Cincinnati

D has been learning in school about minerals and gems, caves and such. So, he just BEGGED us to go to the Museum of Natural Science and History. And,... being the loving parents that we are,... we 'caved.' Since we'd already bought the membership up at the Cincinnati museum, we called up D & H, and subtle-ly invited ourselves over for the night, and offered to watch the munchkins for the evening so the parents could have a much-needed break. We had an awesome time with the niece and nephews that night; and our kids LOVED playing with the cousins! I got to play nice-mom and tell bedtime stories with the girls for our 'sleep-over.'

The next day, M got to learn to solder/weld on plumbing pipes. My brother has done an impressive job with his plumbing down in their basement. When we finally made it to the museum (after taking the scenic route into downtown cincy) I sent the older kids and their cousin J with my dear hubby. They spent the whole time in the Natural Science and History area - they explored some 'caves,' they saw REAL bats, D got to touch one and hold it. They explored a glacier cave with dripping water. They saw dinosaur skeletons (E REALLY wished he could go to see them!) There were microscopes to examine different types of pollen. They learned about bodies, and got to go into a 'time machine' - to go to indian times and poineer day, learning stories on the way. A really had a fun time exploring it all with her cousin, J - otherwise, she would have totally been outnumbered by the 'guys.' D LOVED exploring with his dad, but said that next time *I* get to go with them! All in all, it sounds like they had a really good time. I meant to send the camera with them,... but got side-tracked, and it ended up staying with me.

I took the younger two munchkins down to the children's museum, and they played in some of the areas they missed last time. E enjoyed the steel drums area, and C just liked hangin' around like the monkey she is. They were having an African Culture Fest throughout the union terminal, and so we got to watch a school ensemble play African marimba pieces. I really enjoyed it and got a bit nostalgic watching them - but the two little kids thought it was a bit loud, and they just wanted to go play more - so, it being 'all about the kids,'... i catered to their desires. Ah,... the things we do for our kids ;-)

We had an awesome dinner that night with D&H&family before heading home; Thanks for letting us visit! We had a BLAST!!