Kings Island

Our dear friends, Chrissy and Shaun, invited us to visit Kings Island on the 4th of July when they offered free entry for military. This is the largest amusement park in the midwest and has rides for all ages. I hadn't been here since I was a teenager, so I was excited to take my kids.

Shaun's sister in law and nieces joined us. Everyone wanted to hold Shaun's hand.

The kids have been very interested in rides, so this was an exciting day. As soon as we entered the Snoopy kids area, we had them measured to see which rides they qualified for. Both fell into the 36" bracket, which is the smallest, but tall enough for quite a few rides.

They rode about 8 different rides, and rode their favorite, driving a car around a track multiple times.

We all enjoyed some Kings Island signature blue raspberry ice cream.

Later we experienced their Dinosaur Alive walk. It's a densely forested area with a winding walkway that leads you thru about 40 animatronic, life-sized dinosaurs hidden throughout. This makes it the World's largest animatronic dinosaur park! The kids really enjoyed the walk although Asher was a little scared and had his ears covered for a good portion of the walk.

Check out Asher's shoes. They leave dinosaur prints when he walks! He loves them.

I have to admit, it was strange leaving there without riding something, and no, 

the Snoopy helicopter thing I rode with Asher doesn't count! We did manage to catch 

the 4th of July fireworks before driving home! A perfect ending to a great day!

Touch a truck, Westerville, Ohio

The kids LOVE trucks. Fire trucks, garbage trucks, and "diggie" (construction) trucks are their favorite. Any chance at seeing these up close is exciting. This was the second time they've been to an event like this and they loved it.

Driving a school bus. 

...and of course the diggie trucks!

Sitting in the front seat of Westerville's brand new police car! 

The kids thought sitting in the back cage was fun until I told them that's where people

who are bad sit. They couldn't get out of the car fast enough. HA!

Not only did they get to check out this animal control vehicle, the officer 

taught them how to catch snakes with her tools and had them practice. 

She's having them pretend that her stick is a snake for Journey to catch.

When the event was over we watched this news helicopter take off, very exciting!

Strawberries and jam

I wanted to take the kids strawberry picking and the season was winding down fast. I found Doran's Farm was still open so we went there to find out it was their very last day of picking! We enjoyed walking thru the rows searching for the perfect berries.

Journey kept wanting to eat them, but we waited until after paying only to be told by the nice woman who owns the place that eating while picking is totally acceptable. Good to know, the kids would have enjoyed it more if they were able to eat their way thru the rows.

They also sell amazing jams there. We tried the strawberry and the tart cherry and need to go back for more.

Boonshoft Museum, Dayton, Ohio

On our way thru Ohio, we were excited for the opportunity to stay with our friends, Chrissy and Shaun in Jeffersonville. Our kids had a ton of fun playing together. The boys especially enjoyed tending the garden together.

In the morning, we met one of my twin moms, Elizabeth, and three of her kids at the Boonshoft Museum in Dayton. This is a unique place as it's the only museum in the US that is considered a children's museum, science and technology center, and zoo. The science and technology exhibits are on the first floor.

We loved this room where all of your movements show up on the big screen in front of you. 

A fun place to dance and spin around!

The zoo is on the second floor and holds otters, a bobcat and our favorite, African meerkats, among the animals on display. Asher and Journey asked for our phones so they could take their own photos.

Also on the second floor are play areas like a pizza shop, a courtroom, and a garbage truck to play on.