Tuesday, July 27, 2010

First Family Vacation with Connor

Last week we took our first vacation with Connor. We decided to keep it simple and went to Cincinnati. We basically just did one major thing a day and for the most part took it easy. So this is a brief description of what we did, with pictures :)

Tuesday
We did not do a whole lot on Tuesday. We got to Cincinnati in the late afternoon and went to Ikea, because Abigail had a gift card from a while ago she needed to use, and this was the closest one. It is a big store, but not my thing. However, they did have smooth concrete floors with carts that had four wheels that all swiveled independently. This mean the cart did cool things like glide sideways, and it spun really easily. I think I got Connor to spin a 720 in the cart at one point.
After that we went to a restaurant that Abigail got a "groupon" for called Chezburger Cafe. It was a burger and shake place. I was tempted to get my picture on the wall by completing their speed eating challenge, but instead went for a brownie batter milkshake and a regular burger. It was good stuff. From there we drove all the way across the Cincinnati area to the hotel we were staying at.

Wednesday
Every day we got a late start (on purpose) Every morning, we also began with taking Connor to the pool. Which he enjoyed:
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In the late morning/early afternoon we went to the Newport Aquarium. Going to the aquarium was the main reason that we chose this area. Earlier this summer, we took him to the Indianapolis Zoo and he loved watching the fish. He got a little tired at the aquarium, but he did enjoy it:
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After the aquarium, Connor was spent and we still had most of the day, so we went to a local game store in the same area called Newport Games. It was an absolutely amazing store to browse. It focused on miniatures and wargames. Along with the typical warhammer stuff, he also had bookshelves absolutly stuffed with old obscure games, new small press games, new big box games, and out of print books about war. It felt like every shelf held a buried treasure, and it was a lot of fun to browse. We did end up leaving the store with the game Naval Battles, which is a lot of fun.
That evening we went to Skyline Chili, because we were in the Cincinnati area after all. Connor enjoyed the aquarium, but for all of today he was running a little temperature and this night was a little rough for everyone.

Thursday
We got an even later start on Thursday. We drove to Jungle Jim's, which is a huge (as in 6 1/2 acres huge) grocery store. I think they may possibly have everything that is edible.
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Along with some of the food that Abigail liked from England we walked out with chocolate flavored soda and shrimp flavored chips. After a while in the grocery store, Connor was tired and we tracked down a Caribou Coffee, which is a Starbucks like place that Abigail really likes.
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In the evening we took Connor to his first baseball game. We did not go to a Reds game, but went for the dramatically cheaper Freedom who just happened to be playing the Evansville Otters.
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Friday
On Friday, on our way home we stopped at the Creation Museum. Without getting to much into what the museum is all about, a few thoughts. First, I was absolutely shocked at how busy the place was. I assumed that the crowd would be really lite. It was beyond packed. We got there an hour after they were open, and we were in the overflow parking. It was almost to busy for us to be there with a stroller. So we skipped parts of it. I did think that the place was put together really well. They did a good job at making the point, that this is an interpretation of science that assumes the Bible is the inspired, factual word of God. They focused on their understanding of the science of the creation story and flood, mixed with a standard gospel presentation.
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My biggest thought was, trying to figure out what the point for the place existing is. It was very obvious that the vast majority of people there agreed with everything they were being told AND already knew it all. It all seemed a little self gratifying. I do think something I would like to do in the future though is take a group to both the Natural History Museum in Cincinnati and the Creation Museum. I think it could lead to a fascinating discussion.
Connor did fall asleep for most of it, despite the crowds.
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Saturday
We returned home Friday night, but Saturday was still part of our vacation because it ended on Sunday. We did not do a whole lot on Saturday. However, we did try to see if Connor was the cutest baby in Hendricks County.
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He did not win. As you can tell from the picture, he was really tired. Also, when he got the judges he did not smile. He smiles for everyone but he does not preform, so he did not smile. Seriously, if he acted like he did when it was over, he might have won.
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Sunday
On Sunday, we went to the Brickyard 400. Because I had just started at Avon last year, we missed the race which is a family tradition. This year Abigail's step dad went as well while her mom watched Connor.
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Connor did look cute in his Jeff Gordon outfit.
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I think it was a good vacation!

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anut Becky said...

Fantastic You made my morning.

6:10 AM  

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