Vacation - Day 2

We started Day 2 off in the pool.  Mornings seemed to be the best time to go since no one was around then.  The kids also enjoyed the glass elevator (once Butterfly was convinced the cables were strong enough to hold us).

Excited to get into the pool!

Then off we went to COSI -- Columbus' science center.  Our science center membership got us in for free.  We did have to pay for the Mythbusters exhibit though.  I'd say it was worth it seeing as we spent half our time in that area.

For the Mythbusters fan, this was awesome!  They had actual items from the show on display.  If you've watched the show, you'll recognize some of these . . .

Sparkle pulled the tablecloth out from under the dishes without them crashing to the ground! (The same cannot be done with the silky gold table cloth in the background.)

This was the live show they did while we were there -- can you dodge a bullet (paint ball)?  They asked us to volunteer, but some of us chickened out and wouldn't do it. I won't mention names to protect the innocent.

A little message from Adam.  Was hoping they would have a "Do I still have my eyebrows?" t-shirt.

This display allowed you to see how fast you could move out of the way of a speeding bullet.  The Knight was the fastest in our family.

Not sure what this was, but we thought it was cool -- even our toenail polish glowed!

One of the Knight's and my favorite episodes, the rocket water heater!

Bud would have stayed here for hours.  He was racing a plane and a car.  By turning the dials, you could control the speed of both and lift the plane off the ground.  When we asked the kids what their favorite part of the science center was, this was his favorite.  I love his look of deep concentration.

Testing toast landing butter side or butter side down.

A science center is a science center, so I won't show too many photos.  I loved this photo though, so I had to share it.  We were in the 'Progressive' section.  There were two sets of the same stores/restaurants/etc. One from the horse and buggy days, and one updated to the 50's or 60's, I can't remember.  This picture was taken in the merchandise store.  The kids were fascinated with the phone.

As we were walking to the last exhibit, this man started putting on a "science show" about liquid nitrogen.  That always fascinates me -- and apparently, my children.

Because the penny is no longer made of only copper, he was able to "freeze" them and break them into pieces! Wow!

Then outside we went for the last few activities.  Think you could lift a car? Two weeks after appendix surgery?  Well, this contraption makes it possible.  Had to remind hubby it was probably a bit too soon to be using his core muscles that much.

This echo well was great fun until a certain 6-yr old boy started saying silly things like, "I have stinky toots."  Thankful we were the only people outside at the time!

This cement ball could be pushed and would roll in place all because of the water flowing underneath it.

Looks like they had a great time!

We ended our day at Cici's Pizza.  All the Cici's in our area have closed, so we enjoyed a special treat that night. The kids love the pizza and the arcade.  The Knight loves the chicken alfredo pizza.  I love the spinach alfredo pizza (or "grass pizza" as my kids like to call it) & the flip pizza.  It's a win-win!

Vacation - Day 1

I can already tell I'm going to make multiple posts regarding our vacation.  Today is Day 1, and I already have about 130 pictures.  I'll spare you and try to whittle that number down.

Some cool pictures from our ride there . . .

Cool bridge we drove over in WV

Loved this "stair-stepper" picture of the Knight and the kids looking at a grasshopper they found

Once we arrived in Columbus, our first stop was Cap City Diner.  Someone had recommended it as a great place to eat -- so glad they did!  I had Pecan-crusted Pork Chops with an apple glaze -- UH-may-zing!  The Knight had a BBQ Chicken BLT and of all things, my Princess Sparkle ordered Meatloaf!  Apparently, they are pretty well known for it.

As we finished up, our waitress brought this delight to our table!  She said because it was our first time there, she wanted to give us their prize dessert . . . Seriously Big Chocolate Cake!  Seriously.  That's the name of the cake. HA!

 

Then we were off to Easton Mall -- land of the American Girl and Lego stores.

 

I don't even know how to describe this next part.  I know I can't do it justice.  The girls were ecstatic to say the least when they walked into the American Girl store!  They moved from display to display with wide eyes and giggles.

 

Butterfly's favorite doll -- Rebecca

The girls had worked hard to earn money and had saved up money for this trip. Some of the items they wanted weren't available at the store.  They decided to let their dolls have a day at the spa.  Each doll got washed and powdered, hair done and received a spa gift set to bring home.  Spa set included robe, mask, cucumber (stickers) and nail polish (stickers) in a cute mini AG bag.

McKenna getting her hair done.

Sparkle is thrilled with the fishtail braid

A bow is being added to Noel's hair

The anticipation is more than she can handle!

An adventure of a lifetime!

 Now for the Lego store.  Honestly, it was a huge disappointment.  There are more Lego Friends (girl Legos) available at Walmart.  The store was very small.  I had envisioned rows of selections -- not so.  The Lego sets lined three walls.  The last wall was pretty cool though.  Bud ended up buying a couple small things and then bought a small bucket of miscellaneous Legos that he picked from this wall.  Let me just say as the son of a master packer mom, this kid made out!  There was a set price for everything you could fit in the bucket.

He ended up with the small bucket of Legos, a Spiderman Lego keychain, a mini set to make a helicopter and a small set that included a truck, trailer and a boat that actually floats!

Bud paying for his Legos

Happy with his purchases

Butterfly couldn't wait to give Noel a spa treatment and pedicure

This poor kid was about ready to have a coronary over the day's excitement!!

Noel's pedicure

Since the dolls were pampered, us big girls decided to get pampered too!

Sparkle's nails

Sparkle's toe nails

Butterfly's nails

Butterfly's toe nails

 

THAT was one full day!  I think it's safe to say we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's Been Too Long

Ok. So it just took me 10 minutes to get logged in to my blog.  It's been so long since I posted that I couldn't remember my password to get in! {sigh}

Well, the short version of where we've been is . . . months ago, our beloved son spilled iced tea all over our laptop leaving us with no computer.  Believe it or not, it's still being repaired.  He really did a bang up job of it.  We've borrowed a laptop occasionally to get us through the end of the school year, then purchased and set up a stripped down desktop from a friend (still can't get Adobe Reader to load or the sound to work) and have also added the Knight's new "work" laptop with Windows 8 (with no MS Office products) to the collection.  Any of you who have used Windows 8 knows it makes your life miserable, and it's no fun trying to do anything on it.  Throw in a busy summer, and it's easy to see why there's been no blogging.

I'd love to rewind and catch up on everything we've been doing, but there may be one gi-gundo blog post summarizing our summer especially since we are starting school and going to take a mini vacation next week.