Cinci Weekend

So I experienced another mami milestone last week. We had decided to meet the Sax family half way, in Cincinnati, over the weekend and at the last minute Daniel had something come up - so I decided to drive by myself! It's a five hour drive! Six for the Saxes so thanks for taking that extra hour! He would meet me there, as would Ben, Jenny and Sarai, but it was scary when we ventured out on the skyway on Friday morning. I have to say that I, and the kids, did ok on this little adventure. It took us 8 hours but we got there. We stopped for a long lunch about an hour into the drive and then again for almost two hours in Indianapolis at their new Children's Museum. If you're ever driving in that direction with kids and need somewhere to stop, I highly recomment the museum. The kids loved it and Xavi is still talking about this stop-over. There are more pictures below.

Here are some pictures of our and the Sax family arrival at the hotel.

The plans for Cinci included their Zoo and Botanical Gardens, which we've visited before and loved. The weather, however was not as cooperative as we had hoped, though it was a good 10-15 degrees warmer and spring had already landed there, proven by flowers and budding trees. We went instead to a really touristy Newport, KY. There is an aquarium, an expensive aquarium, there. We paid up and waited in a long line and then were herded through, in a similar line as the one outside, like...hmmm...sheep. There were lots of complaints from the parents, none from the kids. I have to admit it was a tight fit so you had to move through in a line, but (don't hate me) I liked it very much in the end. I enjoyed it and thought it was worth close to the amount we paid...not the entire $50+ our family paid but close. It's not the Shedd, but I loved the tunnels and the gators at our feet (under a plexiglass floor). The penguins looked sad (think Happy Feet) but the kids loved the tropical birds that drank nectar from little cups in their hands. Xavi is still talking about the bird that took his cup. Wouldn't go there often if I lived nearby but I'd go again, in many years when my husband has forgotten how expesive it was and the kids are old enough to help me bully him into it.