Cincinasty

In an effort to avoid making a five hour drive, but still visit his parents, Bryan and I thought it might be fun to meet them in Cincinnati, a half way point between us and them. On paper it was a great plan. We 'pricelined' a nice hotel downtown and planned to visit the Newport Aquarium, a park and the Cincinnati Zoo. We would walk around downtown, eat outside and enjoy have a nice visit while doing something a little out of the ordinary. Jo and Wes even decided to go on Friday night to celebrate their anniversary. Bryan and I woke the kids up early Saturday morning and headed out. Everything was going great. We left on schedule, which is rare for us, and made the trip in record time. The kids were great in the car, Lilly watched a movie and Jack slept the whole trip. We met at the zoo and everyone was excited to get in and see the new baby giraffe. This was about the time that things started to get nasty.

Don't let the title of this blog fool you, Cincinnati is a great city, but Lilly sure was nasty. I don't think she felt all that great and we knew that the night before, so maybe it was our fault for making the trip anyway and not canceling, but she seemed just fine on Saturday morning, even excited to go on a car ride. She was clingy and didn't want to talk to or be talked to by anyone except her mom (which is super fun for me too, by the way). It was also almost 90 degrees and she didn't want to look at any animals, or talk about any animals, or ride any rides, or do any activities at the zoo...except get her face painted. What she wanted was for me to carry her...almost all day. As the day went on things just got worse, until finally Lilly fell asleep in the stroller.

We found a quiet spot to rest while Lilly took her nap and then found a playground before heading to the hotel. Like I said, we used priceline.com to reserve a nice hotel downtown. We thought we got a real deal when The Millennium Hotel accepted our $60 offer. What we didn't realize was that they intended to put us in the ghetto of their south tower. The room was comically small especially after we set up Jack's portable crib, the tub didn't drain and you couldn't hear yourself think over the air conditioner, oh yeah, and we ran out of bottled water in the middle of the night. It was the first time that all four of us have ever shared a room and it was a less than ideal situation. Lilly and Jack took turns waking each other up every 45 minutes until after 4am and the air conditioner and uncomfortable double bed kept Bryan and I up the rest of the night. But, morning finally came and we checked out of the hotel (without Lilly's beloved friend Monkey and Zebra) and headed to the aquarium, getting lost on the way. And that is why I called this blog 'Cincinasty'.

The gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. I usually am against going to the zoo and taking pictures of the animals, but it was hard to resist when she was posing for us. The highlight of the day was when Lilly got her face painted for the first time. She was very excited and picked out the fairy wings. I have never seen her hold so still.

Lilly loved her fairy wings. She even sat on Bryan's lap for a little while and stared at herself in his sunglasses.

After the train ride disaster Lilly took a nap in the stroller while Jack slept in his carrier. Yes, Jack was in Cincinnati with us, but there are no pictures to prove it.

At the end of the day and on our way out we passed a small playground. In hind sight we should have just gone to a park because Lilly had a great time at the playground and even met a friend. I realize this isn't a picture of the playground, but this little bamboo forest was right next to it.

Later Saturday night, after dinner. Enjoying some ice cream by the fountain downtown. It really doesn't matter where you are, what you are doing or when you have eaten last, if you ask Bryan's dad for ice cream, he will get you some.

Jack did make it in a picture, but refused to look at the camera. Wes, Lilly, Jo, Jack and Bryan pose in front of the fountain.

Sunday at the aquarium. For whatever reason Lilly really enjoys an aquarium. I don't know if its the fish, water, or what...but she had a good time on Sunday. Here, in the amazon section, Lilly and I are feeding a bird. We had to get a friendly stranger to take our picture because Lilly and I are the only ones who braved the aviary...most Traylors seem to have a healthy fear of birds.

Waiting patiently for a shark to swim by in the shark petting pool. I don't think she ever got to pet a shark, but Lilly enjoyed splashing the water just the same. Posing with the penguins. I don't think she quite trusted these guys, she would turn away from them to look at the camera.

All jokes aside, we had a pretty good time. It was a lot of fun to meet Bryan's parents somewhere different and do something a little out of the ordinary. Hopefully next time we try to deviate from the norm Lilly will be in a better mood.