Memorial Weekend - Cincinnati Vacation

For Memorial weekend, we decided to take a mini-vacation to break the week up for the boys since they would be out of school all week. We wanted to stay relatively close to home since this would be Claire's first road trip...so we chose Cincinnati.

We left on Sunday morning with a jam-packed car. The drive over went great - Claire slept and the boys were entertained by a movie and their Leapsters. Upon arrival, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was a very busy and HOT day at the zoo - lots of ups and downs in terms of mood and weather (got a little overcast relief) for the day. Claire had the luxury of a shaded stroller with a personal fan. Boys had several favorites of the day and Claire was a great tag-a-long/trooper. Ordered delivery pizza to the hotel room and called it a night...Brady took a little bit to crash and crash he did.

The next day, Memorial Day, we were heading to Kings Island. We promised the boys if they were good listeners and were well-behaved that they would get to swim that evening at the hotel. We had a really GREAT day...it wasn't very crowded since it was the holiday, the weather was slightly milder, and the rides were a blast! We kicked it off with a ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower to survey the park and plan our attack. We rode several rides more than once and spent the majority of the day in the new section, Planet Snoopy. Connor loved the roller coasters (there were a few that were smaller scale for his age) and Brady would usually try every ride once. Connor usually rode twice and traded off the parents. I can't wait until he is older and we can return for all the BIG roller coasters which Kings Island is known for. As promised, we went back to the hotel and let the boys swim. Connor loved the fact that he could touch and could practice his swimming.

The final day was indoors, thank goodness. Claire had been a great sport the last couple days, but we didn't want to overdo it for her. We went to EnterTRAINment Junction which was all about trains. It is a fairly new place that they are continuing to expand on, but there is the world's largest train display, a train-themed play area for the kids, and a couple kid sized train rides. We spent a couple hours there before heading back home.

The vacation was fun, but I think we all would have preferred a water-themed vacation (the beach) since it was so HOT! Looking forward to next year when Claire will be old enough to travel that far and I am sure she will love the sand and ocean!

Enjoy the picture slideshow from our three days...