Fun in Cincinnati

Since Haley didn't have school Friday, we planned a fun overnight at Coco Keys (an indoor waterpark) in Cincinnati.  It was sooooo fun!  But before heading to our hotel we did what everyone must do when in Cincninnati and we headed to 1) the Gap clearance center and 2) IKEA.  After buying a few finds at Gap, we headed to IKEA and blissfully shopped for an hour child-free.  Both us and the kids loved the free play zone - a real win/win!  Our good friend Ashlee told us that kids eat free on Fridays and so we all had a fun lunch there too.  Free food, free babysitting...what else will IKEA think of next?  Maybe next time they'll just start giving away furniture.  

We ate a unique restaurant called the Red Squirrel for dinner - a random find.  It was actually a lot of fun.  Their menu was all over the place.  The kids ordered eggs/bacon, I got a gyro and Brian got eggplant parmesean.  You gotta love a place that serves breakfast, greek and italian all at once.   

As if we hadn't eaten enough, we stumbled upon a Graeters and were drawn in.  For those of you not in the know - Graeters makes the best ice cream on the planet.  They are based out of Cincinnati so it's big around here.  What I didn't know is they also make chocolates/cookies and other yummy things.  This store was much more than the little franchises we have down in Lexington.  Super Yum.

With the hotel stay, you get a 2-day admission to the waterpark so we went for about 3 hours each day.  It honestly exceeded my expectations.  It is a magical place where the kids were all smiles. 

 Grant honestly rode this slide for about an hour straight. 

 And then he rode these slides for another hour - I lost count at around 25 times in a row. 

 A fun surprise was running into 2 families we know from church at Coco Keys, none of which knew the other was going!  After we had checked into our hotel we went to the elevator to find our room and as the door opened, out walked the Prescott Family - looking just as surprised as we were.  You couldn't have planned it any better!  Haley loves to play with Morgan (who is also in the same school/grade) so the two of them had a ball running all over the place together. 

 Haley and Morgan on the lazy river.

 These 4 waterslides were where Haley spent the majority of her time - but I must admit that Brian and I also loved the big slides too.  We sent Brian and Morgan's dad down on a 2-man tube slide and they got some serious speed. 

 After Coco Keys we headed over to Jungle Jims - a big international food store.  For the Connecticut crowd - it's like a Stew Leonards only cosco size with random foods from every country. 

 After I took this picture, Grant was deeply concerned for the next hour wondering if daddy's brain was OK.  Not sure which is funnier - the picture or Grant's concern!  I sometimes wonder if daddy's brain is OK too...hahahaha :)

 They had a whole row of random sodas from all over.  Brian was in heaven.

 Here are their "famous" bathrooms.  It's actually pretty funny - these are just the main doors to a big regular bathroom inside.  It made me laugh to see a whole steam of people walking out the door.  I even had to tell one confussed lady that it was just a joke - that is was the entrance to the bathroom. 

 Here is the completely random stash of things we bought.  And if you are my mom, that box of Weetabix has your name on it!  I remember you saying you had a hunkerin' for some Weeetabix! 

Well, as with most of our family trips - we had a blast and then we felt what we refer to as the "payback" where we get home and the kids are less than their best selves until bedtime.  Oh well, it was worth it anyway.  It was a great, great weekend and a much needed diversion from regular life.  We'll be back Cincinnati!