Road Trip 2015 - Cincinnati Stay

We drove into Cincinnati on Monday afternoon. The Silvestains were excited to see us and the kids immediately got to catching up and playing. Gavin sat down and put together his Lego Willis Tower. After a while of chilling we went to their "country club" and hung out at the pool for the evening. Gavin still had a bit of a temp and Kyle was complaining of a sore throat.

On Tuesday the original plan was to go to Kings Island amusement park, but with the kids under the weather we opted for something a little mellower. We went to Newport, KY, just across the Ohio river from downtown Cincinnati. We ate at Tom & Chee and had grilled cheese deliciousness including a blueberry blue cheese grilled donut for dessert. Then we spent a few hours at the Newport aquarium.

On the shores of the Ohio River, with downtown Cincinnati in the background.

Fred and Avery checking out some fish.

All the kids watching something behind the glass.

Checking out the tide pool.

Family photo at the aquarium.

Trying to get a group photo of the kids.

Gavin's face is not photo shopped, that's his natural talent.

Jacob, Gavin, Kyle, and Cori. Petting sharks.

The boys of our family weigh as much as an adult sandtiger shark.

Wyatt, Avery, Kyle, Jacob, and Gavin patiently waiting for the penguin show.

Avery, Gavin & Wyatt with the penguin statues.

In a porthole looking into the shark tank.

Another shot of the kids with sharks in the background.

 



After the aquarium we went across the river to downtown Cincinnati to check out the parks on the riverside. Cincinnati had just hosted the All-Star baseball game and had put in some fun parks along the river. The kids had a good time playing. Afterwards we found supper at a local burger place.

Jacob in the flying pig, with Fred helping to flap his wings.

Kyle and Jacob getting in some exercise at the park.

Gavin, Avery, & Wyatt checking out the crazy wobbly merry-go-round.

Jacob climbing a pole at the park.

The kids at one of the All-Star Game photo ops.

Another photo op - on a red mustache.

 

Wednesday was our last full day in Cincinnati, so we deemed the kids well enough to go to Kings Island for the day. It was a bit warm but beautiful day, which made for large crowds at the amusement park. The kids had a great time riding all the rides they could. Wyatt could only ride littler rides, which meant riding the Woodstock Express rollercoaster 9 times. Fred and I took some turns on some of the bigger rides. My brain is getting too old and fragile for all that speed and shaking.

 

Jacob, Gavin, Avery & Kyle at Kings Island.

Moms with most of the kids. Fred and Wyatt were off riding the Woodstock Express.

Kyle & Jacob by one of the many cool coasters.

I'm riding the Beast with the kids. Just one ride on the longest wooden coaster for me.

 

We hung out for a while on Thursday morning, cleaning up, doing laundry, and having lunch before teary goodbyes and heading off towards St. Louis.





Road Trip 2015 - Chicago Stop

As usual, I plan to blog more often than I actually do. I was going to update the blog each night of our road trip, but that did not happen. I guess by then end of each day I just wanted to veg instead of rehashing all the "fun" we had that day.

So, to begin our adventures we spent Sunday in Chicago. Our plan was Navy Pier, Millenium Park, & Willis ("Sears") Tower. We made it to Navy Pier before the lines were very long for the rides (ferris wheel, swings, carousel). Gavin balked at going on the Ferris Wheel and since I didn't want him to throw a fit during the ride, I said I'd stay behind with him. So, we went on the swings while Fred, Jacob and Wyatt went on the Ferris Wheel (I was not crazy about going on it anyway). But, after we rode the swings and the others got done on the Ferris Wheel Gavin decided he wanted to ride it, luckily a couple of the tickets got to be reused for some reason. So Gavin and I took the ride, I was still not crazy about it. After the rides, we wandered down to the end of the pier to check out the view of Lake Michigan and have a quick snack. On the way back up the pier Gavin was complaining about being hot, not feeling well, legs being tired. We were going to walk the Lakeshore Trail over the Millennium Park, but with already tired kids, we found a trolley that took us part of the way there.

Family photo at the Navy Pier

Boys with Chicago downtown in background.

Gavin, Wyatt & Jacob on the free trolley

Fred and I on the trolley

 
We walked a couple blocks on Michigan Avenue before finding a Giordano's to get a late lunch at - deep dish meat & more meat pizza. It takes about an hour to make those deep dish delights and about an hour to get a table (at 2 in the afternoon!), so we hung out on the plaza outside the restaurant until our table was ready. Gavin still wasn't feeling better and seemed to have a bit of a fever and was complaining of a headache. We ate some pizza and then I took Gavin back to the car for a rest and some medicine, while Fred took Jacob and Wyatt to Millennium Park to see the "bean" and other features. Gavin got a nap and was feeling a bit better by the time we picked up Fred and the boys to go to the Willis Tower. We went up to the 103rd floor observation deck and checked out the views and stepped out onto the "skydeck", the 4 feet of glass that overhangs the side of the building so you can see down to the street below. I wasn't brave enough to stay very long on that skydeck, but the boys spent a little time out there.

Giordano's deep dish pizza, Fred and Jacob too busy eating to look

 

The boys at the Willis Tower

 

A failed family selfie - no Wyatt

The boys with the street 103 floors below

Fred and the boys on the skydeck

A Tough Day in Chicago

After Jacob's championship win yesterday and a DQ celebration with his team, we loaded up the car and drove most of the way to Chicago. We stayed in Elgin, IL arriving about 11 pm. The boys swam this morn and then we headed into the city. We wanted to see Navy Pier, Millenium Park, and Willlis ("Sears") Tower. It didn't seem overly ambitious, but with the warm weather and tired kids it turned out to be. We rode the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier. Then wandered down to the end of he pier for a snack and checked out the view. Then we wanted to head to Millenium Park and find some Chicago style pizza.  We took the free trolley a few blocks and then walked the remaining few blocks towards the park. First we had to stop for another poddy break, then we ran into a cupcake food truck ( so we had to try those), then we found a pizza restaurant. The wait was about an hour, but the deep dish style pizza takes about that long to make, so we put our names in for a table and our order in for pizza and relaxe on the plaza outside. When we finally got into our table Gavin was complaining of a headache and didn't feel well. After we ate, I took him back to the car for drugs and a nap as I drove around. Fred and the other boys checked out Millenium Park for about an hour before we picked them up and headed to Willis Tower. The Skydeck (a 4' glass overhang on the 103 floor) was freaky and fun. We made it to our hotel in Merriville Indiana a little before 8 tonight. Fred got us some supper from Wendy's and we've settled in for the night.

If I had it to do again, I might opt for a day at the aquarium.

Off to Cincinatti tomorrow to see good friends, let's hope we have well rested and happy children tomorrow.

Sand Gnats Win It All!

Jacob's baseball team won the in-house season end tournament! They looked like the bad news bears the first game they played, but they really pulled it together and became the "comeback kids". They often started a game with a rough inning where the other team would get a few scores up on them. They never let that deter them, they fought back to win many of those games ending their season with a 13-3 record, playing 2 games today. The first game Jacob was the starting pitcher, but despite many good pitches he walked 4 guys and got pulled. They were down 0-4 after the first inning, but they battled back to win 6-5 with nice at bats from Jacob, he was 4 for 4 hitting 1 double, 2 singles and a walk. If we remember right, he hit in the tying run. Then the second game the Sand Gnats found themselves down 3-6 after the second inning, but again batted themselves back into the game and pulled off a 12-11 win. Jacob again had nice at bats including another double. It was so fun (and stressful) to watch the boys play together and encourage each other. This was Jacob's second championship in his 9/10 league, so that is pretty cool.

Gavin also completed his season with the Rock Hounds. His team kind of fell apart at the end of the season and did not do well in the tournament. They may have finished last or close to it. Luckily, Gavin didn't care too much about the winning or losing. Actually, about half way through the season he was ready to be done. He often had nice hits and was a good baseman when he was paying attention.