We were so excited to hit the road in July and visit Ohio for a week. With the house situation, we knew we couldn't afford a vacation, so we thought we'd try to surprise the family with a visit to Cincinnati. Of course, a 'surprise' like this doesn't work very well, so they did know we were coming, but it was still great. We had pretty crappy weather for July. It was chilly and rainy for the first half of the week, and when it did warm back up, the pool water had taken a hit and it wasn't exactly fun to swim. But, we still made the best of it! And, the best part....a week of Connor time!
The boy is kind of a high maintenance napper, but that just meant I got to rock him and hold him while he slept, so I soaked it all in.
We had a lot of game time throughout the week! Gavin found a new love, Whoonu, and rekindled his obsession with Uno.
Notice Gavin 'helping' his sister...
We made a trip to Ikea and got some goodies for our new house. I can't wait to see how the LED lights work in the kitchen!
We spent an afternoon at Aunt Sandy's pool and clubhouse area to celebrate a belated 18th birthday for Briana. Unfortunately, we had to stay in the clubhouse since it poured the whole time. But, we still got to watch Zootopia in their movie theater room, and played some pool.
Just some quality family time! We celebrated the 4th of July by watching Finding Dory. Can I just say that I was slightly disappointed?? That movie has been so hyped up and we've been waiting for years...and it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I was bummed.
Of course, we celebrated Riley's 5th birthday a bit early since we were there, and she was thrilled! And spoiled!
Jarrod and Dad worked hard on an entry way table for the new house and corn hole boards. I loved watching them work together. And I love that we'll have that special piece in our hallway. Thanks, Dad, for working on it with Jarrod. xoxo
See, told you the pool water was COLD!
Vacationing is exhausting though, and Mommy won the nap war one day at least. :)
I had told the kids well in advance that we wouldn't be visiting the zoo this trip. I told them it was going to be too hot in July to hit the zoo....well, Mother Nature thought that was hilarious apparently and we headed to the zoo on one of the dry days. It did heat up while we were there, surprisingly, but still had fun!
And despite the water still being cold, we did swim after the zoo!
Enjoying some crafty time with Uncle Dave
And more Connor time!
I thought the kids would LOVE staying up later one night and catching lightning bugs like I used to do. It brought back so many memories. I loved watching my dad out there with them, trying to find them together. I wasn't expecting them to be over it all after just ONE lightning bug. And I really wasn't expecting them to be scared of the silly lightning bug as it flew off Beepa's hand. Come on, kids!!
I really LOVED spending an afternoon with Lauren and Angie and their kids. I missed Heidi, and wish I could've seen my Beavercreek girls, too. There's just too many people to see when you're in Ohio! Thanks for making the drive from Columbus, girlies. I love ya!
We had a family dinner at Montgomery Inn so Gavin could have some of Cincinnati's famous ribs. The kid is obsessed with meat! Afterwards, we hit up the new park in downtown for some family time.
And one last night of night swimming....before it was actually 'dark'. The kids didn't think it counted, but it was like 8:00...so I counted it. And surprisingly, that goofy Phoebe McFlufferpants never once tried to get in the pool.
Makeup lover, Riley, gave future cosmetologist, Aunt Bri, a makeover while we were there, too. They both enjoyed that. :)
Finally on Friday, we thought we were going to get some good weather for a pool day. Well, after we arrived at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Dave's, a huge storm rolled in so we had to kill time on the deck, but eventually got to swim and do some fishing. More family fun...Loved it! Gavin loves him some fishing!
We had a great week together! Love you, Ohio fam! Can't wait to see you again in November for our Merry Thanksmas tradition.
