Cincy Trip - Cubs vs. Reds

The last day of our trip (and the initial reason why we planned the trip) was a Cubs vs. Reds game. We checked out of our hotel and made our way to Great American Ballpark just across the bridge!









We had a little bit of time before the gates opened.





We made our way inside and down to the field.





There was no batting practice that day as the game the night before ran late and into extra innings, but there were a few pitchers out there stretching and tossing.





I'm not gonna lie - it was hot! We were directly in the sun and these two really had no idea why we were just standing there. LOL





We had a brought a ball for Luke to try to get an autograph, but he didn't understand why you would want that (and really, neither can I).



Wally couldn't leave that spot just yet though, Jake Arrieta was doing long toss and it was impressive!



We finally headed out to find the kids' area!








The game was getting close to starting so we went to find our seats.



I thought it might be a good idea to have Luke keep score. Of course he doesn't know a whole lot about baseball yet and certainly doesn't know position numbers, but we would just tell him what to write and where to write it and it at least kept him interested in the game for awhile!



Ty lasted all of maybe 2 innings...he was so good on the entire trip, but it all caught up to him and even food wasn't making him happy. Wally took him for a walk and he quickly fell asleep so they hung out in some shade for awhile. Luke, Paige, and I watched the game and kept score. Paige was standing and said, I'm tired of standing...LOL...so I told her to sit in her seat...you can imagine where this is all going...Luke was getting frustrated keeping score until a Reds player hit a homerun and then he wanted to mark that one down in the book and then that was it...time to get up! We made it to the 5th!

We found Wally & Ty who had just woken up and made our way back to the kids area so Luke could play in the little field. So much happier!



These two found some shade while we waited for Luke's turn to hit.



There he is - up to bat!





Then he went to play the field for a bit!



We knew going into this that the game would be the hardest part of the vacation for the kids...in fact, a night game actually might have actually gone over better for them!  But we had a ton of fun on the trip.  It is always nice to getaway.  We didn't see a Cubs victory (in fact it was a terrible game), but we stayed in the ballpark until it was over and then made the walk back over the bridge to our car and headed home!

Cincy Trip - Riverfront Fun

Tuesday was our free day so we started by just driving around the downtown area and everyone fell asleep - it was a long day at King's Island the day before.  So we continued to drive around a little longer to let them rest.  Once we parked and woke everyone up, Luke & Paige were beasts!  It really wasn't the best start to the day.



So I asked Luke to take a picture of the 3 of us that were excited for the day! Ha!



Once we found the splash pads and park stuff, everyone perked up and the day quickly turned around (thank goodness!).



The riverfront is so fun!



There are little parks all along the way and splashpads too (all free fun!).















These swings were so nice - we sat there for about 30 minutes just relaxing!









These two were having so much fun together!





And then Paige busted in too! :)



Look how cute they are!



We went to get some lunch and Luke decided that we should rent one of the bikes we saw. So...we did and I'm so glad! We were all laughing so hard!







As we were riding, we came across another hidden park!





After our bike ride, it was time to put on some swimsuits and really hit the fun splash pads!

But first, a carousel ride!





They all had so much fun running around in the water!



















Our last stop of the day was for ice cream of course! They were out of Cubs helmets - Cub fans travel well :)





We headed back to the hotel and just warmed up some leftovers in the room for dinner, had some leftover birthday cake from Ty's party and then hit the pool. I would have never heard the end of it if the kids didn't get to swim at the hotel.



And a little video!



It was another great day!