A weekend of fun in Columbus Ohio

This last weekend we spent in Columbus Ohio. Of course we were half way there when I realized that I had forgot to pack the camera (at least that was all I forgot to pack - on a previous trip in May I forgot to pack all our toiletries...).

We stayed at the Cherry Valley Resort that has a CoCo Key Water Resort located there as well. We had a blast. The waterpark was wonderful fun and our kids were both daredevils when it came to the water slides. Jase was sad that he was not big enough for the adult slides. The lazy river was a fun place to relax and the bucket dumping gallons of water was a rush. There was playing of basketball and Meghan trying to sit down in the kiddy area where it was deeper than where she tried previously (almost 6 inches deeper) and she went completely under. At least she is ok with getting her face wet. My kids love making friends no matter where we go and Meghan found a little girl that was her buddy for playing basketball in the kiddy pool (the girl would lift her up and let Meghan dunk the ball in the basket). This same girl would also assist Meghan going down the one set of slides. Jase loved racing down slides with other kids and shooting kids with the water guns. After playing for 2 hours we had dinner in room (peanut and butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, and pudding - we had already had a sitdown meal earlier that day). Then we went for a walk around the grounds in the courtyards and saw the fish and the ducks and ducklings. We also saw some people trying to fish something up through a grate alongside the pond with some golf clubs (at one point there were 3 people standing in the pond trying to get whatever it was out of the grate). It was a funny sight that was for sure. Then we went back to the water park and stayed until it closed at 9p. After getting our pjs on the kids watched a movie on the laptop and Joe and I watched a free movie - I Hate Valentine's Day - not the greatest, but cheaper than paying for a movie and not having to surf the channels for something better. We know that the kids were exhausted when they both slept in until 8:20a Saturday morning (that never happens with our kids - they are always up by 7a). After eating some donut holes and juice that we brought with us (because the breakfast at the resort was outrageously priced) we fed the ducks and fish some bread and then went back to the waterpark for some last minute fun before heading out for the day.

After everyone getting baths (the tub was huge - we all could have taken a bath together (but we didn't because that would have been strange), we loaded up the car and went to visit Ye Olde Mill. All the kids wanted to do was play on the playground and see the ducks, geese, swans, and fish. They didn't even want ice cream, just some rock candy on a stick. Joe and I had ice cream though and it creamy and yummy and worth the side trip. I mentioned that if I worked somewhere where I had to drive past a place that like (or Fair Oaks Farms) on a very regular basis, that my desire to have ice cream (or chocolate milk) would beat my will to diet/eat healthy. Thankfully I don't have a need to drive past places like that weekly or even monthly - my figure will be grateful for that one day.

Then we headed back to Columbus so I could attend the temple. But somewhere along the way I miscalculated how long it would take to get from the ice cream mill to the temple and we were 15 minutes late. Thankfully I was still able to participate in some temple work.

Then we started on our 4 hour drive home. About 10 minutes before we were planning to stop for dinner at a Cracker Barrel, I noticed that Meghan was playing with her diaper (she has this bad habit of playing with her diaper, whether wet or poopy). For this instance it was poopy and she had it all over her one hand. So, I got to sit twisted around holding her arm so she didn't get it all over until we found an exit and a parking lot to change her in. Thankfully it didn't get all over and we had water, soap, a nail kit, and hand sanitizer to clean her up. Then it was 10 minutes to dinner. When we arrived at the Cracker Barrel I said that the kids needed to leave everything in the car (blankets, etc), but somehow Jase still smuggled his blankie inside. Then there was a small wait and Joe and Jase played checkers. Then we ordered our food and while waiting for the food a full glass of ice water got spilt on Joe (still not sure if it was Joe's or Meghan's fault). We had breakfast and dinner foods and everyone shared. Finally it was time to hit the road for the rest of the 3+ hours drive home. About 20 minutes later Jase asked where his blankie was. It was nowhere to be found in the car, trunk, etc and it was determined that he sat it down when playing checkers while waiting for our table and it was left at the Cracker Barrel. So we turned around and backtracked for 15 miles to get the blankie (because an extra 40 minutes of driving was totally worth not listening to a whiny, mopey, screaming 4 year old that just lost his blankie and lovie of 4 years for the rest of the 3 hour ride home. And the sweet reunion of him and his blankie was precious: he snuggled it and held it and told it that he loved it. Jase was also warned that if and when the blanket was ever left anywhere again, it would be considered lost and gone and we would not go back for it. Hence it needed to stay at home or in the car, not be carried around into restaurants, stores, etc.

That ends our quick and fun filled trip to Ohio. Jase did well going potty and had no accidents and Meghan is quickly becoming a pro at potty training too (some days she goes almost all day dry (and going on the potty) and the next day she wants nothing to do with it. All in time I guess.

After a month hiatus...

I'm back. We've been busy this last month and I will have many catch up posts to show you the fun we've had.

Stay tuned...