ballgames, birthday parties, and snacks.....

This past Saturday we took a little road trip......Donovan's company was having a company picnic in Cincinnati at the Great American Ball park.
The company gave us unlimited hot dogs, pop, chips, popcorn, and peanuts. All we could eat.

This was my first time at a major league baseball park, and I was very amazed at the size of it. The stadium can seat over 42,000 people! Here were some other statistics I found to be equally amazing....





Ticket windows: 25
Concourse widths: 40 feet (12 m)
Escalators: 3
Passenger elevators: 14
Public restrooms: 47 (20 women, 20 men, seven family)
Concession stands: 28
Parking spaces: 850


And thankfully the company also gave us ballpark bucks to spend at the game...the piece of pizza in the above picture was $5! That's $5 for one piece of pizza people!!! I was seriously livin' the dream....when they gave us $50-ballpark bucks to spend while we were there. I am very good at spending money actually. Whether ballpark bucks or otherwise.

And while the kids did enjoy the food and atmosphere of being at the ballgame....the real question was....."When can we go back to the hotel and go swimming?"

Our hotel was also funded by Donovan's work....again livin' the dream. Loving staying in nice hotels...with free breakfast, at absolutely no cost. Our hotel was actually in Kentucky. Which was just across the bridge from the ballpark. Which conveniently we could walk across the bridge after the game. I couldn't resist stopping to get a picture of sweet little Suzy perched up top of papa. She kept leaning her elbows on daddy's head singing her little made up songs. She was loving it.

getting back to the hotel....and loving the huge king bed.....

Here is a attempt to get a picture of our hotel...in the background, the next morning.

Here was a highlight for the kids...the hotel pet.

Another highlight...sneaking out the next morning at 8:30 while little sister and little brother are sleeping .....to go swimming. Donovan stayed with the younger 2, while I took the older 2 swimming....

At breakfast, enjoying hot chocolate.

After filling ourselves to the brim with the free breakfast, we took a walk to the bridge to see what it was too dark to see the night before. How fun to be so carefree and relaxed on a Sunday morning.






This wall was just in front of our hotel. It is the Roebling Murals, it was amazing. It was a time line of events of the city.



And while we are admiring the amazing time and artistic talent that went into this project....William comes over, points at the Buffalo's back end and starts laughing...because there is something stuck to the buffalo's bum....while making little boy comments, that only seemed to amuse other boys.


The view from our room.

And what vacation wouldn't be complete without fighting over who gets to push the button to the elevator???

After packing it up....we headed out for another adventure. This adventure was about a 6 hour drive. My cousin who lives in Michigan was having a 50th Birthday Party.....

My sweet cousin...Wilma. She has just finished treatments for breast cancer, and is celebrating life. Her hair is growing back darker, and I think it looks awesome on her!

Wow, she has been an encourager and an example to me in this last year with the amazing faith she has had through all of this. She is one amazing lady. We had a really great time catching up with cousins and other family members....enjoying some awesome snacks and refreshments...and really enjoying not being in the car!!!

I wish adults always threw birthday parties.

So on with the quote of the day....

Fresh from the memory of tonight.

Jack: "Where are we going Dad?"

Dad: "We are going to Mr. Showalters house for snacks" (side note: our new pastor)

Jack: "Why are we going to Mr. Showalters house for sex?"

Dad: "Jack! I said, Snacks. We are going for snacks."

Jack: "oh, o.k."

Thank the good Lord in heaven...the conversation ended there. I didn't know Jack even knew that word.