Category Archives: kids

My Heart, our Stomachs… Ohio

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While I’m sitting in this car, I’m going to backtrack a bit to our stay in Ohio. We stayed just a little over 3 weeks. Mostly to visit family, spend time with dear friends and of course indulge in our favorite gastric treats. Since all of our kids were born in Cincinnati, it only seems fitting that they’ve been feasting on nearly all their favorite establishments. Graeters, Skyline Chili, Buffalo Wings and Rings and the list goes on!
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We came in on a rainy day. Actually, we went through a blinding rainstorm. It was a white knuckle trip for about 150 miles. I was a mess because we discovered our Arizona native trailer has never really seen rain. Yeah, she’s got a few leaks that we would have never known about. I guess we do now 😉 and I suppose that’s our next project for Silvia to replace some of the failing seals around the vents and windows.

Ahh… lets see, what else? Oh! We drove up to the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio and took a tour. What a cool piece of history! Definitely worth a day trip to see it. The kids even got a shot with the one and only “Gold” airstream.
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I tell you, three weeks seemed like a long stay when planning but it went by so fast. We spent time with family in Cleveland, enjoyed the Clermont County Fair and Fireman’s Parade and had a great time at a good old Catholic Summer Festival.
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Yeah… Life is Good! So grateful to be living it!

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Road Trip planning requires Coffee

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After almost a year of short trips close to home, we’re going to do it! We’re hitching Silvia up and taking a trip back to the Midwest to see family and explore the country. We’ll leave at the end of June and return just before school starts at the end of August. Last time we did this trip was on our move out West. Having not explored much of the US, the changing terrain was amazing. I can’t wait to do it again now that we’ll have time to actually stop and explore. As a type A personality, I am fighting the urge to over plan. We have a few definite must stops: Kansas City, MO for our eldest daughter’s gymnastic competition, Cincinnati/ Cleveland to visit family, the Airstream Jackson Center, Chicago, Duluth, MN to see more family and Yellowstone. As far as all the places in between, I’m keep a list so that we have them handy for impromptu stopovers.

Looking forward to the trip with nervous anticipation 🙂 4 kids, hubs and I plus 3 little ‘keets along for the ride! Peanut our BCC (Black Capped Conure) won’t make this trip this time, she already saw the countryside on the first ride out. Instead she’ll have a wonderful resort stay at her favorite “birdie hotel”. With about 5000 miles of open road I’m sure we’ll engage in some entertaining adventures, interesting food finds and learn quite a bit along the way! Cheers to Summer!

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Picture Joy with Pajamas & Pancakes

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For kids, birthdays are filled with fantastic JOY and oodles of enthusiastic anticipation. Days and days before the momentous occasion harks the question “Is today my birthday?” Well, FINALLY! The day is here! Our youngest daughter turned 6. It was a day of pajamas and pancakes; cereal and donuts; yogurt parfaits and sugar-ladened cupcakes. 20 or so little kids, dressed in their pjs, playing on our outdoor playset and jumping in the bouncy house.

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Never mind the late nights sculpting pancake shaped cupcake toppers, or the frantic frenzy of frying up 8 pounds of bacon the morning of the party. Or, the panicked feeling that the bouncy house may not arrive in time for the party. What would we do with all these kids?!  I always think I have these things all planned out… then the night before, I begin to freak out. But just like past festive gatherings… it all turns out just fine. I mean, in the words from my husband, “Come on, these are 6 year olds. They just want to run around, laugh and scream”. We’ve got that covered!

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Much to my amazement, we had representation from several food groups:  carbs – pancakes, cereal and donuts; dairy – milk, yogurt; fruit – orange juice, berry fruit salad;  protein – LOTS of bacon (which disappeared VERY quickly) and of course for the grown ups… strong pots of coffee. Not sure that counts as a food group… but it’s a must in my book.  Everyone was happy, caffeinated and sufficiently full. We were left with many smiling, tired children. Success!

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Note: I simply could not take credit for this wonderful theme. It was easy, fun and who doesn’t want to spend their day in pajamas? You can check out the many great ideas here.