Memorial Day Weekend 2013 in Cincinnati

We spent Memorial Day weekend this year in Cincinnati with Justin's parents. We hadn't visited since they moved there last year so it was a visit long overdue.  We left Friday at about 4pm and began our five hour trek.

 

Once we got there, I assumed the boys would want to head to bed but boy was I wrong.  They wanted a snack, then they wanted a tour of the neighborhood, then they wanted to see the pool, then they wanted to play pool in the community center.  It took a while to get them settled after that and in bed.

 

On Saturday, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo.  Justin and I had taken Tanner and JJ back when we worked at GJR, but that's been over ten years ago.  We had a blast.  It was a perfect day too.  Cool enough that sweatshirts were needed but I preferred that over an extremely hot day.

 

We spent about four hours at the zoo and Chuck was shocked.  He assumed it would be an in and out operation!  Little did he know that my boys like to see every single exhibit and hang out at each exhibit for a while too.  We told him that four hours is a pretty successful outing at the zoo.  It's usually a whole day even when we go.  We did cut around some exhibits (shh! Don't tell the kids) because we had other things we wanted to do that day as well.

 

It was feeding time at the giraffe exhibit. The boys really weren't interested in feeding them, but they were sure excited to see how close they came.

Hayden wanted this one to come over so he could touch it.

 

This one thought Lucas looked like lunch :)

Who needs a petting zoo?  We have a goat salon!
There was a box of hairbrushes for the kids to use on the goats.

I think Hayden was waving to Justin at this point.

Lucas loves the carousel!

Chuck rode beside JJ.  I think JJ was in shock that his grandpa
was riding it since Justin never has.

And then there's the orangutan...my favorite exhibit of all!

And then we came to this aviary.  You walk into the obviously caged in area and there were birds of every shape, size, and color.  It was amazing.  They'd come down and sit on your head, your arms, or even try to get a nibble of your ears.  Lucas spent the entire time with at least one bird on him at all times - big and little birds.  I couldn't figure out if it was because he had a brown sweatshirt on and they thought he was a tree or what, but he loved it!  He giggled and squirmed and definitely made his brothers jealous.

This was the first bird that landed on him so he was a little unsure.
But he definitely got comfortable shortly after that and became the bird boy!

Tanner finally got a bird to land on him, but only after bribing it with a cup of nectar :)

Did you think I'd pass up this picture opportunity?
Our little "turtle" loved that there was a turtle statue just for him.

They definitely didn't all fit, but it still turned out as a great picture.

Tired after our zoo adventure, but loving the time spent together.

Later on that day, we went to an indoor activity center that Tanner had raved about from his last visit to stay with his grandparents.  They had an arcade, a putt-putt course, bowling, laser tag, and go-carts.  The boys wanted to do everything possible, so with the exception of bowling, they did.

 

The go-carts were a blast and had us laughing the whole time. Tanner and JJ could drive themselves, Justin drove Lucas, and I drove Hayden.  Then they played laser tag and Lucas was so excited that he was big enough. We didn't tell him that technically he had to be seven to play but they didn't ask so we didn't tell. He would have been crushed if they would have told him no. It was a huge, multi-level laser tag arena and a birthday party was going on as well, so there were four teams in the arena at once - a lot of kids! There was an observation deck that we could watch from.

 

When we were done there, it was back to the house and the pool. My boys definitely love water so there was much laughter and fun going on in the pool.  By bedtime, they were completely worn out and it didn't take us much prodding to get them to bed.

 

It was a great weekend. It's sad that the drive is five hours as it limits our ability to get there to visit since Justin works on Saturdays. The boys are hoping their grandpa retires soon so that he can come back to PA. Although Hayden isn't sure because he really likes the pool in their new neighborhood  :)