The last two days in Cincinnati were the perfect combination of spending time with family and also exploring the city. Cincinnati is a very interesting city, with lots of different neighborhoods to explore. We continued the quest to find the best Chili and headed to Blue Ash (recommended by Guy Fieri on DDD and also Roadfood.com). It was good, but Kendall and I decided that Price Hill had them beat, at least for the chili itself. We also had dinner at Dewey's, a local favorite for pizza. We even made it to Jazzercize 3 days in a row, which is some sort of miracle. We went to Findlay market and bought Amish chickens and made dinner at home the last night for Paige and Len and Jennifer, Chris and Avery. Avery, 3, is adorable and Kendall and I took her and Jake to the Children's Museum that afternoon. The next morning was a sad goodbye, but it had been a nice visit, not so quick like many have been on the trip so far.
Jake, Clover and I headed out towards Fostoria, OH with a quick stop to buy some Skyline Chile, so Scott could experience it too. My cousin Gwynne has a huge, beautiful property surrounded by lovely farms and they live in a log home that they built themselves. Their place makes the best campground too! Jake got to meet lots of cousins plus my Uncle Ron and Aunt Jeanne. The last time I had seen Gwynne's kids they were babies and preschoolers and boy have they grown up! Sure makes you feel old!! They were very sweet to Jake and he had a blast! Scott arrived later in the day from his adventures in Rock Falls and Oshkosh. Uncle Ron and Aunt Jeanne brought a lovely dinner of Greek Food from a well-known place in Bowling Green and we drank wine and had a great time. Casey had spent all morning making fancy cupcakes for dessert. Russ made a fire and the girls played the Guitar and Ukelele and gave us a lovely show. Jake chimed in on a song or two as well. We had intended to move on and camp at Cedar Point the next night, but it turned out that we would be able to see my cousin Holly too if we stayed Friday night. So, we had to do that! Cousin #4 of the trip for me....pretty cool! It's always fun to get together and talk about when we were kids in Indiana. My grandparents had a Shasta parked back at their pond and we used to play cards and have the best time. So, it seemed fitting to have the Shasta here. We did go to Cedar Point, an incredible amusement park right on Lake Erie. But, we didn't make it too long because I got completely nauseous from the second roller coaster! Jake was raring to go, and he did go on all the scary ones he was tall enough for. Man, I'm really feeling old!! I hated to be the party pooper, that is not my style! So, it was really nice to get back to Gwynne's and then Uncle Ron came back out with Holly and her son Caden. We got a few hours of catching up and it was really nice to see everybody on the Stoner side of the family!!!
Jake and Avery at the Cincinnati Children's Museum
Dinner at Paige and Lens with Kendall, Jennifer, Chris and Avery
Fostoria is home to my cousin Gwynne, Russ and their 3 kids, Tyler, Miranda and Casey
The property is a kids paradise, complete with swimming (and fishing) pond!
Casey made beautiful cupcakes for everybody!
Rope Swing too!
A rare photo to have this much family together!
Jake, Tyler and Casey at the pond.
Russ built a great fire at "our campsite"
Miranda and Casey played for us and Jake even sang along.
Holly's son, Caden, Casey and Jake playing in the huge yard
Cousins Bobbi (formerly know as "Barb"), Gwynne and Holly
Uncle Ron!!
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