The Jansens Go To Cincinnati
The first time I went to Cincinnati was April of 2023. Kaci and I took a little friendship trip that resulted in me falling in love with the city. I remember walking near Washington Park, and all I could think about was how much I thought my family would enjoy it too. Since that April weekend, we have had "Go to Cincinnati" on our bucket list. After our little getaway last week, we can check it off the list!
I already knew I loved Cincinnati, but I can truly say that I loved it even more with these four (and their father) in tow. They were chill travelers, they were happy to try new things, they were easy to please. They were just so fun to be with. I remember getting a glimpse of this last year in Nashville; back then it felt like our first time traveling with "big kids". This year beats last year for me. Life just keeps getting sweeter.
Top Golf + Red's Game
The drive to Cincinnati is already pretty short, but we decided to break it up with some lunchtime fun at Top Golf in Indy. We knew Auggie would love it (he has been before) but didn't know about the others. We should have known. Em is always up for anything, Bennett lives for being Doug's buddy/doing anything that Auggie has done before, and Theo (the one that we didn't think would want to golf for two hours) ended up being the one that might have wanted to golf the most. His form is not great, but it sure is cute. After golf we had just enough time to stop at our airbnb before walking to the Reds vs Cubs game (with lots of Cardinal gear on). Where we stayed plus Cincinnati being such a safe and friendly city allowed us to walk or ride the Connecter (free public streetcar) everywhere we went, which ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip. My kiddos turned into quite the city slickers! The Red's game was awesome. It was 3-2-1 night meaning $3 beers, $2 hotdogs and $1 ice cream. The section we sat in also had $9 food vouchers for each ticket. Lets just say we ate a lot of hotdogs. Other highlights include: meeting their mascot Mr. Red (he's no Fredbird), playing wiffle ball, and running into the Rinkers (Auggie's best bud was at the game too!). Oh, and the Reds beat the Cubs. The whole night was a win!
Everything Cincinnati
Our first full day plan was to do all things Cincinnati. And that we did. We started with a walk along the river, stoping to play in the park areas and braving a short walk over the suspension bridge. After that we headed to brunch where we happened to run into the food tour guide that Kaci and I spent the day with when we went in April. He was clearly giving a tour, but I couldn't not say hi and tell him that he was one of the reasons I brought my family back. His group wanted to know if he had payed me to say that! After brunch we boarded the Connector and waited to hop off at Washington Park. Our time spent in Washington Park was our simplest yet favorite part of the trip. Everyone agrees, and I love that so much. The little two ran around shirtless playing in the fountains (with Aug eventually joining) while the rest of us sat in the shade with a cold drink just chatting about anything and everything. Eventually we made it to some cool slides and a circle-monkey-bar-swing thing that I think Bennett would still be hanging on if we had let him. All of it was beautiful and felt like a real break.
After Washington park we hopped back on the Connector and made our way to Findlay Market, where Doug drooled over everything and we all picked an afternoon treat. Rhinegeist Brewery was one block further, so Doug and I found another cold drink, and we played ping-pong with the kids (no one is good but Douglas). By this time Theodore had asked if it was time to go swimming 145 times, so we hurried back to our airbnb for a dip in the pool...just in time for a quick storm to roll through. On to Plan B: lounge around until the storm passes and walk one street over for the biggest and yummiest pizza and a night of fun. We were able to take our Goodfella's pizza in to Pin's Mechanical for a night of duck pin bowling (Doug won), more ping-pong (you can guess who won) and a new game called Hookie (where in a crazy turn of events the two blondies and I won!). I don't think at the time I realized all we had done in one day. But writing it out...no wonder we all spelt so good!
The Cincinnati Zoo + Afternoon at the Pool + One Last Connector Ride
We tossed around a lot of options for this day, but kept going back to the zoo. Even though there was a chance of rain all day, we decided to chance it and hoped this would make for a smaller crowd. We ended up having the perfect (sweaty) zoo day. Theo still swears seeing the hippos were his favorite, but somehow he must be forgetting that we got to feed the giraffes and be an arms length away from the kangaroos! The kid just really loves hippos I guess. The Cincinnati Zoo lived up to all of the hype; it had absolutely beautiful gardens, cool close up encounters with so many animals, and everyone was so nice. Actually that is another big take away from Cincinnati. Every single person-from waiter to stranger on the streetcar-was so nice. After the zoo all we wanted to do was cool off, so pool time take two. This time the sun was shinning! We swam and snacked and enjoyed the kid's rendition of synchronized swimming (USA!). We had plans to stay in and cook supper...but what fun are dishes on a vacation? So to finish up our last night it was back to the Connector for one more trip around the city (which Theo used for a perfect little nap session). It was another full, fun day.
Splash Island
Way back in June, when we started throwing out ideas for summer trips, all my kids asked for was a water park. They didn't care where. They just wanted to go on waterslides. Easy enough! Again, the drive home from Cincinnati isn't long, but we decided to break it up and picked a waterpark near Indy. All week the forecast for Friday looked dismal, and I was worried we were not going to be able to deliver the one thing the kids had really asked for. Thankfully, we ended up with sunshine and a small crowd! The weather forecast combined with the fact that most schools in Indy were back in session gave us the best no lines, swim so long we can't swim anymore day. We all had fun, but I think Theo was the happiest little fish.
Home
We made it home Friday evening with little unpacking to do and a whole weekend ahead of us. I was sad for our trip to be over--it all just felt sweet and easy and even though we stayed busy, we also felt relaxed and rested. Well I mean our legs were tired from all the walking....but on the inside. It was the perfect little getaway for the inside. For our family.
Actually...I think I would go anywhere with this crew!
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