Mini-Staycation

Earlier in the year, Danny and I talked about going to New York City in September.  We had a change of plans and decided to go to Chicago in July instead.  We kept our vacation time at work and stayed in Columbus and did stuff with the kids during the time we originally planned to go to New York.  

Both kids were in need of new shoes, so we spent an evening at Easton.  We shopped, had dinner, and walked around.  It's a really nice "mall" (if you can call it that) -- it's more like its own little town.  It's especially nice in the summer time to just "hang out".  It's pretty in the winter with all of the Christmas lights, but it can get pretty cold!  The kids love it there.  Their favorite part is all of the different types of fountains.  They found this phone booth and we had to explain to them what it was!

Cadence had "Fair Day" off from school -- I remember being so confused when I moved to Ohio.  I was like, "We get an actual day off from school because of the Delaware County Fair?  I'll take it!"  Since we had the day off, we decided to take the kids to the fair!  We checked out all of the animals, the kids played some games, and we had some fair food.  The kids weren't interested in any of the rides -- probably better that way, right?!

They thought the goats were hysterical. 

They loved riding the ponies most of all.

Milking a fake cow

They took turns riding in a tractor simulator.  

The kids have fishing poles that we'd never used, so we finally broke them in and took them fishing at Alum Creek Lake.  They had a ton of luck and both caught some little fish that we released back into the water.  There were a couple of guys that showed up and were fishing near us -- they either were after much larger fish or weren't having any luck; neither one of them caught a single thing while we were around!  I swear, Colin caught a fish not even 30 seconds after dropping his first line.

You can almost see the little fish -- it's blending in with the picnic table!

After our picnic lunch, we moved over to the dam where some guys were catching catfish!  We didn't have any luck so we took a walk instead!

I love it when they get along...

Cadence doesn't play dress up much; she surprised us the other day with her fairy costume.

I had to throw in some Grandma Friday pics!

The week before our vacation, we took the kids to the Alum Creek Dam to check it out for the first time.  It was a beautiful day.  There was even an archery competition going on there.  Colin loved all of the remote control airplanes that people were flying around.

Cadence has lost both of her top two-front teeth!

A week after our vacation, we participated in the first annual Children of the Fallen 5k.  Dad and Danny ran, while Mom and I walked with the kids.  A lot of the time, a 5k run is paired with a 1-mile walk -- not this one!  We cheated a bit because the kids were tired (and I didn't bring a stroller) but we all made it!  The kids even took turns riding on my back!  My mom was a good sport and carried the kids a little.  She's a beast! ;)  The money raised went to help the children of fallen Veterans.  We hope to support the cause next year!