This year's stay-cation was a bit less action-packed than previous years, for a number of reasons. Toby's at the age where several naps a day are pretty important (but he's not so good at sleeping other places anymore), it was unbelievably hot for most of the two weeks, and smack-dab in the middle of it all, our air conditioner broke, causing us to re-locate to my in-laws' for four nights (and causing Isaac to have to be at home for repair guys on two separate days). We managed to fit in a few fun activities, some new and some repeats.
My MIL graciously agreed to keep the three big boys for a whole afternoon while Isaac and I (and Toby, of course) drove to Richmond, Indiana to complete the Indiana Chocolate Trail. It's a really fun idea, for a daytime date: stop by the Richmond Welcome Center to pick up your Chocolate Passport, then drive all around town picking up free samples from all sorts of places, from ice cream to candy to brownies to chocolate-scented candles and more. However -- and this is a really huge however -- it is extremely important to note that you should NOT attempt the chocolate trail on a Monday. Ah, small town mid-western America, where small businesses all close on Mondays. Instead of the 12-14 options available, we ended up with a whopping TWO chocolate treats. Alas, we shall have to attempt it again some day!
Toby checking out the cars on the main street in Richmond. No worries, we were in a parking lot.
Isaac with his double-fudge brownie from a local coffee shop.
Abbott's Candy, in the neighboring town, where we received our only other chocolate, a small caramel. This building is absurdly pink.
While at my in-laws', we took advantage of the sprinkler (we don't have one)!
Toby and I chilling on the porch swing while the boys play.
Yes, I cut my own head out of the picture, but it's worth it for those big blue eyes!
Wet, happy boys.
So fun to have Daddy to play with.
We repeated last year's walk across the Purple People Bridge, only this year went all the way to the playground at Sawyer Point. It's really nice, has swings (most of the playgrounds close to us don't), and is completely in the shade. Major bonus on this exceedingly hot day.
Littlest man LOVES the swing.
Big fans of the tire swing, both here and at our church playground.
Did I mention it was really hot? Poor sweaty two-year-old!
After playing for a while, we walked back across the bridge into Newport, KY, for lunch at Tom+Chee. Unfortunately, since last year, they moved "kids eat free" from lunch time to dinner time, and I hadn't double-checked my info. We ate anyway -- who can resist a grilled cheese donut? -- but I was disappointed to miss out on a deal. But, that's why we budget for vacations, I suppose!
Wednesday nights are "kids eat free" plus pizza dough to play with at Pizza Tower, which we also did last year. I'm very happy to report that my children were much better behaved this year than last year. Also, I'd advise against the so-called Chicago-style pizza. Just FYI.
He's such a little mouse.
I'm not sure what this is, but he's very happy about it.
After dinner, we explored the Mt. Healthy community playground for the first time, and then stopped by the Mt. Healthy Dairy Bar. Have to give our immediate community some support!
This is actually what normal life looks like -- me in sweats, reading to the boys -- but Isaac isn't usually home to take pictures of it. :)
Over the two weeks, we also went to the zoo, had free lunch at IKEA, killed some time on a hot morning at the Cincinnati Mall play area, and Isaac took the big boys to a nearby splash park and to library story time. As relaxing as life with three busy boys and one teething baby can be!
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