family{opening day}

opening day in cincinnati is an unofficial holiday. people take off work. parents call their kids in sick to school. some schools will bring classes down for a field trip. it's a day that blankets the city in a sea of red and gives everyone the warm fuzzies.

we headed downtown monday to be a part of the festivities. 

rowan lasted longer than we thought he would but we were all a bit ready to escape the crowds. so we followed up the parade with tacos and a few adult beverages!

we're looking forward to more of this-warm days, dining outside and of course, baseball!! 

  

family{kiddos and a carousel}

Holy crap! I can't believe February flew by and I went MIA. There were some life things that were thrown at me last month that took some time and most of my energy to sort through. But, I'm happy to be feeling well enough to write up a quick post!

Last saturday we headed down to the riverfront for the Kids Kuisine event, a fundraiser for the YMCA, at Smale Park. It was nice to go to a food event where we didn't need to worry about our little one behaving, well. like a toddler. The event featured food stations, interactive demos for little (would be)chefs and a ride on the Smale Park Carousel!

Ro definitely enjoyed the banana smoothies!

A Cincinnati favorite, Holtmann's Donuts, was there.

A fun cooking demo with little foodies.

The one thing that we found a little curious was that for an event geared towards kids the options for anything not sugar or carb based were practically nonexistent. We really try to limit Rowan's processed sugar intake. I know that kids can be picky eaters but this would have been the perfect setting to try to introduce them to some new things in a fun way. Overall, we had a good time!

Someone is waiting patiently for his turn on the carousel.

It was a little chilly but a beautiful day so we took a little stroll along the Ohio River. This is one of his favorite toys. In the last few weeks he's insisted on taking it with us every where we go. It's a little bulky so if anyone has any suggestions for something that is similar but slightly smaller-and not as noisy!- I would appreciate it.

family{pumpkin patch}

friday we bundled up and set out for the pumpkin farm, blooms and berries. 

last year rowan was just a few months old so the pumpkin picking excursion was definitely for us. but, oh what a difference a year makes! it was so much fun to watch him run around taking everything in.

he could have spent all day with the goats. they came over and licked his fingers which sent him into a fit of giggles. there were also a few tears when he realized they couldn't come home with us. somehow two urban suburbanites have a little one that is an outdoorsy animal lover! 

dad braved the slide. it's kind of hard to say no to that little face.

i highly recommend this for families with little ones. there is a great age/size appropriate straw maze and the adorable cow ride. there are picnic tables so it's possible to pack a lunch if you'd like. unfortunately it started to rain so we had to leave before we had a chance to take the hayride. they also have a little market on site where apples, caramel apples, cider etc can be purchased. pumpkins(of course!)and fall flowers are also available. adults are $7 kids under 2 are free

family{saturdays at the park}

it shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone that i prefer to be curled up on the sofa with a cup of coffee and a book. my list of favorite things to do include reading, watching movies and filling up various online shopping carts and figuring out the amount of an inheritance needed to purchase everything. it also includes things like brunching, lunching and cocktailing. are you spotting the trend? 

these activities are not necessarily child centric. a long wait with a curious and cranky little one made our last attempt to brunch a little stressful and the total opposite of sunday funday.  this is how i found myself on one of the hottest weekends all summer at the park with two of my favorite guys!

how could i say no and stay inside to that face?! we've been to glenwood gardens several times(fun fact-we had our wedding photos taken in glenwood gardens) but we'd never been in the children's garden area. this 12 acre section of the park is beautiful and so much fun for the kids to explore. i think this kid is determined to make me nature lover because i'm almost positive i told my husband we should pack a picnic and visit again in a few weeks!