Cincinnati Trip 2013

Fountain Square, Cincinnati

 

David has been interested in seeing downtown Cincinnati for awhile now.  We've visited Cincy before, but never the historic downtown area.

 

We had an overnight stay in a suburb from a Bourbon Trail package we bid on at a fundraiser, so we decided to use it and make a quick trip over to Cincinnati last weekend.

 

On our way to lunch at a Turkish restaurant (which was sooooo good!), we saw a lot of stores and some cool architecture.

 

 

Then we headed to the Museum Center at the old Union Station.  An art deco style building with the natural history, children's, and Cincinnati history museums inside.

 

old photo I took on a sunny day

 

 Inside the museum center

 

Outside the museum center looking over downtown Cincy

We had a terrible Mexican dinner near our hotel that night, but we still had fun.



We enjoyed our hotel stay, relaxing and sleeping in, then we headed to Jungle Jim's International Market on the way out of town.  Any trip to Cincinnati wouldn't be complete without a stop at Jungle Jim's.  The boys were excited to show David on his first trip there.

 

 

Brennan always talks about this creepy Campbell's Soup animatronic display when he talks about Jungle Jim's.  I had to get the photo.

The beer (and wine) selections are phenomenal.  I have friends who have been known to spend an hour in the wine section alone.  Unposed photo of David perusing.

 

I found this photo on my iPad of Brennan enjoying one of the many, many treats he got while we were there - a Lychee soda back at home.

 

 

Here are the boys the first time we took them to Cincinnati in October 2006 when they were 6 and 4.

So cute!

 

I love the blue (the "Purple People Bridge") and yellow (the "Big Mac Bridge") bridges in the background.

 

P.S.  Thomas is saluting because they're standing at a flagpole.

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Landfill

 

A Landfill

 

Brennan and I spent part of our first weekday of summer break running errands.  We had a bunch of stuff to go to the "dump" - including some stray pieces of gutter cover the gutter guys left, the keyboard drawers for the boys' desks (I think in the future desks won't be made with keyboard drawers!), and other odds and ends that we wanted to get rid of, but not in our regular garbage.

 

So, off to the dump.  Both boys have already had a FULL tour of the Landfill through field trips at school.  Our Recycling Center also does a great tour, including a nature path on their site with really cool sculptures.  Here's my favorite.

 

 

 

But, on to the Landfill.

There are several areas so we had to know what we had.

We decided to leave our old mailbox at the Freecycle area.  I had to pull Brennan away because there was some furniture and toys that he wanted to peruse - but we weren't shopping.

 

In the other parts of the landfill area, kids under 16 aren't supposed to be out of the vehicle the signs told us, but Brennan helped me put everything in the right places quickly.

 

From the Book:

#2 - A Landfill

What weighs as much as a rhinoceros and never disappears?  Give up?  It's the amount of garbage you personally generate every year:  4 pounds every day.  Combine that with garbage created by everyone else in the country, and you've got 210 million tons of trash - enough to cover the entire state of Rhode Island, 6 feet deep.  So where does it all go?  Most of it ends up in a landfill, and you should make a point to visit it.  It may not be the prettiest (or most fragrant place) you'll see in your travels, but when you see it, it will really hit you:  Hey!  I need to recycle!



Summer Fun 1

Wow, have we only been out of school a little more than a week?

We've packed a lot in - which is always the case in June.

July is always less hectic.

 

Here are a few of the latest photos!

Sorry if some are less than clear - lots of iPhone photos.

 

 

Summer hair cuts with Miss Kristen

 

 

 

Pick up on last day of school.  Brennan was PSYCHED!  Now a 6th grader!

 

 

And Thomas, too.  He texted me after school to ask if he could walk to the sno cone place with his friends.  And could I pick him up at the Subway afterward.  Oh, and could I swing by and drop off money for him.  And for Steven who didn't have any.  And they were leaving rightthen so could I do it quickly.  And thank you.  I love you.

 

Our 8th grader

 

That night, David and I went out on a date.  A lovely Italian dinner downtown and then he walked me through their newest renovated building, which was formerly a bank.  It's a National Historic Landmark so they put a lot of care into the renovation.

 

I love that they kept the vault.  So cool!

 

 

And these Eero Saarinen stairs are really neat.

 

 

 

The men enjoyed playing basketball together one night

Awesome air!

 

 

And then Sunday Thomas and the junior high youth headed out for their mission trip.

 

Brennan saying goodbye to Thomas.



As youth elder I got regular texts and photos from the chaperones so I could pass along how the kids (who aren't allowed to take any electronic devices or phones) were doing.  They built a prayer labyrinth at the Presbyterian camp.  They moved 9 tons of gravel, 5 tons of rocks, and 4 truck loads of mulch.  They did a great job!

 

But, back to me and my "only child" the first week of break.

 

Band Camp started - Brennan was soooo excited to finally get his French horn.

He loves the 3 week camp - just an hour a day, 2 for Thomas.  Their concert is next week.

 

Brennan's classmate Anna is moving to South Korea for 3 years.  She and her sister had a huge party for their classes and friends.  Here is the parting gift.  So cute!

We planted them out back.

 

We went for a "fancy lunch" together...

Then had gelato at a store where I had a quick meeting about a future wine club party

 

 

Brennan had been DYING to go play Putt-Putt, so we did.  And this is all before 2:00 on the first day of Summer Break.  Phew.

 

Mid-week the youth group mission trip was taking a break to go to Holiday World. 

 

On the spur of the moment I decided to take Brennan and join them, and we brought Cora along, whose sister was also on the trip.

 

These studious 6th graders read the entire trip...

 

I chaperoned these handsome boys, which really meant I waited for them at the exit for each of the roller coasters.  I did go on plenty of water rides, but I wasn't about to do the coasters.

Later in the week Brennan and I took Dad to lunch.  Brennan chose a spot near Dad's office.

 

Swimming, of course...

I got to go out with friends one night and we had such a great time catching up, sitting outside at a great spot downtown.

Me going to pick up my boy from a week away.  I was really excited.

Every time he leaves he comes back taller, more mature, and with a much deeper voice. 

I have handed the gas pumping reigns over to him.

 

Have I mentioned how much I love summer??!!

 



The House - 2013 Updates

We had an exciting spring with lots of house changes going on.  Luckily, I didn't have to do a whole lot of anything but write checks, but I was still exhausted.  All that in-the-middle-of-projects wears me out.  We're at a stopping point for now so I wanted to share!

 

Earlier this year we considered moving into town, into a good neighborhood near Brennan's school, into a house that is newer and needs absolutely no work.  After much discussion, we decided to stay where we are and fix'er up.  Our house is near 30 years old, and it has needed some attention.  We're thrilled with our decision and we're very happy with the latest results.

 

I haven't spent a lot of time on photos of the updates, but wanted to show the ones I've taken recently.

 

Before and after - renovated chimney, new roof, new paint, stained decks, new gutters, windows cleaned

 

 

 

We are very happy with the paint colors and work that the painters did.  We get so many compliments on it.  We're patting ourselves on the back :)

 

The doors look black but they're actually a deep purple/black - the darkest in the strip of colors for the house paint we chose.  I love, love, love that the doors aren't kelly green anymore.

 

I think I need a taller planter to accompany these smaller ones.

Not sure about this wreath now, but it's here for now.

 

 

I love my pots - the blue colors work I think.

 

 

I can't keep the roses from growing over my head.  Once these blooms die off I'm going to cut them waaay back, again.

 

 

 

After our friend Laurie told us their painter painted their mailbox post as well, we thought it was a great idea.  David got a new box and numbers and I painted the post.

 

Some views from the back when Brennan and I were out relaxing.  I'm really so pleased with it! 

 

Ignore the pool toys scattered

 Love that door color!

 And here is the before 

David talked about taking the aging playground down, but I'm not ready.  Brennan swung out here all last summer - surely they haven't completely outgrown it!  But, it does need some TLC and I decided to take it on.

So, the mulch arrived, and then I realized I had an afternoon of work ahead of me

So I scraped old paint, cleaned, swept, weeded, and then mulched and painted for hours.

David got home and helped me finish up.  I still have touch ups to do, but it's almost done.

Before and after, iPhone photos from the master deck.  The amount of work is not evident in these photos at all :)

 

So!  That's it for now.

 

We're having a few walls inside painted later this summer, and we have some screens on the screened in porch to fix, but otherwise, I'm just enjoying my "new" house!

 

 

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