Last day of Summer break

On Soph's last day of Summer break I took the day off to do some fun things with the kiddos. First, we went to the pool only to find out they had already moved to school hours so it was close. So then we went to the splash pad:

 Then Soph had swim lessons and was moved up to the next level! I'm so proud of my little swimmer!

 After swim lessons we went for ice cream:

Buckeye Bounce and the park

Soph and Eli were invited to their friend Jacob's birthday party at Buckey Bounce. They had a blast.

 I didn't get a picture of Eli going down the slide because he fell off backwards:

 But he didn't even cry (despite me running like a mad woman to get him):

 Soph was running around with all her friends so sadly I couldn't get many pictures of her:

 All the kiddos:

 Happy Birthday, Jacob!

 That evening we went to dinner and to the kids favorite park which has this really cool swing:

 Eli loves the dinosaur slide:

Shale Hollow Preserve

One Sunday we went to one of our favorite places which jsut so happens to be only five minutes away from our house - Shale Hallow Preserve. The kids loves going there.

 Soph loves climbing:

 Eli loves the sticks, rocks and water:

 Soph found a hidden rock:

Eli's birthday party

We had a little cookout at our house to celebrate Eli's birthday. Soph helping her little brother:

 Of course the water slide was a hit:

 So was the trampoline:

 Sports cake since he loves sports and all balls:

 Eli loved having everyone sing happy birthday to him:

 We tried getting a family picture and this is what we got:

 Blowing out his candles:

He had a great time!!

Zoo with Nana and Poppy

My parents were in town for Eli's birthday and I had a work event at the zoo so my parents went with us. We all had so much fun!

 

The kids LOVE the zoo:

My dad wanted to see the elephants:

The lions were out:

The Flintstones were there so we got a group picture (El had to work):

Eli was Poppy's boy:

As part of my work event we were able to feed the giraffe's (which my parents had never done before):

We also had a private lunch with an up close experience with the animals. It was really cool - Eli eating a cookie: