Cincinnati (5.5 years and 4 years old)

After we went to see the Cavs trophy and had Sydney's birthday party, we drove to Cincinnati for the weekend.  It was pouring down rain during driving.  Brian can work in the car where I can't so I was driving.  We finally got into our hotel at 10pm.

On Sunday we had a family fun day at King's Island.  We packed a lunch and left it in the cooler in the car.  Austin and Sydney love amusement parks.  We rode several rides and played at the water park.  We had a fun day.

On Monday, I took Brian to work.  The kids and I went to the zoo.  We had a great time.  The Cincinnati zoo is fantastic!  We had a great time.  Then we went swimming at our hotel pool.  It is amazing how important a pool at a hotel is.  Then we went to dinner with my friend from nursing school and her family.  It was great seeing them.

On Tuesday, I took Brian to work again.  The kids and I went back to the hotel and went swimming.  After swimming, we had hot chocolate.  I needed to get ready for my mommy meeting so printed out some forms.  We picked Brian up and drove back home.  We always enjoy our summer weekend in Cincinnati.

First Day of Kindergarten for Austin

The day has come for Austin to start Kindergarten.  I have mixed emotions about it!  I am sad the life of the school calendar starts.  We love to travel and to go when we want and now that has to change.  I am so happy to have the opportunity to stay home with them a lot since I work part time.  I am going to miss Austin so much while he's in school.  However Austin is so ready for school.  It will be good for him to learn and grow. He's so smart and needs to be challenged.  I also hope there will be less fighting between Austin and Sydney since they won't be with each other all the time.

On Wednesday night our school had meet the teacher night.  There was new student orientation from 4-5pm then meet the teachers from 5-6:30pm.  It was a busy night.  Austin needed to attend and we thought it was best for Sydney to come too.  The kids were excited to go.  We learned about the school.  After the hour meeting, we went down to the kindergarten rooms to find out Austin's teacher.  We were happy with the outcome.  It was busy at first.  We met the teacher and then walked around the room.  Then we went to explore the school.  We stopped in library, spoke to the Spanish teacher (which Austin is very excited about), got gym uniform, and put money on his lunch account.  Then we went back to his Kindergarten room.  Spoke with his teacher some more and then went home.

Once we got home, I made dinner.  Then kids got a bath.  It was story time and bedtime.  It was a big day tomorrow.  Once the kids were in bed, Brian and I went though all the forms we got.  In the forms was a homework sheet.  Austin was supposed to color a picture of his favorite thing he did in the summer.  I was like great, day one and we already didn't do his homework!

I woke up at 6am.  Austin and Sydney met me downstairs at 615am.  It was obvious they were excited.  I was happy they were up.  I explained to Austin about his homework I found the night before.  He was happy to do it.  I gave Sydney a piece of paper for her to color.  She was happy.  After they finished her homework we ate breakfast together.  I enjoyed eating with them.  No more kindle time in the morning.  After breakfast, they got ready for school.  It was the best day ever because they got ready so easily.  That usually doesn't happen that well.

Austin was ready first and him and Brian went outside to take some pictures.  Then Sydney joined.  Then we left for school.  We got there early.  Once at school, we took some pictures.  Sydney even took a picture of Austin, Brian and I.  Then we went into his classroom.  We learned the kindergarten routine.  Then we left.  There were no tears.  Brian and I were sad in our hearts.

Then we took Sydney to her new classroom.  She was sad she didn't start a new school.  But she does have a new room.  Then Brian and I went to work.

I only worked 5 hours so I could pick him up after school.  I was there when school let out.  Austin was happy to see me.  We walked to the car and he told me about his day.  There was a pretend fire alarm.  They went out to the parking out.  He loved buying his hot dog lunch.  They have rest time for 15 where they lay on the carpet.  They pray everytime they leave the room or before lunch and snack.  He had two boy friends they he liked however he doesn't know their names.  They practiced writing numbers.  That is all about what we could get out of him about his day.

After I picked him up we stopped by Walmart and Five Below.  We learned the night before we need to pack him a snack everyday.  So I wanted a snack bag so I will remember to pack him a snack.  Plus I needed to get a stain stick because he had stains on his uniform shirt.

Then we came home and played a little bit before picking up Sydney.  Austin was sad he didn't have any homework to complete.  We picked up Sydney and she was happy and had a great day in her new room.

We came home and had some dinner.  Then Austin had soccer practice.  After soccer, we went and got ice cream for his special day!

Sydney's 4th Birthday Party

This year Sydney wanted a princess party.  She wanted princesses to come to her party.  For that to happen we decided we need to have it at our house.  It's was good because we have an awesome swing set.   But bad because the stress and work of having a party at our house.  I was lucky and had lots of vacation time so I took the week off before her party.

Sydney's favorite princess is Anna from Frozen.  It wasn't too much for for 2 princesses so we had Elsa too.  Sydney was so excited for her party!  She has been waiting since Austin's party.  They both love their birthdays so much.  I enjoy planning their parties for them.

The weather was iffy all week.  I was nervous and really had no idea what was going to happen if it rained.  We don't have a big enough house for 14 kids and parents inside.  I tried to stay postivie and busy so I didn't have to worry about it.  Luckily the weather basically worked out.  It rained a lot Friday night.  Which meant the grass didn't have much time to dry on Saturday morning.  Brian took fans outside to dry the grass.  Then he was on his knees with towels drying.  It worked out great.  Saturday mornings weather was perfect.  It was humid but no rain and wasn't too bad since it was in the morning.

Sydney was so happy to see her friends and had a great party.  She waited out front for all of her friends to arrive.  Then we went out back and kids played on the playground until the princesses arrived.  I met the princesses and had the kids ready when the arrived.  Sydney loved it.  Anna and Elsa read the kids a book first.  Then they sang songs and danced.  Then they got their nails painted.  I brought down some tattoos for the boys too.  Austin was involved a lot in the party.  Sydney's boy friends played mostly on the playground.

After the princesses left, we ate pizza and had cupcakes.  After cupcakes, it was time for the pinata.  The kids didn't break it but Brian broke it up.  The kids loved getting all the candy.  Sydney gave her friends bubbles as a party favor.  She had a great party.

After her party, we went up to Cleveland for picture with the Cavs trophy.  We got a good picture.  We even stopped at the team shop to buy some things.  We ended our day by driving to Cinicinatti for a Brian work trip.

Virginia Beach

Right before our Virginia Beach trip, Sydney got strep throat again.  Luckily she recovered fast.

We decided to leave Friday night, drove to Breezewood, stayed at truck stop, no electricity.  We heard you could stay at Walmart parking lots too however the Breezewood truck stop worked for us.  It was not too bad.  We got up Saturday morning and finished driving.  We stopped at McDonald's to play and eat.  Right before we got to Virginia Beach we stopped at Wendy's for Frosty's.  We finally got there after 8 hours.  There was a lot of traffic.

We set up camp at KOA in Virginia Beach and then went swimming.  The pool was nice because it has a water slide the kids liked.  We went to Pizza Hut for dinner.  That is Austin's favorite.  We drove down to Beach Street.  We were all tired but did walk around for a bit.

On Sunday, we figured out the public bus system to and from our campsite.  It worked out nicely.  We went to the beach then went swimming at the pool, bounce house water slide.  Brian had to go down with Sydney because she was not tall went.  That night we went down to beach street and saw fireworks.  We even had Sweet Frogs ice cream.  Austin and Sydney were very happy.

On Monday, we went on the pirate ship ride.  Austin and Sydney enjoyed that.  We like it too.  We enjoy it more than the one in Myrtle Beach.  We rented bikes and biked the boardwalk.  That was fun and a lot of work.  Then we brought body boards for Austin and Sydney.  They were a huge hit.  They loved them and played for a while.  We went back to our campsite to eat dinner.  Then back to Beach Street for street performers at night.  We love it there!

On Tuesday, we went to the pool in the morning then went to the beach.  Austin and Sydney found so pirate treasure on the beach that is a tradition for us.  We had fun playing at the beach.  We packed up our campsite.  Then ended our trip with Beach Street and ice cream.

On Wednesday, we drove home. Luckily we made better time however we did not stop unless it was for gas.

We ended our week at the Cleveland Zoo for Cavs night.  It is a nice event the Cavs did for season ticket holders.