Cincinnati Outings

We spent a lot of the time in Cincinnati in the pool, but when we weren't in the pool, we were definitely out doing other fun things!

Both the boys and girls had a special activity of their own choosing. The boys went golfing at Sharon Woods (it was beautiful - the golfing wasn't pretty!) and the girls went out for pedicures.

 

We went on a nature hike at Sharon Woods and ended up walking around a river bottom. There were  a number of small waterfalls (water trickles, more like). Claire, especially, took her time, looking at every little plant and rock feature along the trail.

The little cousins were good little hikers!

Torin especially liked walking around the water and was feeling like he could do it himself a little.

After the hike, we spent some time at the Sharon Woods play structure. It was a busy day there, but we were able to find a table and have some lunch and let our kids run all over.

We had a bit of a mixed bag of weather while we were there, including a few days of hard rain. One of those days we decided to visit a Lego exhibit at Kenwood Town Centre. There were a number of large recreations of significant buildings in US history. We went on a scavenger hunt to find all of them.

Of course we had to get a trip to Kings Island in! The roller coaster crowd had some bad luck at the beginning (waiting in line for rides that shut down right as they got to the front of the line), but ended up riding a bunch of rides before meeting back up with the rest of the group.

who reported nearly no lines and were basically walking onto all their rides! The kids got to drive cars, fly helicopters and planes, and, their favorites, 

riding around in the ladybugs!

Even Torin got to ride a few rides, the little trains and the helicopters

and he LOVED both of them!!!

One of our favorite things in going back to Cincinnati is that we get to see a few close friends. This time, we also got to meet the newest additions to their families.

Even though we left the day before the All Star Game (we actually watched Todd Frazier's stunning victory in the home run derby while we were on the airplane!), we got to participate in some of the festivities. Jacob, Papa, and Jared went down to the All Star Game Fanfest and did a number of the exhibits.

The exhibits included batting cages, bases to run and simulate stealing a base, a Hall of Fame exhibit that Jacob volunteered to help with the presentation, and an Under Armor "scout combine" like exhibit that had Jacob posing for a picture, running, pushing a sled, doing the tires, and getting interviewed like a pro. It was pretty cool. Also, Papa won the seniors division for the speed pitch - way to go Papa!!!

Jacob met the Mariner Moose, which he knew would make some of his friends back in Portland jealous.

The whole family gets to enjoy Torin's first steps

Torin decided to put on a little show in the time we were in Cincinnati. He had considered taking a step forward, but as the week progressed, he started taking two and then three steps.  Pretty soon, he started walking further distances, and by the end of our time in Cincinnati, he was walking all over the place. He especially liked walking all over the pool deck!

Hayley's baby shower

We celebrated our upcoming newest member of the family with Hayley and Taylor with a baby shower. We played the "guess the size of the belly" game. Of course, I didn't get a good picture of the mother to be!

The other game involved drinking apple juice from a bottle. I don't think anyone anticipated how hard of a process it would be!

Taylor enlisted the help of a little pro to help his team to victory

We can't wait to meet the little guy!

Reds Game

After a couple days hanging out in the swimming pool, we got to go to a Reds game. Papa got us in the mood for baseball by donning his Mr. Redlegs hat and mustache (after we all thought he had gone to bed). It was hilarious! The Scripps building shared the look.

 

We went down to the game a few hours prior to the first pitch so that we could explore the brand new riverfront park, Smale Park.  Our first stop was the carousel.

Each of the animals on the carousel were donated by local businesses or people and have some special meaning. Taylor and Andrew found perhaps the smallest animals to ride - a queen bee and a cicada! They looked hilarious!

 

We got a few good family pictures with the carousel and in front of the Roebling bridge. Perhaps inspired by the Mr. Redlegs mustache sported by papa a few nights earlier, the boys all sported special facial hair.

Smale Park had a number of very cool and unique features. There is a floor piano, like the one in the movie Big, that plays the bells. The kids ran up and down and all around the keyboard.

There were some climbing poles, and the kids took turns trying to get to the top. Claire was successful and rung the bell!

There was a flying pig sculpture that the kids took turns riding in. The people below could pull down on the pig and the wings would go up and down ans the body of the pig wend down and up.

The park had a fun play structure that included a small climbing wall, which is where Amber got this cute picture of Liam.

We played a game of Red vs. White human checkers under the bridge.

Nana and Papa was on their games for getting good pictures with her grandkids as we walked around the park.

The Reds were getting ready to host the all star game the next week, and there were decorations all over the city, including mustaches (like Mr. Redlegs' mustache) randomly around the city.

 

We had a beautiful view of the field from the left field corner.

Torin was super cute sitting in his own chair, and he especially enjoyed talking with the people sitting behind us.

It was, honestly, not a great game to watch. It was a long game and the Reds never really threatened and ended up getting blown out. Fortunately for Claire, the Reds never hit a home run, so there were never any fireworks during the game!

There were fireworks after the game, though, which we thoroughly enjoyed!