Observatory Discovery

We went to the Observatory and learned a lot! From our tour of Mt. Adams, when Kaye and Bill were here, we found out that Cincinnati is the birthplace of Astronomy. The new telescope (1904) is housed in the big building and the smaller building is home to the 2nd largest refractor lens telescope in the world. When we arrived, the front door was open, so we walked in, however the observatory wasn't officially open (not qute sure why the door was unlocked). A few minutes later, a car pulled up and a man entered the observatory. Turns out he is the Director and Professor at UC....he took the girls up the stairs and showed them the telescope. He explained that when the building was built n 1873, there was no indoor electricity and to open the roof, it is on a pulley system. The girls were delighted to be there when we were.

What we did on Monday- day off from school

Our teachers get a day off to work on report cards, which means we get a day off to PLAY!! We decided to explore the Conservatory of Flowers as well as the Observatory.

20" indoor waterfall

Happy Birthday Kisses

Happy Birthday Daddy- This year Michael wanted Chocolate. Come to find out Red Velvet is pretty common here. I could've whipped him up a Red Velvet Box cake easily this year.

What we do here in the Midwest for fun

Ainsley found some leftover pieces from when we had a tree cut down and realized that if she used a stick the size of her finger, she could boar out the middle of the piece making herself a ring or two. What she wasn't too concerned with with the TREE SAP/PITCH, which we are still working on removing from her hands...several days later :)

I love these pictures of Kaley. Gigi sent the girls Composition books. Kaley's book matches her dress quite nicely.

Queen City Quest

Kaley and Julia (the team we were matched up with), tired after running
across the People Purple Bridge

For Michael's birthday, we thought we'd show him a good time...Amazing Race style- through Cincinnati. We signed the family up to compete in the Queen City Quest, sponsored by Blackbook. We gathered at Eden Park at 1:00 where we found out what team we were a part of, Cookies and Cream. Our teammates were another couple with her child and an individual lady who was taking part in the Quest as part of a class (her instructor was one of the organizers). We were given our first destination, which turned out to be Newport on the Levee and jumped in our cars (we followed them being as they were natives). Once there, we had to find the fish market, where we were given our second destination. For this,we had to answer questions about the attractions at Newport on the Levee and then cross over the Purple People Bridge to the Ohio side and find a fun destination, well, we were too fast jamming across the bridge and we beat the next envelope holder, so we did not know to go only as far as the other side of the bridge . Once across, we split up and 1/2 of our team went to the playground (a fun destination) while the other half went to the water fountains (another fun destination). This group circled back to the bridge after not finding the envelope holder and then found her standing at the foot of the bridge- oh well. We got our first puzzle piece and next destination- Findlay Market. There, we had to sample gelato and belgium waffles (a bit of a delay for our team and we had a tough time getting the kids away from the waffles) and answer more questions about the history of the market. Our next destination was Fountain Square, we had a set of questions which helped us learn about Graeter's icecream (endorsed by Oprah and Sarah Jessica Parker)...more samples and another puzzle piece! From here, we were sent to the Red's Stadium where Michael took the physical challenge (he had to throw a strike) and we had to answer questions about the Cinc, Reds. Two throws later and our final envelope and Michael had us back on the road, where we ended up at none other than the...Cincinnati Ballet. There we went running into the room, only to find out that we were 2nd to last to arrive with our puzzle pieces....but, we had a good time!!! We plugged our puzzle pieces into the big puzzle and waited for the last team, and food to arrive. I think this is one birthday Michael won't forget. We missed the Spatz family and look forward to doing more crazy things like this with them!!

Veteran's Day

We were in school on Veteran's Day and missed all the parades, pancake breakfasts and hoopla (Midwest style), but I did take the girls to Blue Ash to see all the State Flags...their favorite???? Why, California, of course.

It was interesting listening to Ainsley walk around to each statue of the soldiers and tell Kaley about each of the wars they fought in (most of which she made up...ie: "The Mexican War, was when the soldiers fought Mexico" or "The war of 1812 happened in 1812". I guess it's a start! She does like the Revolutionary War, however. Kaley is so good about just going along and humoring Ainsley, "teacher Ainsley" as she refers to her.

Star Fruit

In an attempt to stay healthy, we bought Star Fruit (high in vitamin C)- it was not to the girls' or Michaels' liking, but I thought it was okay. Texture is similar to a raw potato or starchy apple. It is very crunchy. It has a tart taste to it, which I thought the girls would like....you know, they like Smarties, which are tart....oh, yah...those are candy :)