several weeks ago, we told our friends (the vails) we really wanted to go to
ikea and get some stuff.
they didn't even know what ikea was...
i know, weird. don't worry, we educated them in the ways of ikea.
so the vails (i'm sure it was jenny) asked us if we wanted to go to
cincinnati
to go to ikea and stay there for the weekend.
we said yes and we went on our way a couple weeks later.
after changing the date many times. sorry tim!
i forgot our camera but fortunately we had the family photograhers with us!
the vails took all sorts of pictures for us!
thanks again!
we had a whole weekend of awesomeness planned.
we left on friday and got their a little late.
the vails were already there and swimming so we got our suits on fast and ran down there.
it was the COOLEST pool ever!!
it had a kid area.
one side of the pool had a wall (you can see it in the pictures)
and then it was shallow on the other side of the wall!
it was the perfect size for the little boys!
if we ever build a pool,
it will be just like this pool!
saturday we went to the kentucky side of the city and went to the aquarium.
it was really cool.
we dressed the kids up got them in for $5 each!!
we got to see underwater pirates carving pumpkins and having sword fights.
the fish and other sea creatures were awesome.
the king crab in the tanks were so big and GROSS!
we got to touch a star fish, sea urchin and some type of crab.
all 3 kids were super excited and touched all of them, even kale!
they also had otters you could watch swim around. too cute.
since we went on a weekend the aquarium was celebrating halloween,
the aquarium had little pumpkins to decorate
(it was little pumpkins with some sharpies)
just perfect for the kids.
we played at the indoor playground and saw tons of different frogs and toads.
oh, there was a shark tank "ride" you went in and it was like you
were in a shark tank in the water with sharks coming at you.
it was crazy. the "tank" even shook.
there was a huge wall with a something like a screen saver playing.
those are the photos of all the kids looking at the wall.
kale and stevie would have stayed and played there all day.
the highlight was petting the sandsharks.
they had a huge tank and you could pet any of the sharks!
COOL!
i think we did that for an hour!
brett and i thought it was pretty cool too.
yikes! this was the creepest shark. we would just creep up behind you.
he definitely wanted to eat us.
the men folk were very impressed with the size of the sharks. BIG!
since the aquarium is right downtown on the river, when we got out
there was lots going on at the mall.
there were 2 guys with drums and a sax and all sorts of homemade
musical instruments.
the kids were in heaven.
we stayed and played for at least 30mins.
we sang some songs and had tons of fun.
brett and i were thinking about doing that downtown in indy on weekends
because he was making tons of money!
we had to go down to the river and throw rocks in!
it's a must whenever water is near the hansens!
kale was in heaven and the girls were pretty happy too!
once we got back up to the mall the kids wanted to play with the instruments just a bit longer!
we tipped the guy 5 bucks, so we thought we deserved it!
on our way back to the hotel, we saw the town we were staying in was
having a halloween festival! what great timing.
so being the amazing parents we are
we went!
it was so awesome.
there was FREE face painting.
olivia cried at the aquarium because she wanted her face painted...
i didn't want to pay $10 a face, so i said no.
i don't know who was happier, me or olivia!
there were games, a hay ride, face painting, a balloon guy that could make anything
hot dogs, doughnuts, a bounce house and i don't even know what else!
lets just say, IT WAS AWESOME.
but even more awesome...
IT WAS FREE!
all of it.
i love cincinnati!
apparently our family photograhper was having a break,
and didn't take any photos of us.
after the halloween festival
we went for pizza.
it was a famous cincinnati pizza place and it was pretty good.
(so great, i forget the name)
eventhough they didn't have cheese sauce! (trip joke)
after eating we threw all caution to the wind
and went swimming again!
olivia was hilarious.
she would get on the wall (between the kid side and the deep side)
and jump off then swim back. then jump off and swim back.
she was very brave and so proud of herself.
we were proud of her too!
sunday, we went to ikea!
it was fabulous.
it was funny to see tim and jenny because they had never been before.
they had to stop and look and be AMAZED at everything.
we were old pros and went to the stuff we needed.
its one of the girls favorite places to go because of the childcare the provide for free.
lots of stuff was bought and a good lunch was had.
then we went home.
it was a wonderful little vaca!
it was SO nice to get home in 2 hours,
not the 3 day marthon traveling we have done lately!
i think we will tour around this historic area more since we had
such a great time in cincinnati!
