Party in Cincinnati!

Another picture heavy post.  I was going to separate it into 2 posts, but couldn't figure out how to divide the pictures, so you get a super long post instead...

Less than 60 hours after we walked into our house after our long trip home from Nebraska, we were back on the road again.  This time heading to Cincinnati for our youngest nephew's 1st birthday party!  

As soon as we had all arrived, we set out for an indoor play place where the kids could run off some energy before the party.  It turned out that this place (and the hotel where we stayed that night) was just over the river...in Kentucky.  In less than 72 hours, we spent time in 7 different states!

They had a giant Lego sculpture for pictures.  H was the only one who stood still long enough for a decent picture.

 All the different things there to do and my kids end up at the train table!

 I finally talked them into checking out some other things - like this conveyor belt for foam bricks.

 Ryan ended up going back to the train table, but Allie found the ballet station and spent the majority of her time practicing her "dancing skills."

 Once we were finished we went back to Ohio to the hotel where they were having the party.  Loralee transformed a generic hotel room into a nautical themed party.  The pictures don't do it justice.

 While we waited for everyone to gather, the kids played some hide 'n' seek.  They had almost floor-to-ceiling windows, and the long curtains were a favorite place to hide.

Or just hang out while drinking from their cool party glasses.

(I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this picture of the "older" cousins just hanging out and laughing together)

 Nana squeezes in some cuddle time with Ry-guy.

 My sister-friend with her "Big" boy.

 Catching the birthday boy in a classic Binky-from-my-Brother grab.

Now H has it...

 ...now he doesn't!

 The birthday boy had his own smash cake, but he was so eager that he grabbed a handful of the cake intended for everyone else!  And this was the last picture I managed to capture before my camera battery died...FAIL.  It's too bad because he made a spectacular mess of the smash cake!

That evening and the next morning, we spent some time swimming at the pool.  Ryan spent some more time practicing his "diving skills," and continues to get better at swimming under water.  The only problem is that he cannot seem to master swimming with his head above water...which limits the distances he can swim.  Clearly, we will have to keep working on that skill... The next afternoon we all went to the Children's Museum.

The biggest hit was this construction exhibit.  Ry-guy driving the dump truck.

 Allie shoveling some rocks.

 D climbing in.

 The Birthday Boy doing some heavy lifting.

 My kids also liked the "garage" where there were tools to work on cars and a gas station.  Being especially familiar with gas stations after so many recent road-tripping hours, they were excited to pretend to fill-up by themselves.

 These "racing" cars were also a hit.  Allie and H raced.  Allie is convinced that she won...mostly because H is too young to argue...yet.

 And once again, Ryan spent a significant amount of time at the train table (he told me, on the way to the Children's Museum, that the Museum people had called him the night before to tell him there was a train table there, so he was looking for it the second we walked in).

 And Allie practiced being a ballerina once again (perhaps I need to get this girl in dance classes?).

For about 20 seconds, we managed to get all of the cousins (and Uncle Luke) into the bus at the same time.  This was the only picture (out of 10) where you could see the faces of every single cousin...and about half a second after this was taken cousins were climbing out of the bus.  But at least we got them all together!

Because we had to be back for church (something about the congregation wanting their pastor to preach...), we were only there a little over 24 hours, but it was a jam-packed, fun-filled time.  We were sad it had to end so quickly!  Sigh.  But it was a wonderful celebration of Baby T turning 1!