College Road Trip with my Sister

At the first stop in the morning

I took my sister to look at two colleges yesterday. We went to UK in Lexington, KY and University of Cumberlands in Kentucky. We took both my daughters with us, Ivy-10yrs and Bella-19mths. I must have been crazy when I decided that was a good idea, lol. It was a long, exhausting but fun day. We got up at 5am, ate breakfast, showered and got dressed. We left the house at 7:30am. We drove to UK first. It is right by downtown Lexington. It was a very nice campus. Cassie, my sister, really liked it! It was here that I realised that I had forgotten the stroller in the other car! I was kicking myself all day long for that one but we made it work. We had packed a lunch. We ate on the UK grounds surrounded by trees. It was nice.

Canon at UK

Statue near one of the student buildings with an eatery

Bella was happy to get to UK & out of the car!

UK Campus

UK Grounds

Memorial Hall at UK

UK - outdoor theater

Ivy checking out the grounds at UK

Sundial

Dorm building at UK

Grounds at UK

We ate lunch here at UK. Bella was dancing for the few students that were there.

She was happy to be loose and have a little freedom.

After UK we headed to University of Cumberlands. It is in southern Kentucky off the last exit before you hit Tennessee. It is a nice campus as well. It is the complete opposite of UK in many ways. It is in a small town. The college looks much newer. The grounds are smaller and much more compact. UK's grounds almost run in a long line. Cumberlands are in a circular formation. Cumberlands has a religious affiliation and UK does not. Cumberlands does have a great aid package though! She was very impressed with what they could offer her financially. The day gave her two very different colleges to compare and contrast.

Fountain in the center of the grounds at University of Cumberlands

Checking out the fountain

University of Cumberlands

The view from the campus at University of Cumberlands

University of Cumberlands

I loved this beautiful ceiling at University of Cumberlands.

View from one of the dorms at University of Cumberlands.

University of Cumberlands

We decided it would be wrong not to at least drive into Tennessee when we were already so close, lol. We drove to the first exit in Tennessee which is Jelico. We stopped there for a little break. After that we began heading back north. We stopped off at Corbin, KY for dinner and a break. We visited the KFC museum first. It was really neat. We walked back to the car and Ivy said "Mom, I am getting hungry." We all agreed that we could not make it home without eating. We stopped at a pizza place and got a large pizza to share. We did not want to sit in a restaurant. The kids were dying to get out and run around. We found this adorable little walking bridge and gazebo to eat at. It was so cute! Best of all there was grassy areas for Bella to run around in when we finished eating. There was a large stream or small river that ran under the bridge. It was full of ducks! The kids had a blast feeding them pizza crust. What a fun stop off! We had to stop near Williamsburg for gas on the way back home. Bella was getting antsy again so we decided to hang out at the McDonalds and have dessert. This was a super rare occurrence so the kids were over-the-moon!  They each got a vanilla ice cream cone. My sister and I each got a apple pie. The whole stop came to $2.10, lol.

Waiting for her ice cream

After that we got back on the road and did not stop until we got home. We were so exhausted!! Bella did not make it here. She fell asleep in the car. I cannot blame her. I was so tired! I barely got my pajama's on before crashing.

PS. The photographs for the Corbin part of our trip is in a different page because there were so many pictures of the colleges.

Coney Island - Cincinnati, Ohio

The girls and me on the carousel.

Fun house mirrors!

 

Fountain near the rides



Bumper Cars

 

These are some of our photographs from a recent trip we took to Coney Island. We had a great time!! This was not our first trip to this family style amusement park and it will not be our last! It is fun, affordable and family friendly. This place has a lot of things to do! Consider making it a two day event. Get a sunlite pool pass for one day and a classic ride pass for the second day. This way you can take your time. Be careful of the sun. This place can be exhausting!

 

Bella "Driving" a stationary firetruck





Playground





Ivy showing off her face paint



It was not even moving yet and Bella was already having fun!

The Details:

Location: 6201 Kellogg Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45230

Prices: Ticket for Sunlite Pool & Classic rides $21.95 for ages 5 and up

Tickets for Ages 2-4 $9.95

After 4 pm $11.95

Tickets for Sunlite pool only: $11.95 for ages 5 and up and $3.95 for 2-4 year olds

Tickets for Classic Rides only: $11.95 for 5 & up and $6.95 for 2-4 year olds

Parking $7.00

You can buy tickets on-line at a discount!

Website: http://www.coneyislandpark.com/

Mitchell Memorial Forest and Miami Whitewater Forest - Ohio

We recently decided to spend a day checking out a couple of parks in Hamilton County, Ohio. The first was Mitchell Memorial Forest. We walked down Wood Duck Nature Trail. The shot on the left was of an old dam. The pond area that it traps is full of lilies! We unfortunately missed them blooming but I think we may try to return to see them in bloom. You can barely see this dam from the family friendly trail. You will have to do a little off trail to get this close. Be forewarned there is a fence between you and this. I know, I know but this was too pretty to pass up! It was only a small detour and my husband kept the kids on the trail. We enjoyed the trail which is only about a mile. Ivy played in a small almost dry creek. She found bugs and flowers to check out. After we were done with the trail we went to play at their playground. It was small but cute. The issue we had with this park was that there was not any shade over it. It was very hot and sunny on this day. It did not take long and the kids were ready to run for the shade of the neighboring trees.

Ivy Took Bella's hand and said "Let's go find an adventure Bell." I got this shot of them walking off into the trees. We just followed behind them. We found a small clearing at the end. It was not a very long trail but they were super thrilled with it. The entrance is right by the park. It was a pretty little clearing with a small well which was covered.

After this we headed back to the car. We had a snack in the shade of the trees by our car. After that we headed to Miami Whitewater Forest which is only about 10 minutes away.

We cooled down and got some drinks out of the cooler before heading out onto the next trail we had picked out. We went down the Tallgrass Prairie Trail. It was very pretty! It is also only about a mile. It was slightly more hilly but still manageable with the jogging stroller. When we got to the Prairie we tried to locate all of the plants that were on the sign. It was fun. We found quite a few of them and other things, like blackberries. After the trail we played Frisbee in the clearing by the parking area for the trail. It is fairly large and grassy. This was Bella's first time playing Frisbee. She loved to throw it but could only get it a foot or two. She would clap and yell "Good Job!" Anytime she or anyone threw it. We played for about a half an hour before moving on.

The next stop was the lake. We parked in the little bit of shade we could find in the lot. We walked along the paved trail by the lake stopping to admire the view, a couple ducks and a willow tree. There is a very large playground and the visitor center by the parking lot and lake. We took the kids to play at the playground and realised there is a water park here as well. It was super hot so they were practically drooling at the site of the water! We had to walk around the corner to the snack bar to purchase a bracelet. We only had to get Ivy one because Bella is under two. We did not even have suits with us, lol. That did not stop them from having a blast!The water park has a pirate theme complete with a ship!

The Info:

Website: http://greatparks.org/

Location of Mitchell Memorial Forest: 5401 Zion Rd. Cleves, OH 45002

Features park offers: 3.9 mile mountain bike trail, hiking, picnic areas, playground, and catch and release fishing only.

Cost: Free because we purchased a park pass on a previous visit. If not it is $3 for the day or the year pass is only $10!

Location of Miami Whitewater Forest: 9001 Mt. Hope Rd. Harrison, OH 45030

Features: Wetlands, trails, Frisbee golf, golf course, equestrian trail, snack bar, campground, picnic and shelter areas, lake, fishing, boat rentals, wet playground, playground, and visitor center.

Cost: Free with pass. $3 for day pass or $10 for year pass

Cost of Water Playground: $2 each or 3 for $5

Breakdown of Our Day:

Arrive at Mitchell Memorial Forest (12pm)

Walk Wood Duck Nature Trail (12pm to 1:15pm)

Potty Break and Play at Playground (1:15pm to 1:45)

Small Trail Walk (1:45pm to 2pm)

Snack in Shade by the entry to Wood Duck Nature Trail (2:00 to 2:15pm)

Drive to Miami Whitewater Forest (2:15pm to 2:30pm)

Walk Tallgrass Prairie Trail (2:30pm to 3:30pm)

Played Frisbee by trail parking area (3:30 to 4pm)

Potty Break (4pm to 4:05pm)

Walk around Lake (4:10pm to 4:30pm)

Played at Playground (4:30 to 4:50pm)

Brought bracelet for wet Playground (4:50 to 5pm)

Played at Wet Playground (5pm to 6pm)

Dried off kids and got them changed (6pm to 6:20pm)

Left park (6:20pm)

We stopped for Pizza for dinner.

 This was a tiring day in the sun for all of us. The whole house slept soundly that night!

SHARON WOODS - SHARONVILLE, OHIO

Sharon Woods park was a fun outing. There are many waterfalls sprinkled throughout this rather large park. We started out our trip with some play time at the playground near the harbor on Sharon Lake. It was a very nice park. There is an area for big kids and a play area for the toddler crew. There are baby swings but not swings for the big kids here. My oldest found this a little disappointing. There is however a small rock wall and an area that looks like rock that has places to climb up & tunnels to climb through. There is a snack bar right by this park. In the summer there are fountains here but we went in spring before they were up and running. After some play time we decided to check out the harbor and lake. There is a boat house located here where you can rent boats. It was much to cold out for us to even consider a few hours on the water. I also must warn you that boat rentals are not cheap!

At the bottom of the stairs was a paved path that circled the lake. We decided to go for a walk. My husband went back to the car to grab the stroller. We went with the jogging stroller on this day. The path does wrap up and around to the parking lot so you don't have to carry the stroller down the stairs. You do however have to wrap up and around the playground. After we had Bella strapped in the stroller we were off. There were many ducks on the lake and the path. They were almost to used to being around people because you could walk right up to them. It was neat for my oldest who loves animals but if you have a child that would try to touch them I would suggest watching closely because these ducks will not run away easily. We walked along the path for a while then my husband says "What's that noise?" I stopped and sure enough I could hear something. I said "It sounds like water." He just starts walking across the small road. I asked "Where are you going?" He answered "It's coming from over here." Ivy who had followed him across the street yells "WOW! Mom you have to see this! It's a waterfall!" I cross the street. It was where the water ran out of the lake through the dam. It was pretty neat. We stood there for a few minutes.

There was another path on that side of the road that lead up into the woods. It had a large sign. I walked over to see what it said. It looked like something we could do. It was 0.7 of a mile one way through the woods. It lead to the other side of the park and was marked as moderate so we thought we would be able to get the stroller down it. We began down it and figured if we got to a place where we couldn't get the stroller through we would simply turn around. It thankfully never came to that. The path was very nice. It followed along the water. There were many waterfalls along the way. There were also educational signs to read beside the path. At one point it crosses the water. The cliffs here are quite a sight. Since it was spring we didn't encounter a lot of people on the trail. There was a few places we had to work a little to keep the stroller moving but it wasn't bad at all.

When we got to the other side there was another path running along the road we followed. It passes a couple small waterfalls. These are neat and very easy to access because they are right along the road. One even has parking by it. My only complaint about these was the fact that they put concrete around the falls to keep them from washing out. While I can understand wanting to preserve the beauty of the falls, I am simply a purest. I think that people should let nature take its course on things like this. When people do this to a natural site it feels more like a man made item. Still pretty but it loses a little something.

When we got a little further down there was a large bridge leading across the water. On the other side there was a large park with a little log cabin. This park is one of the large wooden ones. Ivy was happy because there were swings nearby. Two large picnic areas are close by as well. There is a huge building by here. It's the Sharon centre. There is a free nature area inside. We took advantage of this. The girls favorite part was a large aquarium with a "log" running through it. The kids climbed inside to watch the fish and turtle swim around. It was very neat. I had one problem with this as a mom of a toddler. The outside edge of the "log" is concrete and you have to really keep an eye on them. They could fall and hurt themselves but more likely is a child running their head into the top of it when trying to climb inside. It is made to crawl through but my toddler could just stand in it. There is an area at the back with chairs for the adults to take a much needed break. The whole back wall is made of windows that look out on a nature area. While we were there we saw birds, chipmunks and a raccoon. In this room there is an area to stick your hands in and guess what you are grabbing. This would of been much easier if they actually all had stuff in them. About half of them were empty. There is also a table with crayons and papers for the kids. As you walk toward the door leading out there is a great photo op wall and a tree to walk through.

There is something called the "Heritage Village" here too but we did not go. You have to pay to get in. It was looking like it was going to rain so we just headed back toward our car. It looked neat so I would like to go back sometime. We were almost back to the lake when it started to sprinkle. By the time we made it back to the car it was raining. I was glad we didn't have to be out in the rain for to long.

There are a few other things to do at this park including an 18 hole golf course (not sure of pricing) and an indoor play area that costs $2.50 a child.

There are ample picnic areas and tables throughout the park. I would also like to give some credit where credit is due. The restrooms were some of the nicest I've ever seen in a park. They were clean and well stocked with toilet paper, soap and paper towels. I was honestly shocked by this! Quite impressive!

Heritage Village is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 5-11, Children under 4 are free.

Admission to the park was $3.00 for the day.

Chuck E Cheese - Cincinnati, Ohio

We recently visited the Chuck E Cheese located at 8801 Colerain Ave. in Cincinnati, Ohio. I hadn't been to this particular branch in many years. We went here to celebrate a friend's child's birthday. My husband unfortunately had to work on that day so I was on my own. I get lost easily so I was pleased with the fact that it was easy to locate from the interstate. There is a wrap around parking lot. We managed to find a spot on the front side. There is plenty of parking in the back but it means you would have a little walk to get inside. Once inside I was happy with what must have been a very serious remodel since the last time I had visited. The place is large with flashing lights and children everywhere.

Chuck E Cheese is a restaurant and arcade in one. You buy tokens upon entering and place a pizza order. They give you your tokens and a number for your table so they know where to deliver your food. They also now have a rather large salad bar. Your older children almost immediately raid you for the purchased tokens and run off into the games. They stamp the children's hands and the hands of their adult upon entry with a black light stamp. When you exit you give your hands to an attendant who checks to see if you match before allowing you to leave. This sounds good in theory but I don't know how much I trust this system. I can honestly say the huge downfall is the fact that people feel they no longer have to watch their children. Ivy is 10. I allow her to play by herself with me checking in on her frequently. I understand the need for a little independence at this age but I do not trust the rest of the world enough to completely leave her on her own for an hour or two.

We were happy with the selection of games. Ivy thoroughly enjoyed the tunnels that hang from the ceiling. There is a small toddler area roped off with a few games and a play area for them. It was small and felt crowded when only a few children were playing there with their parents in tow. Ivy collected tons of tickets but decided to save them when she saw the prize case. She said that she would rather come back later and try for a larger item because the small to medium prizes were junk. I tend to agree. They now sell "prizes" like balls instead of allowing them to be exchanged for tickets. Their prize selection area is much smaller and does not have many medium selections that would appeal to a 10 year old girl.

The food is kid friendly but not completely mom friendly. Their pizza is incredibly greasy. It did come to the table hot which is a plus. The salad bar was acceptable. It was decently well stocked for the weekend. They have unlimited refills on their drinks that you refill yourself fast food style. They have a fairly good variety of drinks.

They have a stage where large mechanical puppets put on a show. There are large tables by this that they use for birthday parties. The concept of the birthday parties is neat. They sing to the kids. A hip-hop style version of Happy Birthday. Someone in a giant mouse costume(Chuck E Cheese) comes out for this. He then crowns each birthday child with a special inflatable birthday crown. Sadly the girls working the parties were not exactly enthusiastic. Ours appeared to wish she was anywhere but here. When dealing with small children's birthday parties I feel they would be better served with happier employees. The best highlight of having a birthday party there instead of just a normal visit is the fact that the birthday child gets to go into the "ticket blaster." This is a wind machine of sorts that whirls tickets around while the child tries to catch as many as they can. This is not open to the regular public so it is a perk retained just for the birthday child which gives it a special air. It is a great marketing gimmick because every child including my own wanted to have their birthday party there at that moment because they were only allowed to watch. Children do not like to be left out of anything so I'm sure this has landed them many birthday parties. My friends daughter is still fairly small so they did allow her Dad to join her in it which I thought was nice. She seemed to enjoy it once she was in there. As a birthday party option I thought it was nice because they take care of the food, dishes, drinks, entertainment and the clean-up. They also give a balloon to each child and they have options where you can add additional tokens to your package at a lower rate so the teenagers would also have tokens to play the games. My friend also told me they gave her additional tokens for booking online. Not a bad deal for a birthday party.

Overall, I would say this is a fun family outing. I personally would take my children here to play again but perhaps skip the pizza. The tokens can get pricey. You can find coupons online for token deals and you also receive a much better price on them if you buy a large amount all at once. They really get you by your children bugging you for more and more tokens. You have to set a limit upon entry such as I'm buying X amount of tokens for each of you. When they are done you can play in the tunnels until everyone is done and then we are leaving. No questions asked. Be warned however that mom and dad will want tokens as well because this place is fun for all ages. Their bathrooms are pretty clean and they have a diaper changing station for the babies. It is in the main area of the bathroom instead of in a stall. I like them in a stall better because you are not in the flow of traffic. Oh, and don't forget your headache medicine! After an hour in here you will need it, lol.

Hours -Sunday-Thursday 9am to 9pm Friday and Saturday 9am to 10pm
Phone number is 513-385-1438
Website is www,chuckecheese.com