Days of Summer

Summer happenings in Cincinnati continued after the family reunions extravaganza.

Caitlin and Andrew came out for a visit and for a bike ride on the Loveland Bike trail.

There was LOTS of time at Nana's pool, which included

aqua jogging

and bull riding! We even got Nana (and her new knee) on the bull. It was much harder, but we also got Papa on the bull for a short time.

  

We made good use of the Kings Island passes The younger kids got some driving practice time. The teenagers didn't, though maybe they should have given they will get their learners permits in a few months!

We took our first rides on Orion, Kings Island's first "gigacoaster" - with a hill of 305 feet tall! Jared and Dani went for the first time at different times, but the kids who took Dani reported that she was hilarious to ride with because she kept yelling out when she would get "air time." That may be her one an only ride on Orion!

I love this picture! Jacob is such a loving, tender older brother. He genuinely loves his little brothers and tries to find ways to spend time with them. They, meanwhile, adore him and look up to him. He is a good example to them and sets a wonderful tone for the kids.

Jared returned back to the office in mid-June after 16 months working from home. Only the vice president and president levels are returning to the office, so Jared is still working via Teams calls quite often (which feels a little silly), but he is enjoying running downtown again!

 

The views are AWESOME from the top of Mt. Adams.

Another benefit of working downtown - Jared got to go to a Reds day game in the Diamond Club with Tim and some co-workers.

Jared decided his brisket was so good, he should make it again when Caitlin and Andrew came and visited. Also, Caitlin and Andrew made fried chicken at Nana's house - it was delicious, though the cleanup and deep fried smell were a bit of a funny ordeal.

We took a few family bike rides, sometimes on the Loveland Bike Trail and sometimes to get ice cream at Walker Bros.

We had a paddling date night with the Spencers at Winton Lake. We paddled for a long time, and Jared and Nate jumped in for a little swim, until the lake's boat captain called out to them "AHOY" and informed them swimming is not allowed.

We enjoyed a few thunder storms - including one cloud that had lots of lightning at dusk that was really cool to watch.

We also had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

It has been an awesome summer!