Ohio Caverns

Over spring break we took the kids to visit the Ohio Caverns.  I have such fond memories of this place!!  Right after I graduated from college I volunteered for several days each summer for 5 or 6 years with a program through my university called "Summer Adventure."  My undergrad advisor ran the program and I loved/love that man so it was a joy to see him every summer.  He is such an amazing man and I think I learned more from him academically than any other person on the planet.  The "Summer Adventure" was a program where we took inner city kids on outdoor adventures.  We took them bird banding, or to catch bats and look at stars.  We took them on canoe trips and horseback riding.  We always took them to the Ohio Caverns or Zane Shawnee Caverns or both.  I adore the Ohio Caverns and this is the first time I took my own kids.  I am overjoyed that they love it as much as I do.

notice the hibernating bat in the center

The tour took about an hour and I am pleased to report that the kids were extremely well behaved.  Liam can't quit talking about the crystal king and the bats we saw.  Believe me, I was so happy they got to see a couple of hibernating little brown bats and a few flying around, especially since the fate of these bats remains up in the air at this point.  All the bats were healthy in the caverns.

I highly recommend this as a day trip if you have little ones.  It is so fun!!

P.S. I forgot my real camera so these are all from my cell phone :(

Liam in Undies

Wow, I haven't been on here in a long time!  It's spring break at our house this week and we had the perfect week for it.  This weather has been unbelievable!

Well, a couple of weeks ago my little Liam decided that he is too big for diapers and he has been wearing underwear ever since.  We read a book about the potty right before his nap and then he woke up and refused to put his diaper on.  I guess that little book is very persuasive.  He walks around and says, "Tinkle tinkle toot.  I did it!!"  The first few days were spent camping out in the bathroom but he has been doing a great job ever since.  I was waiting until school was out but I guess the little one had different plans than I did.  I am using a pull-up when we are running around to our appointments, which I never did for the other two, but I'm not ready to deal with it in public yet.  I still take him potty when we're out and he keeps the pull-up dry, but I'm not going to brave it until summer time.

 

Brendan  really struggled with number 2 on the potty, so I am thrilled that Liam has no issues with it.  In fact he loves it.  He insists upon describing it when he is done and it is hilarious!!  "Look, mommy, I pooped a strawberry.  Look mommy, two turtles."  I never knew poop could be funny.

Brendan also struggled with staying dry overnight, but now he is doing very well in this area and Liam is in underwear all day.  So, I am down to using a few pull-ups here and there and a diaper overnight for Liam.  What will I do with myself!!

I am so proud of Liam for being such a big boy!!

Mother Son Night

Last night I had a date night with Aidan and Brendan at their school.  It was so much fun!!  Brendan has been looking forward to the event all month.  It was definitely planned with boys in mind!

We started with a quick dinner of pizza and cookies.  Then it was time for the magician!  Brendan claims this was his favorite part of the evening.  I watched the magician but I couldn't figure out what was going on half the time.  Brendan was amused by the magician's ability to stick pins through balloons without popping them.  He wants to try it himself but I'm pretty sure what the outcome will be.  Aidan thought it was cool that everyone was screaming and clapping (he likes it to be loud!!).

Next we had a photo taken and then went to play mini-golf.  What a great idea this was!!  They had an entire little golf course set up through the hallways.  We had a blast with this.

It was a fairly simple course but we didn't have to contend with a two-year old!  Bonus!  We haven't taken the boys golfing in ages but it's on the list now.  I had to correct their grasp on the gold club a few times but they were doing well and both got a hole in one!!

Then we had ice cream sundaes.  Brendan couldn't believe all the choices they had for ice cream toppings.  He picked swedish fish and jelly beans.  Gross!!  Aidan stuck with plain vanilla :)

Finally the boys ran around the gym playing ball games.  Aidan saw tennis balls when we first walked in and was convinced that he would get to play tennis at some point.  It wasn't on the agenda, though.  He was happy with basketball and Brendan just liked running around.

I don't intentionally have more photos of Aidan than Brendan.  He is just easier to catch up to and he will pose for me.

This was a lovely event and it was fun for the kids to see some school friends and have such a fun event at their school building.  I enjoyed the evening with my little men.