My "Fair" Triplets!

We ventured out to the heart of Appalachia yesterday and went to the Clermont County Fair!

It was Kids Day which meant the boys not only got free admission, but free rides. Plus, all military and military dependants got in free, too. So for $10, the boys, Nana, and I got to have a great afternoon!

We visited all the animals first ... mooed at the cows,oinked at the pigs, quacked at the ducks. And then -- the real fun began -- the RIDES!

First up, the Rainbow Funhouse which was a huge maze of slides, tunnels, climbing walls, and bridges. All three of the boys had a blast and went through the thing multiple times! (Noel needs to work on his dismount ... he had a litle trouble on the last slide out of the house.)




Unfortunately, after the big Rainbow Funhouse, Tanner decided he was done with the rides and he watched Hayden and Noel from the choo choo.

Hayden and Noel, however, had discovered ... THE DRAGON! Legends tells of a legendary dragon whose roller coaster skills were the stuff of legends!*** (Actually it was a itty bitty roller coaster that went in a very small circle.) Hayden LOVED it -- he would run off and get right back in line.




We found a ride that was jeeps and motorcycles -- that got a bunch of "Beep! Beep!"s out of Hayden and Noel!



We tried out the spinning bear, but it was HOT inside that big metal bear!

Hayden and Noel loved the carousel, but I wasn't allowed to touch their "horsey" because "I can do it, Mommy!" Sigh ... they are growing up waaaaay too fast.


We ended our visit with a ride on the "Flying Cars"!


***This is my lame attempt to be funny and use one of my all-time favorite quotes from "Kung Fu Panda". Check it out here!

Everybody into the Pool!

I'm beginning to see the value of having a pool.

When we bought the house and for the last two summers, all I saw was a death trap for my babies. Now, with a self-closing and locking gate around the whole pool, a door alarm on our house doors, and these new Puddle Jumpers, I'm starting to relax and enjoy the pool with the boys.

Hayden is now jumping by himself into the pool!

And when he gets tired, he just lays back and floats. Did I mention how much I love these Puddle Jumpers?

But nothing beats being thrown in the air by Daddy! (This first picture is great -- Dan was telling Hayden to close his eyes when he threw him ... Hayden would then cover his eyes with his hands instead of actually closing his eyes.)



Tanner was leery at first, but once he found that he popped right back up to the surface he eventually loved getting throw in the air.

He also loved catching a ride around the pool on Dan's back.

But mostly Tanner was happiest just sitting by the side of the pool kicking his feet in the water.


Noel, our land lover, was content just to sit on the stairs of the pool by the warm water waterfall.

Our Newest Find!

The township next to us just put in a brand new park with awesome playground equipment.

While our local township park is PACKED every day, this park was EMPTY. Literally, we were the only people there for a 1/2 hour. Then two other kids showed up. I think we will be hanging out here more frequently as the park was clean, fenced in, and the boys had a great time!

How crazy is this picture? Yes, this is Hayden going down a zip line ... by himself!

Hayden and Noel are such monkeys -- they love to climb. And they sometimes like to scare the crap out of me by trying to climb up things that are meant for much older kids. But, they can do it and are so proud of themselves when they get to the top!



The slides are super fast -- I'm guessing that they will slow down with use and time, but it was like they were greased up because the boys went so fast! Even Dan had to try them out!




Thanks, Pierce Township! We LOVE your new park!!

C'mon Ride the Train!

The boys have become fascinated with trains, so today we went to see an outdoor garden train layout. Every year the Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society has a tour that is free and open to the public! These people open up their homes so that we can tromp through their backyard and look at their trains!

And what they have done is simply amazing and beautiful!


The boys were quite taken with watching the trains go all throughout the backyard ... over bridges, into tunnels ... it was very exciting for them and I was so proud that they sat so quietly and did not try and touch or grab the trains.

Red Lobster

We took Nana out for a birthday celebration lunch to Red Lobster.

A couple days before we went, we played that old B-52s song, Rock Lobster and taught the boys to say "Red Lobster!" at the appropriate place in the song.

It sounded like such a good idea at the time.

Thankful, the boys' shouts of "RED LOBSTER!" at the top of their lungs didn't happen much inside the restaurant.

We had a really good lunch!

Noel especially enjoyed eating the tomatoes off our salads. (I love how he has his pinkie up -- the boy is ready for High Tea!)

Hayden practically ate my entire salad. I was pretty impressed -- I don't know many two year olds who would rather have salad than french fries!



Tanner enjoyed all the croutons dipped in ranch dressing.

So, I essentially had my entire salad dissected and consumed by the boys.

At the end, our server brought us a BIG bowl of ice cream and we sang "Happy Birthday to Nana".


Hayden chowed down on the ice cream. I would have tried to get a spoonful or two for myself, but I was afraid I'd get my arm chewed off by the ice cream hog.

Tanner enjoyed licking the spoonful of chocolate sauce -- the kid's a sucker for anything chocolate!

Noel was also a big ice cream fan, but preferred to be spoon fed. Can't tell he's the youngest, can you?