The Glamorous Life of a 501 Housewife: Cincinnati

This time of year is always super busy. The end of school is approaching so there are extra parties and school programs to attend. We have had so much going on I haven't had time to blog about it all. Last weekend, Mother's Day weekend, we all took off and drove the 600+ miles to Cincinnati to see my brother and sister. My brother is about to start his final year of a med/peds residency while my sister is finishing her first year of audiology school in Cincinnati.

The trip was really just to visit with my brother and sister. John Robert, my brother, hadn't met Ava yet and we thought it was about time. Plus, Anna, my sister, received her white coat that Saturday and the school had a ceremony to honor her and her classmates. I'm be the only one of my siblings that isn't a doctor. It makes me feel like a slacker sometimes. Maybe I should go back to school. Something to think about when I'm not busy raising four children. Anyway, we were all there to see Anna get her white coat and the kids even had coordinating outfits. I was really on the ball. That is until Ava got choked as the ceremony started and threw up the entire contents of her stomach (and she had just eaten) all over the both of us. We were looking good. You will notice there are not pictures of us from the ceremony.

Here she is before receiving her coat.

And here she is receiving it.

And here she is about to say the oath of audiology.

After the oath taking when everyone applauded.

Here is her whole class.

After the ceremony there was a small reception with some very delicious cake. YUMMY!

Then we headed back to the apartment to change clothes and have a little lunch before we were off on our next adventure. My brother had the day off from work and had thought up some fun outings for the children. Our first stop was Patty's Old Fashioned Popcorn. They had all sorts of flavored popcorn as well as old fashioned candy and shaved ice. Delicious! Around the corner from Patty's was the fire station. Harrison loves cars and trucks. All kinds, particularly fire trucks. The doors were open so we took a good look around.

Here are Anna and the twins in front of the big red fire truck.

And here is John David. I don't remember why he was laughing.

Here they all are with the truck. I think I managed to take a photo where none of them are actually looking at me.

Cincinnati is made up of the different little neighborhoods with their own shopping areas and restaurants. The fire station was in Hyde Park. After checking out the fire station we walked to the square in Hyde Park where there is a fountain and a grassy area. You can imagine the fountain was a huge hit.

Ella's entire front was completely soaked. She didn't fall in though so I considered that a win.

Harrison's glasses only took two dips in the fountain.

John David was more interested in having a baseball game on the grass. Of course we had no gloves, balls or bats so we just pretended. Here he is playing catcher.

And here is Harrison playing Catcher. He was relaxing because John David had hit a grand slam and was running the bases.

Making the turn for home.

We make new friends everywhere we go. This adorable little girl was having a fun day out with her daddy and stopped to join in the fun of the baseball game. She and Harrison hit it off.