Scarlett's Birthday

Scarlett's birthday was only a week and a half after Calista was born.  I thought Calista would be born at least a week earlier so I was going to plan Scarlett's birthday after I got out of the hospital.  I usually try to only worry about one thing at a time.  As it worked out we had to pretty much do everything for her birthday the night before.  I didn't want her to feel overshadowed so we tried our best to do all the things we normally do.

It is amazing how little traditions can become so special and exciting for kids.  I think when it is something we only do on their birthday and we do it every year they learn to look forward to it no matter how small it is.  So we blocked off her door with streamers, we decorated her chair at the table, and we let her pick all the meals for the day.  She loved it and thought it was great.

Scarlett and Penelope had a big frontier girls field trip for most of the day.  They rode the ferry and went to visit the Suquamish museum on the Indian reservation.  She said it was one of the best activities they've ever done.

After they came home Grandma and Grandpa Swift came over for the festivities.

Scarlett really wanted cupcake hair.

She loved all her presents.

I even made the requested Shopkins cake.  Calista took her fist ever nap in her carseat and I spent the entire time making her cake.

Things felt a little last minute to me but Scarlett said she had a great birthday and I'm happy with that.

Jungle Jims

Today's post is all about the Cincinnati food!  First off they have skyline.  If you've never heard of it, I'd say it is definitly worth a try.  We don't have it on the West coast and I actually didn't know this sort of thing existed until I met Bob.  It is basically a type of chili that you put over noodles and smother in cheese.  The chili is almost the same consistency as spaghetti sauce.  They also put it over fries and hot dogs.  I like it, but I'm not the biggest fan.  We usually go once per visit and that is just perfect for me.  Some people really really love it.

My favorite is Graters ice cream.  We really need to get one of these on the west coast.  They sell a chocolate chunk raspberry ice cream that is delicious.  We went there a couple times over our visit.

We also made a trip out to Jungle Jims.  This was my first time there and it was pretty interesting.  It is basically a huge grocery store with lots of different cultural foods in it as well as fun animal (fake) and other displays everywhere in the store.  It was really fun to explore and the kids especially liked it.

Scarlett was not a fan of the fish section.

I thought these little pineapples were cute.

They even had a little movie theatre showing a film of how the store got started.  It all began with a little bit weird guy named Jim.

And that was our trip to the grocery store.

Safari With Talitha

Tucker thought going boogie boarding with Talitha was the greatest thing!  He love telling her how to do it and explaining things to her.  I thought about going but the water still feels cold to me.  I was pretty happy relaxing on the sand watching everyone.

 We spent one day at the Safari park.  This time we saw a tiger going in the water.  The people around made it seem like that is pretty rare.

 Talitha bought Leon this tiger toy and he was pretty obsessed with it.  He insisted it be in this picture.

 And this one.

 She even let them do the squished penny thing.  They had fun with the crank.

 Afterwards we headed to the cupcake shop.  They were out of a few flavors but my blood orange cupcake was delicious.

I was tired by the time we finished so I drove home (about a mile) and rested while Talitha walked the kids home.  It is nice to have a visitor.

Pirate Day

National talk like a pirate day came this year and we went to Krispy Kreme to get free donuts.  Every year they give out a dozen donuts to anyone dressed up like pirates but because we don't live close to a Krispy Kreme we never go.  This year we final made it to one.  We had surprisingly little pirate costume stuff around the house so we had to make things.  I was a little worried they would accept our paper hats and eye patches but when we got there they seemed to care less.  The worker was just like in a monotone voice, "how many pirates in your group?"  I answered five and she bagged up five boxes.  The kids were disappointed that they were all plain glazed and they didn't get to individually pick out 12 donuts but they got over it quickly.

I was prepared to wait in line for about an hour.  I figured for that many free donuts the line must be long.  We waited over 30 minutes last time to go to the Donut Bar and that was on a regular day.  But I was wrong, we were able to walk right up.  I think there were only two or three people in front of us.  It was great!

I didn't want the kids asking me all the time if they could eat their donuts but I also didn't want them throwing up.  These things are super sugary.  So I told them they could have four a day whenever they wanted.  There was lots of talk about saving their donuts and making them last longer, but by the end of the day each child ate all four.  None of them were able to save them.  They finished in three days.  I got tired of my after I ate about four and we ended up using them for french toast.  It was yummy!

Filippis Pizza Grotto

Filippi's Pizza Grotto is popular around here but it isn't my favorite.  It is supposed to be authentic italian pizza and there is something about it that I don't love.  I'll eat a piece but I prefer other places.  Everyone else seems to like it though so we will go once in a while.

 The kids kept talking about how the cheese is on top and so they can't see what toppings are on it.  That was a big deal for them.  I think it worked out because they didn't complain as much about the mushrooms.  Out of sight out of mind, right?

Phil's BBQ

Phil's BBQ is a great family restaurant.  I love the style of it.  It is a sit down restaurant but just a bit different than normal.  Everything about it feels like a regular sit down place but there are no servers and you order like you would at a fast food place.  You walk up, order, pay, and get a buzzer and sit down wherever you want.  When your food is ready your buzzer goes off and you go up to the counter and get it.  It saved so much time, I loved it!

 The food was pretty good too.

 We dared each other to put the lemons in their mouths.

 This was the second restaurant we went to here in San Diego where they told us we could sit in the "Reserved for large parties" table.  I guess our family of 6 is considered a large party. 

Babycakes

I tried the local cupcake shop down the street and it was sooo good!  I feel like I've had way more than my fair share of donuts lately that I usually don't think too much about cupcakes.  But these definitely rival any donut I've had.  I especially love the blood orange and the raspberry cheesecake.  The couple times I've been to other cupcake shops I was never impressed.  They always seemed overpriced and not that yummy.  Maybe I've been choosing the wrong flavors because these were good!

We go to the beach almost everyday to watch the sunset and play.  It has been amazing!

Corvette Diner

We went to Corvette Diner with the family.  It was this really fun 50s type diner that reminded me of Happy Days and Grease.

We all wore the hats even though Tucker didn't want to.  I hope he isn't starting to think he is too cool for things like that.  I think he was just being grumpy because he doesn't like burgers.

I told Bob that malts were a must.  He didn't agree, but I think you have to get one if you go to a diner.  I didn't really like my burger, but I think I just ordered bad.  The other food seemed good.

The kids had the cutest little burgers.  I told Leon to take a big bite for the picture.  He didn't want to at first so Bob was trying to get him too.  I think it is cute.

When we first sat down the waitress came up to our table and threw about 20 straws on us.  The kids thought it was hilarious.  The whole place was pretty big and very decorated.  Notice the cards all over the ceiling?

After we ate we went over to the arcade for games.

I'm pretty sure the kids thought it was the coolest place they have ever been too.