More Cleveland

U.S.S Cod.

the boys barely fit through the opening. None of the openings or stairways have not been altered

Momsen lung. used from 1930-1950's. these were what they used if they were in shallow water and had to evacuate the submarine, They would fill this bag with oxygen and then put it on and re-breathe all the air until they reached the oceans surface. A little scary.

the pantry

Ben learning to steer.

going between each room.

The refridgerator.This was down below the main deck where all the cold food was. I would hate to go down there and be the cook. They had an ice cream maker and the cook would make fresh bread every morning that would cook all through the night and be ready for the morning. In the kitchen they would also watch movies and play games.

Ben controlling the Submarine

Siena checking out the fun toys.

these bathrooms are worse than airplanes

the little scary hatch to crawl down into

kitchen and eating area

Dave showing Ben how to aim.

I had no idea we would find so much to do in Cleveland. Dave found this old World War II Fleet submarine that they had docked in Lake Erie. It was really cool and you got to go in and tour it. Siena was so scared when we got there she wouldn't go near it. We finally got her on it at the end to take a family picture. I have to admit it was a little creepy down there. It was on the lake so when you crawled down there, which is pretty far, the submarine would rock. So I was the first one since we had to take turns with Siena being stubborn. It was creepy too because I was the only one in there. They are so tiny. This submarine held 97 crewmen. The opening to go down into is so small and then each room is seperated by a little door you have to crawl through. It brought a whole new respect for people that were actually on them down in the ocean. It was very interesting. The U.S.S Cod was very successful in WWII. The guys that ran it were very friendly and told us a lot of cool stories. One of the crewman that commanded the ship (I don't know if these are the right terms) in WWII lives in Cleveland and comes once a month to board it and walk the submarine. The men there say he is very old now and it takes him forever to do it but I thought that was really cool that the one submarine that he was on is there and that he can visit it often.

It took Ben a while to like the slides

we loved the kiddy pool

racing

dancing in the waterfall

splashing each other

The water park was really fun even though the kids really just stayed in the kiddy pool. There was a wave pool that we were in and then the waves turned on and Siena ran away. There were 3 big enclosed slides that went out the hotel and then came back in. Dave tried it and said they were fun. There was a big ride at the top with a tube that was really fun too. In a couple years our kids would have explored it a lot more. There was a big climbing area that had one of those huge buckets that dumps water on you every couple minutes and it freaked the kids out. There were two other pools that they went in for a little while. One that had basketball hoops and one that had a rope that you could walk across. It was really fun and I am glad we stayed there instead of just a regular hotel.

Sandusky Oh

For the last couple of Memorial days we go to Hershey Amusement park so we knew we had to hit one up this Memorial day too.

most of the big roller coaster here were the highest or fastest in the country when they first came out.

I did not like this ride, the whole ride went around and then each car (balloon) would spin. Siena loved it, Ben did not he would grab my hand and say too big.

of course it's pink.

these were the coolest things, they had a little timed motor that went for a couple minutes. It basically caused the kids to drive in circles but they loved it.

Do you know what is famous in Sandusky Ohio? First, Tommy Boy the movie was based there and one of the best amusement parks in the country is there. So we drove an hour from Cleveland to Sandusky and stayed in this awesome hotel. It's a hotel with a waterpark in it. So we went there after the game and went to the water park then we went to the amusement park the next day. The kids were so worn out by the water park they fell asleep in 5 minutes. The best thing about staying in this hotel was we got early admission to the amusement park. We got to go an hour early and rode all the big rollercoaster rides before the lines. It was a perfect day. We went on a Thursday so it wasn't crowded at all. It did get really hot and sticky but the kids lasted all day! I think the most we waited for a roller coaster was 30 minutes. Our kids aren't going to know what to do if we ever go to an amusement park and they have to wait in line, they walked on all the rides and could stay on them for multiple times if they wanted. Our kids enjoyed the rides, they did not like the Snoopy characters but that was no surprise for us. Dave joined us in Snoopy land and rode the little kid rides with us and then he felt sick because most of the kid rides just go in circles. Siena was really brave and rode 2 kid rollercoasters! Ben kept telling me the rides were too big. He is so funny about things. Sometimes he is so wimpy. I wish I had put Siena in tennis shoes that made her a little taller because she was an inch short of riding some fun rides. We all rode the big ferris wheel that over looked the whole amusement park and out on to Lake Erie. The park was surrounded by the Lake it was very pretty. I love amusement parks and we had so much fun.

this was the best ride. Siena thought it was so fun. Later in the day the ride was all full of kids and they all rode it together again and again, they were all girls so they were all squeeling through the whole ride, it was so cute.

I didn't know if Siena would like this, she kept riding it, she loved it.

Road Trip

someone getting thrown out, I missed it.

Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox

We were so excited to take a road trip and go and visit our friends, the Stones, that moved away last year. The halfway point between our houses is Cleveland Ohio. I thought it would be a pretty lame trip with nothing to do in Cleveland. It was fabulous. We had so much fun. We got to spend the first couple of days as a family before we met up with the Stones. The kids were really good on the ride there, I think we only went through one movie. They were excited to get there and stay in the hotel. We drove there in about 7 hours and went to the hotel in downtown Cleveland. It is pretty quiet downtown. We swam at the hotel and went to bed. We only got one room and the kids would not go to sleep they were so excited. Dave and I ordered room service for dinner while watching t.v. so that probably didn't help the kids go to bed. The next morning was the first and last time we relaxed and slept in. We went to a Cleveland Indians baseball game at noon. We had awesome seats right behind home base. They were perfect because it was a noon game and right when we got there the sun was hitting the field all the way to the row in front of us so we were in the shade the whole time. The stadium was nice and the food was delicious. The kids only wanted ice cream so we tried feeding them a hot dog and then they got ice cream and peanuts. They had a fun kids center that we had to hit up by the 6th inning. It had bikes to ride around on and little playhouses.

A new point of view

Siena finally has discovered our camera. Somehow she got her hands on it, probably because I needed something to occupy her with. So at every site of this road trip she wanted to take pictures. It was a little scary letting her hold our camera but I am not ready to go out and buy her her own. So here is what Siena saw on our vacation.

Sharons wedding

Sharon and Johnn

Siena and daddy dancing the night away

pretty flower girl.

both sides of the family

relaxing with the cousins

trying to brave the sprinkler

our happy little family

We got to spend some family time together up in Hershey for Dave's sisters wedding. Sharon married Johnn April 30th in the D.C. temple. It was the most perfect day. Great day for a wedding. Everything seemed perfect and I hope that Sharon and Johnn had a great day. Siena was so excited to be a flower girl. Grandma made all the bridesmaid dresses, the three flower girl dresses and the actual wedding dress. They were all beautiful. Siena was so excited when Sharon walked out of the temple. She thought Sharon looked like a princess. I didn't take any pictures at the actual wedding at the temple. All these pictures are stolen from facebook from brothers or sisters. Thanks guys. So it was a beautiful day and so fun to be with all the family. We had a delicious luncheon at the Marriot hotel afterwards and then off to Hershey for a reception that night. It was a lot of driving in one day. Thank you so much Pauline for coming and taking care of the kids while we went to the actual wedding. They loved playing. We got family pictures taken up in Hershey and I have to say they are probably the best ones that we have had yet. Ben looks sad, but everyone else looks good. So the one big hiccup at the wedding was that everyone got sick. It just got passed around to everyone. It started Friday night. Most of Sunday Grandma and everyone at her house was sick, then Sunday night it started at Trisha's house. We were staying at Trishas house so as soon as Trisha threw up we left to come back home to VA. We didn't want to take the chance of getting sick. Luckilly it didn't come to our family. I guess we just aren't as social as everyone else. I heard that it got to the groom, poor newlyweds. So besides that it was an awesome weekend, where we swam, had a bbq and played with cousins.

crazy conversations

It really is no secret, my kids love t.v. They have these shows for 20 minutes then they do all the commercials and ads at the end. They love those as much as the show. They have memorized all the commercials and can probably quote most of them. So the other day we were going to Costco and out of nowhere Ben says, "knock knock, who's there, orange, orange who"? I have no idea where he learned a knock knock joke and I'm not sure what the ending is and why he doesn't know it. We laughed so much after he randomly said it that now the kids think they are hilarious every time they say it. They are constantly saying that joke.
During dinner last night Siena somehow started asking about where milk comes from. I told her from cows. Then we talked about how a lot of food comes from animals. Not the greatest conversation as you are eating bacon and she asks where it came from. It was especially hard to teach her that we get milk from cows and then we kill them and make meat out of it. So this morning after breakfast she asks me what animal makes orange juice. So apparently we need to eat more vegetables.