08/15/2011 COSI

While Grandpa and Grandma McGrew were in Columbus, we thought it would be a fun time to go check out the dinosaur exhibit at COSI.

Alexa was curious, but a little nervous at first. Gavin was quite scared and wanted to be held as we walked into the exhibit where the animatronic dinosaurs were. They were moving around and making sounds.

Grandpa and I are helping Alexa and Gavin make dinosaur footprints in the foam.

This is Gavin when he was terrified of the dinosaurs (we had just watched a very life-like 3D movie about t-rex!).

Now he's doing better, but he still didn't want to get too close to them!

At the I-Max movie "Waking T-Rex."

The kids love playing in the water area in the kids space. COSI even provides the cute raincoats, although they still got wet enough that we had to change their clothes.

08/14/2011 "Rainbow Park"

Dad and I sat on the front porch and had a nice talk while Alexa and Gavin napped on Sunday afternoon. It was actually chilly outside, very unusual for August.


The kids really enjoyed having Grandpa and Grandma here.

When Alexa and Gavin woke up, we took them to "Rainbow Park." The Rainbow Park is an imaginary place that Alexa dreamed up. She's been obsessed with rainbows for months now. She kept asking me to take her there and since I didn't know where Rainbow Park was, I told her that we had to wait until Grandpa and Grandma McGrew got here. In the several months leading up to when Grandpa and Grandma got here, she never forgot about it! So we took them to a fun park and just called it "Rainbow Park." She actually noticed the rainbow bars (seen in the picture above to the left) and was certain that we found the right place!


Gavin loved the train!

Tysen liked the swing.

Mommy and Daddy played a game of tetherball (Daddy won) and then Alexa and Gavin played. There is a cute video below. I love how Gavin gets bonked in the face twice and just keeps laughing!

This is such a pretty park. We might have to return and try our luck fishing here.

upside down Alexa

08/12/2011 Zoo Rides

After the Wilds, we took the kids to the Columbus zoo. Grandpa and Grandma spoiled the kids by buying them ride wristbands so that they could go on unlimited rides for the rest of the evening. It turned out to be an awesome deal, at only $5 each. Especially considering that they rode the carousel 4 times each! It was a great evening to go, very cool weather and no crowds. In fact, the kids didn't have to ever wait in line for the rides and most of the time they were the only riders. Gavin lucked out, he barely made the height requirement to ride alone at 36 inches tall. Or maybe I should say that I lucked out since if he had been a tad shorter, I would have been the one to ride with him!

The kids loved these swings, but they made me so nervous! I had a really hard time watching the first time. I was so worried that they might try to climb out once it was up high and spinning. Luckily they stayed seated until the ride was over. There is a video below.

Getting ready to ride their favorite- the carousel!

Pure joy

Alexa says that this ride tickles her tummy!

They loved the train, too.

The Wilds Safari Tour

Another amazing adventure we got to share with Grandpa and Grandma McGrew was The Wilds. The Wilds is one of the world's largest conservation centers and is located on 10,000 acres near Zanesville, Ohio. We took a guided tour on an open-air bus and saw many of the rare and endangered species from around the world living in natural open-range habitat.
Gavin was so excited to ride on a bus! He loves buses! Alexa kept yelling out the names of the animals that she was spotting and Gavin kept pointing out all the other tour buses he saw in the distance, "Bus!"

We picked the most gorgeous day to go on the tour. It was 63 degrees and sunny. Even our guide said that it was the best day all year. Because of the cool weather, we saw almost all of the animals. On very hot days, the animals tend to stay put in the shade so we were very lucky. Most of the animals were out right next to the road so we could see them up close.

Alexa enjoyed seeing the animals and then finding the identification picture on her pamphlet.

The giraffes may have been our favorite animals that we saw that day.
Another favorite was the zebras, although I didn't get a picture. The only male of the pack was named Elvis!

We had chosen the tour recommended for children (it was the shortest tour, but still 1.5 hours) and afterwards we had the opportunity to go inside one of the education buildings to meet some of Jack Hanna's traveling animals. The kids got to pet a penguin, a silver fox, and an armadillo. They also brought in a 9 month old cheetah for us to see, but couldn't pet. The kids loved this.

The cheetah had his eye on my children playing in the back of the room! I was really glad that the man had a good hold on the leash.

Alexa pets the penguin.