All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...Ohio here we come!!
All snuggled up and sleeping (finally!) after a looooooooooong day of traveling.
The first day of our vacation was a travel day and the second day we spent getting caught up with Robbie's grandparents who we haven't seen since the kids were about 8 months old. On the third day, we packed up our SUV and headed for the Toledo Zoo with Robbie's Aunt Sharon and her grandson Justin (who was a lifesaver on this trip!) along with Robbie's parents.
We saw lots of animals that we don't see at home like giraffes....
Rhinos (no idea why this guys horns are backward)...
and the cutest little 3 week old elephant you have ever seen!!
It was a little warmer than we are used to. Abby even told me that she likes the weather in Washington better...pretty sure she is NOT my kid!
Ben fell in love with a meerkat which was apparently "the cutest thing that I ever even saw" and had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that he couldn't live with him and be his daddy. He walked around the zoo like this for close to 40 minutes.
We had a great family day...
even if it did leave us a little tuckered out!
The next day was sunny again and we headed over to the city pool where we all had fun playing in the water.
Ben really wanted to jump off the diving board and was disappointed when he didn't quite make it across the pool to pass the swim test.
The following day was our big family outing to Cedar Point, a HUGE amusement park known for all of it's roller coasters. While Robbie spent time riding the 3rd tallest roller coaster in the world, among others, the kids and I spent a lot of time on some tamer rides...
They couldn't have been happier when we finally found Snoopy
and we even had front row seats to his ice skating show!!
Afterward we enjoyed some Icees
and won some prizes (thanks Aunt Sharon!!)
And we all got a little wet on the water rides!
After our long day at Cedar Point we just kind of laid low the next day, visiting with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa and resting up for our busy evening. Once again, we headed into Toledo and started out with dinner at the famous (or so we were told) Tony Packos where they serve gigantic hot dogs (and yes, he did eat all of it!)...
and chili sundaes.
Then we headed across the street to watch the Toledo Mud Hens, the AAA affiliate for the Tigers. We represented the Mariners...
hung out with a few of our favorite guys...
bought new hats...
and had our picture taken with a variety of Toledo mascots...
(These are the Mud Hens mascots, Muddy and Muddonna!)
The evening ended with a fireworks show (which Ben obviously loved...)
The next day we were up bright and early to drive to another zoo in Cleveland to meet up with family on the Miller side from New York. We had so much fun meeting cousin Abby!!
We also spent the day with her parents Sherman (Robbie's cousin, can you tell?!?) and Melissa and Robbie's Aunt Peggy.
We saw even more new animals...
and the Abbys became fast friends!
It was a great day!
But it sure wore us out!!
On our last full day in Ohio we had the Saul family reunion. We met lots of new family and spent the day catching up with everyone. Here are Ben and Abby with Great Grandpa.
Here we all are, Robbie's grandparents and all of their kids and most of their grandkids!
Abby and Ben loved Justin!!
At some point Abby grabbed the camera to take some self portraits...
I grabbed the camera back to snag some pictures of everyone with Great Grandma...
Cousins, Ben & Ben...
and Abby and Ben with Ben and Gage...
That evening we all played Duck Duck Goose in Great Grandma's backyard!
We had an amazing trip filled with lots of family and lots of fun. While we were there, Ben perfected his cannon ball...
and Abby perfected her belly flop!!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful trip! We love you!!
