Cincinnati with Family and Buble!

We had a fantastic weekend visiting Dave, Rachel, and Andrew in Cincinnati! For those who don't know, Dave is Tony's brother. It was so nice to spend a few days on vacation. Dave and Rachel live downtown so we were able to walk almost everywhere! It was so fun! The first morning we were there we walked to a bakery and got some breakfast bagels and a few pastries. Crazy enough by 9:00 they sold out of all their doughnuts, but we still enjoyed some yummy treats. Annika could not have been happier to see that they had smiley face cookies...and they were green! She is all about smiley faces right now, and her favorite color is green. She always wants green everything--green food, green clothes, green--anything. Annika calls smiley faces "filey faces" so you can see her saying it in the first picture on the left.














Later that day we walked a few blocks to a museum with a few children's exhibits. One of the exhibits was shaped like an elephant and had a bunch of drawers to pull out. Each drawer had something different in it and some made a sound. Annika's two favorites were the crayons and the blocks, some of her two favorite things to play with.



Annika's favorite exhibit at the museum was one where she pushed buttons on a silver cube and colored squares lit up in front of her. She couldn't get enough of it!



On Saturday Tony, Annika, Dave, and Andrew were able to catch some of the St. Patrick's Day parade that was only a block away from their place. Annika loved the sirens! In the afternoon we went to the Newport Aquarium. We all really enjoyed it. I have never been to an aquarium that had so many sharks! There was a huge tank filled with sharks that the kids could stand right up to and see them. It was awesome! They also had a place where we could touch some sharks. Annika LOVED it so say the least. This girl is fearless!



Saturday night Tony and I escaped and went to the Michael Buble concert! Tony got us seats on the floor as a Christmas gift. We had so much fun! Buble put on a GREAT show. I was definitely impressed. I hadn't been to a concert in 4 years or so and I've only been to 4 or 5 in my life, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was great. The concert just got better and better as it went on. It was so nice to spend the evening together. The concert was at the US Bank Arena which is only about 5 blocks from Dave and Rachel's apartment so we didn't even have to fight traffic! We could just walk. It was awesome! I would definitely go to another one of his concerts if I got the chance. Thanks to Dave and Rachel for watching our kids! (I forgot our camera, so this will have to do! :))



Before we left to go home we walked over to an ice cream shop. We had been promising Annika "white ice cream with sprinkles" since we got there. She was so excited to be there. She walked around touching all the Easter candy and was so happy to get her ice cream. However, once she saw my ice cream cone, that's all she wanted. Tony and I both got a specialty flavor they had called blackberry chip. IT WAS AMAZING! I love blackberry ice cream, and then to add chunks of dark chocolate cookies in it--I don't think it could get much better. YUMMMMMMMMY is all I have to say. One of my top ice cream experiences of all time.



So as you can tell we had a fantastic time. Tony enjoyed relaxing and watching a lot of basketball with Dave. I enjoyed helping Rachel out in the kitchen. She made us some amazing meals and desserts. I came home with some new recipes to try which is always fun. I am also happy they got to meet Aly. Right before we left Rachel took some cute pictures of Andrew and Aly with her camera, so when I get them, I will post them. Thanks Dave, Rachel, and Andrew for having us!