SE Roadtrip Days 15-17: Vondys and Cincinnati, OH 2012

Cincinnati isn't in the Southeast at all, but we had strategically planned our trip to end there on Memorial Day weekend to visit our friends the Vondys. We had a rough trip to Cincinnati, which Kevin writes about in his post Thursday, but we made it there right on schedule, if a bit pukey-smelling.  Jason, Jason's brother, and Kevin quickly washed their hands of the whole thing and went off to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game.  A very pregnant Chrissy (in weeks, not size) and I fed and bathed our toddlers and then put them to bed.  Afterward, we had a little time to sit and chat by ourselves without husbands or babies for the first time in probably 7 years.  I thought we would catch up on ancient history, but it turned out that we had hours of exciting stuff to talk about just since our last visit in December.  Then the husbands came home and instead of getting our dearly-needed parent-sleep, we stayed up and chatted some more.

All 6.5 of us at the Tyler Davidson Fountain, a symbol of Cincinnati

The Vonderhaars really rolled out the red carpet for us! They took us downtown where we were pleased to discover the Taste of Cincinnati was in progress.  The Taste of Cincinnati is kind of a big deal in the street festival world because it's the longest running culinary arts festival in the United States, and it's one of the nation's largest street festivals. I refrained from having Cincinnati chili because we planned on having it for dinner.  I indulged in a street daiquiri, and then I quickly learned that it's probably not a good idea to drink and push a stroller.  For one thing, James kept demanding my straw.  For another, with the daiquiri in the stroller cup-holder, Kevin and I had some trouble juggling our bottles of water and various James's distraction devices.  And then, when James suddenly became very hot and slumpy in his seat-- a clear sign that we had to leave the festival immediately-- I had to throw out my unfinished daiquiri. This would have been sacrilege to the Ericka that I used to be before parenthood.

Strolling along the Taste of Cincinnati

View from one side of the P&G gardens

For dinner we went to Skyline Chili where I had one chili hotdog with cheese called a "Cheese Coney", and one "Cheese Coney" hold the hotdog.  It was a great place to bring the kids because they could be loud and messy, and the service was super-fast. I liked the Cheese Coney so much that Jason bought me a can of the chili from the grocery as my parting gift.  I also had the famous Graeter's black rasberry chip ice cream. Lots of it. Remember, I am not the pregnant one.  Chrissy just sat and watched me, most likely in quiet horror.

Hanging out at the Vondy's house Saturday night

Their house was a wonderland of toys for toddler boys and James was happy to play all day in their playroom or outside.  He constantly watched Owen and tried to do what he was doing, usually unsuccessfully because Owen has 16 months on him.

Playing with the pirate ship together

Both Jason and Chrissy gave James a lot of special attention.  They are both awesome parents and are totally ready to have two kids because I watched them juggle Owen and James better than I juggle James by himself.

Jason trying to teach James to hit the ball

James snuggling up to Chrissy

Sunday was a low-key day for us, but less so for James who started really acting up around 5 p.m. so we made the decision to leave early.  The plan was to drive straight through to Long Island so that we could be home Monday morning.  James vetoed the plan. In retrospect, he was probably already getting sick. We feel really bad about it.  More on that in Kevin's post.

Thank you for an awesome time, Vonderhaars! We are super-excited to meet your daughter!

Everyone playing with cars together.  Chrissy and I are on the other side of this hall.

Owen: Yay! James: Time to go home!