As I mentioned earlier, Isaac took two weeks off this month. Given the ages of our children, we decided it would be easier on everyone to stay home and go on mini-excursions in the late morning and late afternoon. I've compiled a list, for those of you who are local and might need reminders (nothing earth-shattering here) of what's available to do with your littles!
Some fun things in town we did:
Some fun things in town we did:
- Toddler Story Time at the North Central branch of the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Public Library. I can't believe I've never taken Levi before; it was wonderful! (And free!) [Okay, I know why: because I've been afraid of managing both boys in a structured environment by myself. But with Isaac along to help for the first time, it was great, and I think once Levi gets used to being there, it'll be fun for all of us! It's going on our regular calendar!]
- Wyoming Farmers' Market: The first time I went to this particular market, there was a guy selling gelato. Sea-salted caramel and dutch chocolate gelato, to be precise. We went back primarily for that reason, but the gelato guy wasn't there. :( But, the Belgian waffle people from the Cheviot Farmers' Market were there, and that was a decent substitute!
- our church pool, followed by special treat at the Goody Shop in Mt. Healthy
- Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale: a little steep at $5/adult (kids under 3 are free), but it felt good to support a city farm. Goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, horses, cows, and a fun kid-centered gardening area.
Resting on a swing at the farm. It was a long walk for little legs!
- The Root Beer Stand in Sharonville for chili dogs and root beer floats. Highly satisfactory!
- Parky's Farm at Winton Woods. Three months ago Levi was delighted (in his own serious way) to ride a pony; this week, he wouldn't have anything to do with it. But it's free (other than the parking pass, and the pony ride is $2.50) and we had fun on the playground!
Riding the pony in May.
- Cincinnati Zoo: an expensive excursion, because we haven't yet decided to buy a zoo pass. [Incidentally, we won a free year-long membership to the zoo but haven't cashed it in yet, deciding instead to wait a few more months so that we'll have all of next summer (when the boys are older and can last longer at the zoo!).]
Feeding the goats in the children's zoo.
- Parky's Ark at Winton Woods. Levi, who isn't terribly fond of the pool yet, absolutely adores stepping on the water gushing up from the ground in all the little fountains. He gets noticeably braver each time we go, reacting less and less panicky to getting splashed in the face!
- Newport Aquarium. Actually, Isaac took Levi, while I took Owen to meet a friend at the Jeffersonville outlet mall. I personally hate looking at fish. They're ugly and creepy. But Levi loved it, and was even brave enough to pet a shark! At $33 for one adult and one child, we won't be going often, but it's was a fun splurge for them.
In an effort to give the mommy as much vacation as possible (easier said than done), we planned meals pretty carefully, both from the freezer and eating out. Over the course of two weeks, we ate:
- at Olive Garden, where we had a gift card leftover from at least one, probably two Christmases ago
- at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, where we go every month on the 22nd
- at Cracker Barrel, where my mother-in-law's extended family meets every Friday morning
- at Noodles & Company, which happened to be convenient after church
- at Tom + Chee, a gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup joint downtown, because we had a Groupon
- at the zoo: a picnic lunch
- at home, for breakfast: homemade cinnamon rolls and baked oatmeal and peanut butter-banana muffins (the added peanut butter was my idea) and an egg-sausage-hashbrown-green chili casserole . . . etc. :)
- at the Old Spaghetti Factory, where Levi loves the broccoli and ice cream is included with your meal
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