After dinner tonight we headed out to Sara Arnovitz nature preserve for a little hike. Despite playing at The Greene earlier today, both kids were pretty wound up and this seemed like a good way to get them tired enough for bed. It was a really nice evening to get out and do something and a good way to end the day.

We went to The Greene today and ate lunch at Noodles, played in the fountains, and then had some ice cream at Cold Stone. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. :)

Edward and the kids went out to the Siebenthaler Fen today. I didn't get to go, but from looking at the pictures I can deduce that Kenton grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics, Emery picked her nose, they both ran around like wild monkeys, and then they made some funny faces for the camera. Looks like I missed a good time. :)

We went to Cincinnati today to check out the Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit and also went to the Children's Museum. Kenton was a little frightened by the dinosaurs at first, especially the noise, but after a talk with a very nice museum employee he relaxed a little and enjoyed it. He did keep his fingers in his ears most of the time we were there, though. :)

After a lunch break, we decided to go to the childrens museum, too. We only got through about half the museum before the kids ran out of energy and we headed out. Emy fell asleep after we'd been in the car about two minutes. We're all looking forward to a return trip to the museum center soon.

On the way home we stopped for dinner and had chocolate cake for dessert. That might have been Emy's favorite part of the day!

Wednesday nights are popcorn night at our house. We get out the hot air popper and the yellow bowl after the kids take their baths. They get to sit up on the counter while the corn pops and to eat it. Fun stuff! :)

We had another great day--visited Wegerzyn Gardens, which is part of Dayton's park system. We went there a couple of times last year, but the kids enjoyed it even more this year. I think they're just getting old enough to really enjoy all the fun things there. They have a children's garden, which is where we spent all of our time today. There are also formal gardens and some paths through a wooded area. Maybe next time we'll make it to those. :) I took about 50 pictures, and it was hard to choose which ones to share. Almost all of them turned out great. The gardens are absolutely beautiful this time of year.

We headed out early this morning and had breakfast at the 2nd Street Market in Dayton. The kids split a s'mores crepe, which had marshmallows, nutella, and bananas in it, and Edward and I shared a spinach one. They were both quite good. After doing a little shopping at the market, we went to a nearby park to check out the playground and walk on the trails. Emy made sure to stay well-hydrated, even though it's only 67 degrees here today. :-)

And today is Nana's birthday! We love you, Nana. Hope you had a great day!

Happy birthday, Papaw! We love you!

We went to Riverscape Park in downtown Dayton yesterday and played in the fountains. Both the kids were a little timid at first, but Kenton quickly warmed up and started playing in the water. He never ran through the middle of the fountain, but he liked staying around the edges and reaching into the water. It took Emy a little longer to decide to get wet at all, but once she did there was no stopping her. She ran, splashed, jumped, and had a fabulous time. They were both worn out when we left--happy, exhausted children are the sign of a good day at our house!

We realized this weekend that we are now "those people." The ones we grew up talking about. The ones who leave Ohio every holiday weekend to head back home to Kentucky. As long as we don't buy a boat and haul it down to Lake Cumberland all summer, I think I'm okay with it. :-)

We left here about 10 on Friday and stopped in Newport to have lunch and walk around a little down by the river. Every time we drive through Cincinnati, Kenton talks about wanting to get out and see the river and watch the boats, so we finally did it. The weather was beautiful and we really had a nice stop. The kids loved getting to walk across the pedestrian bridge. The only un-lovely part was that we got a nail in our tire and had to spent about 2 hrs getting it fixed. The Friday before a holiday weekend is not a good time to try to get work done on your car in a hurry!