Cupcakes, Zoo, and Pittsburgh

Another fun summer activity that we make time for is decorating cupcakes at a local cupcake bakery.  This was Nolan's first time that he got to decorate a cupcake on his own.  He was proud of himself.

As you can see by the results it is mostly a tower of frosting.  Carter ate most of his frosting and then said…"My tummy  hurts." Yep, 3 inches of sugary frosting will do that to you!

Over the weekend we went to Michigan to celebrate Jackson Lokers 4th birthday!  On our way back home we stopped at the Toledo Zoo.  This was our first time visiting this summer and there are quite a few new spots for us to check out.  Angie came with us so she could check it out too!

Checking out the flamingos

There is a new penguin exhibit where you get pretty close to the penguins.  While we were standing there, this penguin jumped out of the water and walked right up to Landon.  He was in seventh heaven!

Soon after that all the penguins shot up from out of the water and were so close to us.

Grandma Angie with the crazy boys

The aquarium was just reopened in May so they have made so many new improvements.  We were amazed with all the wonderful sea creatures.

In the large tank there was a scuba diver who was an older man.  He swam over to the boys waved, gave them a high five, and a fist pump.  It was so neat!

The new touch pools were super cool too!  Landon touched a shark!

The last week of July we planned a little road trip to Pittsburgh, PA.  The Malear family and Maw Maw joined us in our adventure.  Our first stop was the Children's Museum.  (With our membership to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History we get in free).  The boys and I had been there before a few years ago but they have made lots of changes so it was as if they had never been.

 This was a great space: The Studio!  In this space the kids could just create lots of art using different media.  There was a rubber band loom, easel to paint on, clay, and stations set up with workers for specific projects.

The paintings were so cool that they created.  They are now on display in our artwork frames.

Busy at work creating his coffee filter craft!

Carter even created a silk screen project.  It turned out so cool!

There was was a huge climbing structure in the wall.  The boys could have stayed in there the whole time.

Maw Maw even tried it out because Nolan asked her to come in…wrapped around her finger!

There was a water play floor.  So many fun activities they could do such as paint with water on a chalkboard.

 There was also a snow making machine that the kids then used the ice to play on a light table.  It was so cool.  There was some ice eating too…yuck!

The boys favorite space was the water floor where there was tubes and spouts that would could build your our fountains.  They played there for over an hour!  It cracks me up when they get so focused on a "job" that they have…moving water from one place to another…hard work!

 We stayed downtown at a Holiday Inn with a pool.  I am such a wimp when it comes to cold water so Maw Maw, Matt, and Katie got in with all the kids.

Epic Pool Hair by Maw Maw!

Exhausted!

The next morning we made our way to the Pittsburgh Zoo.  It is really neat to see all the zoos and explore their differences. It was 90 degrees in the shade that day and boy was this zoo hilly.  We were sweating and most of the animals were hiding in the shade but we enjoyed ourselves regardless.

The highlight of the day was the log ride.  It was a very small log boat that all the boys rode around the oval stream but they thought it was awesome.  Nolan was a little nervous but finally got in.  Landon was happy to sit in the front.

 What an adventure we had and so many memories we created!  That's what its all about!