The Dog Days

Lewis and I had no plans the Tuesday-Friday of the week between our Cincinnati weekend and Labor Day weekend, and that felt like a lot of time to fill for some reason. Part of the reason was the weather...the 10-day forecast had every day in the 90s with storm chances (which means nasty humidity). We've stayed pretty busy this summer, with camps and play dates to break up our weeks, but that week was pretty dead.

Anyway, I thought a trip to the zoo would be doable, with the focus being on hitting up the splash park--I chose the day where it was *only* going to be like 92 vs. 95 degrees, and we headed out. Wow, what a difference it makes once school has started--there was hardly anyone there! It might have been the fact that it was nasty hot/humid, too, and field trips haven't really started yet. Anyway, I was able to modify our usual route to make it more pregnant-lady-friendly, and we had a fun and not-too-miserable morning:

 Lewis spent some extended time under the misters (in the background)

 Watching the elephants do their exercises 

 Polar bear training

Qannik

She was born the month before Lewis (January 2011). 

 Ahhh, the splash park! It's been real!

I knew that it would be closed after Labor Day, so I'm glad we got one more visit in for the summer. I was a bit more involved with the water this time aka I was happily walking through the sprinklers, too, instead of trying to stay dry. :) I also went up and stood with Lewis to make sure he was waiting in line for the slides (a concept he's still working on)--he did pretty well with it that day. When he'd get to the front of the line, he'd ask the lifeguard, 'Is it my turn now?' They were so patient with him.

Our maiden voyage on the tram

 Part of my strategy for minimal mama-passing-out was to ride the tram from the splash park, up the hill to the top (near the exit). Contractions tend to happen when I'm walking up hills and/or pushing a stroller and/or trying to coax Lewis to walk up a hill, so the tram was a welcomed alternative. :) Lewis seemed to enjoy the ride--he sat very still, holding on the whole time. 

:)

 Finishing our trip with the carousel

We'd started out the morning on the train, of course. (As if Lewis would let a trip to the zoo go by without riding the train!)

Another day that week, we headed to the Science Center. Our membership had expired, but I decided to go ahead and renew it due to the hot weather situation. Lewis had asked to go there a few times that week, out of the blue--plus, it will be a good place to go over the winter when it's too cold to play outside (especially for a newborn): 

 Again, it was so empty!

I couldn't believe it--I thought it'd be busier with the hot weather. There were just a handful of other kids, which was a little disappointing for Lew. It was kind of nice to have the place mostly to ourselves, too, though.

 This quickly turned ugly

He was watching the water come out like a geyser, and he accidentally pointed it towards himself. The water went down the apron, soaking his shirt and shorts and shoes. :) He tried to dry off a little and was 'all done' with the water table after that. 

 Sensory stations

We spent quite a bit of time in this area--it was pretty peaceful, playing with different sand-type materials. Of course Lewis found a tractor and carried it around (see right hand, above). :)

So long, ambulance!

A few days after our visit, they were going to start a major renovation of this space. Demolition, I guess I should say--they're getting rid of KidZone entirely (plane, bus, ambulance, space ship, construction site, water table, etc.) and are expanding the Science in Play exhibit into that space. I like SIP, but I hope that they include some of the things that Lewis is into, too (e.g. vehicles). They are doing it in two parts, and I think it's supposed to be finished by next summer.

To end that week, Grandma and Grandpa T. called and asked if they could have Lewis on that Friday, so that kind of saved the week for me. I was running out of things to do to keep us cool! Today, Kevin has taken Lewis to the zoo, and I think (hope) that the weather is supposed to start to cool down some and be more fall-like. Hooray!

Weekend o' Fun in Cincinnati

Way back when, I bought a Groupon for The Beach in Cincinnati, thinking we could take Lewis for a special getaway before the baby arrives. We went the weekend before Labor Day--to the water park on Sunday and the Museum Center on Monday. We'd thought about the zoo, but that will have to wait for another time (too hot/humid for this mama). 

We left the camera and our phones in the car so that they wouldn't get wet, so we don't have any pictures from The Beach. It was a fun day--hot and humid, good for floating in the lazy river. They don't have much else for kids of Lew's size, so our options were pretty limited--I think the cut-off for water slides is 45 inches, so he needs to grow about 3 more inches. They did have a nice splash park-type area with sprayers and slides galore. He had a great time, riding the slides over and over (and over). It was complete and utter child anarchy, and he had a blast. He jumped right in with a group of other kids, all riding the slides one after another, and he'd come out of the slide just cracking up as they ran into each other at the bottom.

There's a new attraction that Lewis saw and wanted to do--it's called the Soaring Eagle, and it's a 2-person zip line that flies high over the big wave pool. Lewis met the height requirement, so he and Kevin decided to go for it. I wish I had pictures or video to show just how high they were a-flying, but I don't. I'm very glad that it wasn't me up there--Kevin said it was a little spooky at the highest point, but Lewis had a blast. 'I was FLYING, Mama!'

Our hotel had a Graeter's (ice cream) in the parking lot, so we thought we'd go get some ice cream that evening after dinner. Little did we know that it was National Waffle Day, which meant they were giving away free waffle cones, so the line was probably 30 minutes long. We persevered, though, and got to enjoy some of the best ice cream around. :) 

Enough words--onto pictures of Monday. We went back to the Cincinnati Museum Center, which has a children's museum, natural history museum, and history museum, all in one. We'd gone last year, too, but hadn't visited the history museum--it was the best part! Trains, streetcars, riverboats, and others of Lewis' favorite things:

Children's Museum:

 Fill 'er up!

 Scooping rocks at the construction site is serious business

 Doing some light grocery shopping

The scanner actually scanned the bar codes! My former 11-year-old self geeked out for a second--I used to want to be a cashier. :) 

 :)

In with the fish and turtles

 I love my boys.

 The woodlands/tree house climbing structure kept Lewis entertained for a while.

Until the water table caught his eye, of course. :)

Museum of Natural History & Science:

In the (fake) cave

Hanging out with a wolf, learning about glaciation :)

Cincinnati History Museum--I can't believe we didn't go here last time we visited:

 Toot toot!

One happy buddy. 

 Sitting in a streetcar, which might have been his favorite thing

It was hard to get him out of it.

 Rocking away the day in a little log cabin

There was a Stephen Foster impersonator in this area, so we sat and listened to some of his life story and songs (My Old Kentucky Home, Camptown Races, Oh Susanna!, etc.).

  A Cincinnati street, a long time ago

A riverboat, which he also really liked

We had a good time--it was a fun way to end the summer and spend time together before school started and before Baby #2 arrives. 7ish more weeks!

Summer Fun (from Kevin's Phone)

I'm finally remembering to get back into Dropbox to access Kevin's phone pictures...only a month and a half or so behind. :) Here are the highlights from the past 6 weeks of our summer:

 Planes: Fire and Rescue, way back in July.

It was cute--Kevin and Lewis just went to see it a 2nd time today.

 Uncle Dave, the toddler whisperer (L-R is Juniper, Otis, Mathilda, and Lewis)

This was while Emily, Dietgard, and I were setting up for my mom's birthday party.

 His first jump off the board

I was inside and didn't see him jump the first time(s), but I saw him jump later.

 Playing trucks in the garden with Juniper

 Hanging with a baby cow in the barn at Conner Prairie

 Oh, the places you'll go! (at Conner Prairie)

 At the playground in Louisville 

 Mama and Lewis, in a boat

This was while Kevin was assembling the desk.

 Trying out the trampoline at Puzzles Fun Dome

He met the weight requirement, but it was really hard for him to get much momentum behind his jumps. We'd never been here before, and it was so-so...part inflatables/part arcade, kind of expensive. We went because it's one of the only places that has inflatables open on the weekends. 

Bats game 

We went to a game a few weeks ago, which was a pretty big fail. He sat in the seats for just a few minutes--there were playgrounds and the carousel that were much more enticing. It also rained quite a bit, so we spent a lot of time under shelter--I think we left in the 3rd or 4th inning.

Out and About in August

This week has been one of those hot/humid weeks that makes me want to stay inside, but we did get out and about some over the past few weeks. Lewis went to space camp this week (last session of the summer), so I've been trying to get some projects done around the house with him gone. Next week is free, and then he starts back to school 3 days a week the week of Labor Day!

One rainy day a few weeks ago, he asked to go the bouncy house. I decided to go to open gym at All About Kids where he could play on the inflatables and have some time on the gymnastics equipment, too. It was really busy that day, so we didn't stay as long as usual--he sufficiently ran around the entire time we were there, though, and I remember he took a very good nap when we got home. :)

 All by himself on the beam

We've signed him up for gymnastics this fall through his school, which I'm hoping he will enjoy. We had hoped to do yoga again, but the teacher got a full-time job elsewhere. He certainly likes tumbling and jumping and balancing, so I think gymnastics will be right up his alley. Maybe we'll continue yoga at home since he really likes doing it.

We met Carlton and Tonya at the sprayground/playground last week for play and a picnic. The boys ventured down to the creek to see the fishies:

:)

And, finally, one day last week, Lewis and I headed to the zoo. Rather than do the whole loop and all of the hills, we managed to just stay at the top of the loop and still saw and did a-plenty. Of course, our first stop was to ride the train:

Toot-Toot!

 This is the first time he's attempted this particular part of the playground, and he handled himself really well. Careful movements and no falls.

 Checking out the giant ants on their ant hill

 Climbing around the Gorilla Forest 

I want that funnel!

 I can almost reach it! 

 So happy in the VW van :)

He'd probably be happy playing in that van the entire time without seeing any animals.

He was a big fan of the baby goat. :)

 Hello, up there!

 Last stop, the carousel!

It was a very uncrowded day at the zoo, which was very nice. JCPS started back last week, so I'm guessing most places we frequent will slow down now.