Lousiville

We've been trying to hit cities close to us while we're living here in Cincinnati so Scott said we had to go to Louisville.  It was really fun.  It's only about 2 hrs. from us.  We got there around lunch and went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe.  We had seen it on a Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode.  It's a really cooky, fun little restaurant.  

The outside had lots of metal animals that the kids loved climbing on and fun bubble fountain.

We got an egg scramble with fried onions on the top and fried green tomatoes and a huge biscuit. 

We also got the Bourbon Ball French Toast. 

After lunch we headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum.  I was about to write I don't know who loved it more the boys or Scott but I do know, it was Scott!  It was fun seeing him so excited.

Scott's favorite player growing up, Wally Joyner.

Scott swinging Mikey Mantle's bat.  Scott wanted to swing this one because it's his Dad's favorite player.

The boys doing their Ken Griffey Jr. pose.

There was a really cool tour of the factory and it was neat seeing all the famous players bats they were working on.  At the end everyone got a miniture louisville slugger bat.

After the museum we headed over to watch Louisville's minor league team, the Bats.

Addie & I made it through the game by enjoying cotton candy and playing on the playground right by the field.  I love minor league games, there's so much for the kids to do.

Cleveland Rocks!

We decided we need to see some of the sights while we are living here in Ohio.  Of course a must do is Kirtland, Ohio.  We wanted to see it but we knew the kids wouldn't last too long at church history sights so we went up for the weekend and saw Cleveland too.  We had such a great trip.  We drove up to Kirtland the first day (about 4 hrs. from our house).  We visited the Kirtland Temple and then went over the the church's visitors center and toured the Newel K. Whitney home and store.  It was amazing the diffence in the Spirit at the church's visitors center and the temple (not owned by the church).  I thought it was so interesting that there was nothing spiritual in the presentation at the Temple.  You'd think that if they thought they had the truth, they would want to share it with everyone.  In contrast, I loved hearing the Sister Missionaries at the Church's Visitor's Center bear their testimonies of the faith of the early saints and I really enjoyed the parts of the tour we got to listen to.

You can tell by the looks on Owen's and Addie's faces what they thought of the tour!!

Scott really feels like Owen looks, he's just faking it for my sake.  Owen and Scott seem to have the same level of tolerance for any sort-of educational tour that doesn't have to do with sports, music or the ocean!!

That night we hit the first of many restaurants we'd seen on the Food Network.  In total we were able to hit 5 restaurants we'd heard about on the Food Network (3 from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives & 2 from The Best Thing I Ever Ate).  Our favorite was this breakfast place called Lucky Cafe.  It was AMAZING.  Everything was homemade and they try to get all local produce, meat, etc.  They even have a little garden outside where they grow some of the food.   Scott and I were in heaven!

 We had to hit an Indians game while we were there.  It was so fun.  Addie actually made it through the whole game.  It's the first time we've all made it through 9 innings!  Lots of food always helps!

We also went the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  It was really fun.  The kids didn't love it as much as we did so we didn't get to stay as long as we'd have liked but it was fun to see.

On the way home we went through Canton, Ohio and went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  As you can imagine it wasn't something I was that excited to  but I loved it.  The boys (including Scott) were in heaven!  Parker and Owen wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING especially anything Vikings for Owen and anything 49ers for Parker.   

Addie even found a few things that she wanted (but didn't get) in the gift shop!

We had such a fun time.  At one time during the trip we were walking through our hotel (a Marriott in the suburbs of Cleveland) and Parker tells Owen "This is a fancy vacation".  Scott and I looked at each other and almost died laughing.  It's pretty great (or is it sad) when your kids think a weekend in Cleveland is a "fancy vacation"!!