The Boonshoft

This is the last Ohio travel blog, I promise. At least for this year. We took the boys to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery another favorite haunt. Of course there were some antics, some things that were climbed on that should not be, a couple of escape attempts by a certain three-year-old, a million bathroom trips and some broken rules about the height requirements for the climbing net because all of our boys think they are Spiderman. There was also some fun. These are my favorite pictures from the day.

Nature Reserve

We took our boys on a short hike that led to a natural playscape at a nature reserve near my parents' house. The playscape was actually right next to the parking lot but we really wanted to the boys to do the hike first so we told them we had to follow this trail to get to the play area. Unfortunately, our boys are smart and Elijah picked up a map.
Elijah: "Hey Mom! I found a shortcut! We could just turn around and.."
Me: "Shhhh!"
Elijah: "What? It would be a lot faster, see? We just go the opposite direction right past the parking lot.."
Me: "Shhhhh!! We are trying to get your brothers to do this walk first. Dont. Tell. Anyone."
Elijah: "Fine."
Of course when we got to the playscape one of the first things David John did was explore the perimiter. When he discovered that the parking lot was close by he rolled his eyes and said, "We did all that walking for nothing!"

Uncle Sam Can Moo, Can You?

Actually Uncle Sam is ridiculously good at sound effects and weird voices- but that's beside the point. The point is, we all went to Young's Jersey Dairy for a good time and good ice cream. It's kinda a tradition. If you visit my parents you are going to visit Young's.
We were extra generous with our boys this year and let them do the activities that COST MONEY. I know, I know, we are spoiling them. In years past my kindly parents have paid for them to go mini-golfing. This was in turns cute and fun and completely exasperating. Luckily, Young's has expanded its kiddie offerings to include a little play area with slides, a barrel train ride, pedal carts and the beloved carpet slide.
Of course we did the free things too. We played on the tractors and giant tires. I was super brave this year and jumped from one giant tire to the next one which was probably only three feet away but it felt more like ten. We also petted the animals and fed them little pellets. Our boys were pretty darn good I have to say and the ice cream was, as always, delicious. The End.

What? You wanted pictures? Fine.

AF Museum

Grandpa Aday and Uncle Sam share a love of the air force museum so we went for a visit with Benjamin, Gabriel and Tobias in tow. Unfortunately, we got separated (read I got lost after Tobias wanted to get a drink at the water fountain) so I pretty much only have pictures of Tobias. The air force museum is huge and fascinating and exhausting for little people. I learn something new every time I go. Here are a few illustrative pictures from our visit.

Uncle Sam Wants You

to come to Ohio. We came to Ohio to have fun, visit family and to see Uncle Sam off on his mission. I have pictures from several things we did while we were there but there's a handful of pictures that just don't quite fit into a nice narrative. So, here are some somewhat random pictures from our trip.

Travel with the Ricks Team

If you've ever listened to the radio show Travel with Rick Steves you'll come away with the idyllic picture of travel in your head. I mean, sure, he's honest about the harrowing experiencing of riding buses through the andes mountains or the dangers of traveling in the middle east but it still sounds exotic and appealing and adventurous. Traveling with our crew is certainly adventurous but maybe a little less exotic and appealing.