10 Days of Summer- Health Expo

Looking for Fun in Town

Thanks to my friend who posted pictures early in the morning, I was able to see that there was a Health Expo in downtown Lima at the Civic Center. I told the kids to quickly get on their clothes and shoes and we could head that way. We only had 75 minutes until it closed, so it was going to be a fast trip. Jeremy agreed to go along, which is always nice to have an extra set of eyes.

They had roughly 20+ booths set up in the Civic Center with sponsors and venders sharing each organization's mission. Lots of free give-a-aways and useful information on healthy things to become involved with throughout the Lima-land.

Outside they had several bounce houses set up for the kids to play. Both kids loved the super long obstacle course bounce house they were able to race through. There was also a zip line, which Isaac attempted to do, but got scared at the top and walked back down. First time we have seen him chicken out on something. Shocked us!

11 Days of Summer- Wapak School's Playground

Playing at Dusk

Tonight we got to head down to Auntie Ann's and Uncle Jason's to celebrate Ann's and Sheri's birthdays. They live relatively close to the school, so after the party the kids begged to go to the playground. How could I say no? This playground is so cool, even I want to play. So we headed over at dusk and I said we could play until it got dark, which I knew wouldn't be long.

From the video you can see Olivia and I's favorite piece of playground equipment. Forget the old fashion merry-go-round, here you have your own personal tilt-a-whirl! Her and I could sit on that thing forever and spin in circles. Isaac prefers to run. There are two main playgrounds, and on one playground we like to play a game when you hit the floor you're out. Trying to stay balanced throughout the ropes and spinning pieces is a riot. Lots of yelling out, "You fell in and the crocodile ate you!"

When it started to get dark, it was hard to get the kids to go. They could have played there for hours. I told them we'd come back some other time, but it will most likely be months before we come back. It's such a cool playground, it's actually worth the drive there. The kids who attend Wapakoneta school are lucky to have such a cool playground to play at throughout the school year!

12 Days of Summer- OmniSource

Cashing in on Cans

So remember earlier in the summer when the kids were at my parents and they walked up and down the roads and collected cans to recycle? Well Isaac informed me today that our cans were full and it was time to take them in to get rich! LOL

So we packed them in the trunk of the car and headed to OmniSource. Isaac has been here before and loves to watch the cranes (like in Toy Story) pick up the metal out in the field. He also get's way excited to put the cans in the carts and have them weighed. Today was no different.

We didn't have loads of cans. Only a couple of bags full from the past year. But they got excited when the cashier handed them $5 for their cans. I said it in the last post and I'll say it again...they're not going to get rich doing this. Heck, you can't even by a 24 pack of soda for $5, but they learn how to recycle.

13 Days of Summer- Flying Home

Back to Reality

The last four days have been amazingly fun. Hot, but fun.  Today we get to travel back home. We took the double stroller, but I think this was it's last trip. Isaac is simply getting too big for it. Looks like we will go to a single umbrella stroller for Olivia. I will miss the storage underneath, but I won't miss trying to maneuver through crowds and doors. 

Our kids love to fly. Southwest is our airline of choice because of the free luggage we can check. When you are talking about a family of four, luggage is a must, and just a carry on isn't going to cut it. The flight out and back were both eventful. On the way out we were delayed because of weather. On the way home we were delayed because the airplane was too hot. Yep, everything here was too HOT. 

We finally made it home and Isaac always darts to the baggage claim area to find our bags. He loves that part and finds the search for his suitcase a competition. LOL. He decided on this trip he was old enough to pull his own suitcase like a "grown up" so we let him! Tomorrow Jeremy will go back to work and the rest of us will go back to reality. Only 13 days left of summer!  AHHHHHH, time is running out. 

14 Days of Summer- Universal Studios

Universal Fun

Oh baby, Hot! Hot! Hot! Did I forget to mention how hot it is here? If you haven’t read the previous Day 15 or Day 14 posts, please do. I complain about the heat in those posts as well!

Universal Studios. Jeremy and I visited here on our first vacation together back in 2002. It’s been awhile. Things have grown and parks have split. Tickets have gotten more expensive. Instead of buying park hoppers to visit all their parks, we chose to do one- Universal Studios. Isaac really wanted to go on the Minion ride (thanks again to advertising on Nickelodeon!) so we chose that park. Additionally, he loves Spongebob Squarepants, so double bonus attending Universal Studios.

We got to park and within minutes of walking in we see the 90 minutes wait for Minions ride. We get in line that is totally outside and HOT. Did I mention it was hot outside? Lol. Sweat dripping, Isaac begged for a water. Jeremy was super dad and jumped out of line an hour into our wait and brought back three drinks and a pretzel. Fast forward an hour later and in a shade under two hours we were experiencing the one and only Minion ride. Olivia said she didn’t like the 4-D experience and took off her glasses moments after starting. Isaac loved it, but said he didn’t need to wait again in line. LOL. Good buddy. Instead he chose Bob, the $30 plush, to take home. Yes, you read that right. $30 for ANOTHER stuffed animal. (insert my rolling eyes!)

We spent the next few hours back in the kid land, complete with character meet and greets that you can see in the picture below. The kiddos loved it. Jeremy commented on how different this trip was than 2002! Jeremy loved the Barney show- Not. We did enjoy anything in the AC though!

Olivia and I really enjoyed the Men In Black ride because it spun you around as you zapped aliens. Transformers ride was also a hit, although Olivia took off her glasses so she wasn’t scared. Isaac giggled throughout the entire ride trying to get away from the evil transformer. He loved the screeching tires as our movable carts felt as if we were truly speeding away. The parade was cute and I love the picture of Olivia and Edith interacting. It was adorable. We are pretty sure that she wanted Olivia to come out and dance with her, but her handler said no. Plus the characters loved Isaac’s minion Bob. Too cute!

We ended the day with the craziest rollercoaster the park had. The boys waited an hour in line and Olivia and I hung out in the AC child/parent swap area. When the boys finished going on the ride, Isaac got to ride back-to-back, as he got to go again with me! Great deal for me- an hour of AC then an immediate rollercoaster ride. Sweet!

Leaving the park was the wildest part of the entire day. Universal needs some lessons from Disney here. The parks all released at the same time so thousands of people funneled out of the parks at the same time. It was insane. We got an Uber and the kids were cashed out within minutes into the ride. All-in-all another great day.

15 Days of Summer- Legoland Waterpark

Splish Splash...Having a Blast!

 

Well yesterday rocked. So much fun but HOT. We were totally looking forward to having passes to the waterpark today at Legoland. The forecast was again going to be a unbearable, so we were looking forward to the waterpark cooling us off.





We entered the park around 11 in the morning and it wasn't too busy. By 2 p.m. it was packed. As soon as we entered, Isaac and Jeremy took off for the large waterslide. So impressed that little man has no fear of going on these. Check out the video below. I didn't catch it until he was halfway down, but wow.  Crazy.

Olivia, on the other hand, prefers the water works splash zone. It's so fun, but she has no fear of ever being lost. DRIVES.ME.NUTS. So I chase her around throughout the thing, but she went down one of the slides and then doesn't wait on me. I tried to find her in the millions of kids that are racing through. Ten minutes goes by and no Olivia. I begin to freak. I locate a lifeguard. He kindly tells me to just keep looking and if she doesn't come back in five minutes he'll blow the whistle.  Five minutes goes by. He blows the whistle to indicate to the other guards she's missing. I want to throw up. Seriously, where is she? As the other guard is walking toward me, her Olivia comes down a slide. Still no clue that she's missing and I've been freaking out. I alert the guards and then walk her over to the chairs and give her yet another lecture of how she can't run off. I'm telling you, this girl is going to be the death of me!

Besides this scare within being there the first half hour, it was a great afternoon. Olivia loved doing the tube slides with us. We all enjoyed the wave pool and lazy river. The day ended around 6 p.m. and the waterpark closed. We packed up the rental car and headed the hour drive back to Orlando to head to Universal tomorrow.

16 Days of Summer- Legoland Park

Build it and they will come

It took us longer than normal to figure out where we wanted to vacation at with the kiddos this summer. It wasn't until about a month ago we found airline tickets for really cheap to Orlando. We could always go for Disney, but decided since we had never done Legoland or Universal, this might be our opportunity to do so. With tickets in hand and a forecast in the 100s, our 2017 summer vacation lead to Florida.

Holy hotness. I mean drip off you standing hotness. I now understand why people don't do this. Lines were short because it was too damn hot. Ok, that's my vent session on that.

Legoland. Located an hour away from Orlando, this is super cute and totally built for kids. When I'm impressed by bathrooms at an amusement park, it get's my automatic stamp of approval. The parking entrance needs some work in efficiency, but other than that it was a fantastic park.

So. many. things. made. out. of. legos! Even the birds walking into the park in the grass were made out of legos. Jeremy and I were impressed with miniland- entire cities made out of legos. The attention to detail was amazing. Whoever has the patience to sit and do those for hours is my superhero.

This was our first trip to Legoland and the kiddos had a great time. From obtaining their "driving license" just like nick jr. advertises (the whole reason we are here!) to rollercoasters to Olivia picking out a new princess lego set, it had it all. We shut down the park (it closed at 7) and ended with a few water rides. Because we are cheap, we didn't eat in the park and instead headed to Outback on the way back to our hotel. We'll be back tomorrow for the waterpark. Stay tuned.