap/quiet time we made birthday cards. After everyone woke up, we played outside.  Me holding the hose was apparently way more fun than the sprinkler so that's what I did. My little frosting helper. Birthday cake!  Everyone helped to make, frost, decorate, and add candles to the cake. A lot of candles.  And then they all helped me blow out the candles and eat the cake.

It's my birthday!  I went for a run in the morning and then we went out for brunch. In the afternoon we saw a TinCaps game.  Evelyn and Jameson got free tickets through the library's summer reading program and Evelyn thought it would be so much fun to go to a game on my birthday. In addition to a free ticket, the kids get a hot dog and chips plus a small prize which this year was sunglasses.  Jameson and I switched sunglasses for fun. Of course we had to get our faces painted.  Jameson got a shark. Evelyn got a palm tree. Rally hat time.  The TinCaps were down 4-5 in the 9th inning, but couldn't pull out the win.  It was a fun afternoon anyway.

Our fun activity yesterday was chalk paint.  The recipe I used called for 2/3 cup water and 1/2 cup cornstarch.  I thought it was little liquidy, but it definitely worked.  I let the kids mix up the water and cornstarch, divided it up into little plastic cups, and then let them add the food coloring and mix again.  Lastly, I poured the chalk paint into egg cartons to make it easier to transport outside. Everyone loved it.  I painted a hopscotch and some other pictures for the kids to color.  The paint looks dull at first, but as it dries the colors brighten up. At some point we got out the bubbles. Snack time! Twins : ) I made Nathan take our picture last night since Jameson and I matched for church.

Tuesday we drove just over the Ohio River to Kentucky and the Newport Aquarium. The aquarium was really cool.  A couple different places where you could touch starfish, sting rays, and sharks.  And several different tunnels where the fish were swimming above your head. This picture isn't the greatest, but at the sting ray tank, there was a tunnel under the water that you could crawl through (well Evelyn and Jameson were small enough to walk, I had to crawl).  It's hard to tell, but that's Jameson in the blue shirt at the top of the picture inside the tunnel.  This was my favorite part of the aquarium.   Penguins! My second favorite part was the shark bridge.  It's at the very end and you walk over the top of the shark tank.  It's neat because you can see the sharks swimming right under you and it gives you a much better idea of how big the tank really is. After naps and quiet time back at the hotel, we went to th...

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday on Sunday and her big present was a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see Fiona the hippo .  My dad asked if we wanted to come too, so we kind of planned it as a surprise for her when we showed up at the hotel Sunday afternoon. The drive to the hotel was just under 3 hours and we didn't want to arrive before my parents, so we stopped at an arboretum in Dayton.   The grounds were very nice.  We took a short hike through a meadow and saw lots of butterflies.  We also climbed up this really neat tower. Monday it was finally time to go to the zoo and see Fiona.  First the elephants. Then the giraffes.  The giraffes were really cool because they are Masai giraffes and at our zoo we have reticulated giraffes.    Evelyn measuring up to a giraffe.  Then we sat through a really cool animal show where at the end you got to watch just how fast two real cheetahs can run. Fin...