{Summer Bucket List Update} The Columbus Zoo!

Now that Drew is back to work summer is officially over in my book. We had a great summer with Aiden and were able to cross a lot off of our Summer bucket list including a trip to the Columbus Zoo back in early July. I have always wanted to visit Jack Hanna's zoo and now that my sister in law lives in Columbus we had a reason to visit it! I love our Cincinnati Zoo, but I was also very impressed with the Columbus zoo and all it had to offer. Our favorite part was their Africa exhibit. We went on an overcast day and we didn't go until 3 so it wasn't very crowded and we had an awesome time!

After we left the zoo we stayed the night at Aunt Chelsey's. It was Aiden's first sleepover. He did great despite puking up blueberry oatmeal on Chelsey's couch the next morning. Sorry Chels. Haha.

Do you like your city's zoo?

Have you been to other city's zoos?

Smale Riverfront Park

Last weekend we checked off the first thing from our Summer Bucket List! We took Aiden to a new park downtown along the river and it was incredible! We knew Aiden would love it because he is a big fan of water, but he loved it even more than we could have imagined. We had such a great day!

I loved watching Aiden and his Daddy play in the water. They were both loving it! My friend Betsy was in town visiting us so she came too and we loved the excuse to be able to play in the water with all the kids. Having a baby in your arms gives you a free pass to do any kid friendly activity.

The park we went to is called Smale Riverfront Park so any of you Cincy ladies need to make a plan to go there ASAP if you haven't already. We went on a hot day because we knew there were places that we could get wet. There are at least 3 different splash areas with fountains to run through and there is also an area that has misters so there are plenty of ways to stay cool.

There is also a carousel, a bike and walking trail along the river, swings to sit in, gorgeous flowers and an awesome playground! We had a great time walking along the river as we dried off.

We will definitely be taking Aiden back to this park. 

Smale Riverfront Park...check!

Summer Bucket list 2015

Every year I look forward to summer and making our summer bucket list. This year we have our sweet little one to think of too so our bucket list looks a little different. Taking Aiden with us to try new things is so much fun, but Drew and I also know the importance of date nights so some of these are for just us. Here is our 2015 Summer Bucket List...

//Take a day trip to Yellow Springs {Hike at John Bryant State Park and visit Young's Dairy}

//Check out Smale Riverfront Park

//Take Aiden to his first Red's game

//Go to a Drive-In Movie

//Celebrate me turning the big 3-0

//Try out a new restaurant downtown {KAZE 8/7/15}

//Find a new hiking trail and hike it

//Visit a new farmer's market

//Go to the Columbus zoo

//Have a family picnic

//Take Aiden to the beach!

What's on your summer bucket list?!

Summer Bucket List 2014

-Go back to Findlay Market

-Finish the Nursery

-Eat at Terry's Turf Club

-Date night at the Drive-in

-Go on a picnic

-Check out the Columbus Zoo

-Cheer on the Reds at a weeknight game

-Try a new donut recipe 
-Read a classic novel together
-Hike a new trail
-Make and sip on Dole Pineapple Whips by a body of water 

I absolutely love summertime and can't wait to start crossing some of these things off our list!

What's on your summer bucket list???

Summer Bucketlist {re-visited}

As summer comes to a close (so depressing!) I thought I should re-visit my summer bucket list and see what things I was able to cross off my list...

-Bike ride on the Loveland bike trail 
We didn't make it to the actual bike trail, but we did both get new (to us) mountain bikes and took several rides around town and in the park near our house 

-Try out at least 3 new restaurants in downtown Cincy  
One thing we definitely did this summer was explore our city. We tried out more than 3 new restaurants, but these were some of my favorites: Echo, Taste of Belgium and Anchor

-Read at least 10 books on my list (FAIL, I read 4 and a half)
I read The Princess Bride, The Distant Hours, Call the Midwife, Bread & Wine and I'm in the middle of Wild

-Use our canoe  
I'm going to count Kayaking

-Try out some new donut recipes (FAIL, but we will get around to it one of these days)

-Have a picnic at the park
A few of my girlfriends picked up Whole Foods and took it to the park near my house. We laid out a blanket, ate and napped in the sun.

-Go to the drive in
We saw Monsters University/Superman on my birthday

-Put together a photo wall
You can see how it turned out here!

-Travel to a state we've never visited
We went out to Colorado for a wedding and mini vaca. I miss it!

-Find new places to hang our hammocks
We hung hammocks in KY at our family reunion and then at the lake in Tennessee.

-Make creamsicles 
Made these twice. They are that good.

-Go back to Findlay Market (Fail)

-Do some of the DIY projects I have pinned 
 I only did one measly DIY project for my craft room, but I am in love with my new stool for my craft room below! (Tutorial coming soon.) I did however make quite a few new recipes that I had pinned. I made several new recipes including Strawberry Bruschetta, Lemon Asparagus Couscous, and Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes

-Find a way to give back/serve others
Drew and I are still looking for a consistent way we can serve others outside of our teaching jobs, but we did go to Matthew 25 Ministries and helped out at a church garage sale to raise money for a family trying to adopt two children from China. Drew and I also gave up TV before 10 am and worked on being intentional in our marriage.

-Attend a few Reds Games and explore the Banks

We did get to go to a Red's game when Drew's family was in town and tried out Yard House at the Banks.

*A few of my other favorite summer activities included our trip to Norris lake with my family, living like a local on my birthday, making Cake batter martinis and celebrating our 4 year anniversary.

I am so sad summer is ending, but there's also a sense of excitement as a new school year is about to begin. I will probably be very sporadic in my posting for the next month or so as I adjust back to working full time, but I'll do my best to keep up with all that is happening in your lives!

Goodbye Summer...it's been real.

P.S. Another Hello/Goodbye Link-up will be happening on September 1st so mark your calendar if you want to join in!

Anchor's Away! (Seafood lover's paradise)

A few weeks ago we tried out a seafood restaurant downtown called Anchor to cross off another item on our Summer Bucket List. I will be honest, I'm usually not the biggest fan of seafood, but there are a few dishes I love including, but mostly limited to fish tacos. Mmmm. We went to this restaurant after randomly seeing it on a walk downtown and thought it looked fun. The atmosphere reminded of a New Orleans style restaurant. We went with our friend's Andrea and Nate (who are now proud parents of little Jack) and got 4 different seafood dishes. We ended up passing them back and forth around the table because they were all so good. I got a pesto dish with crab in it and it was amazing! Other favorites...the classic fish and chips, a Cod B.L.T. and Scallops. If you live in the Cincy area I highly recommend trying out Anchor if you are a fan of seafood! I would love to start incorporating a few more seafood dishes into our meal rotation..branching out for me is cooking salmon and fish tacos so if you have any amazing seafood dishes...send them my way!

Happy Weekend friends.

Homemade Creamsicles! {recipe}

Happy Friday! I am in denial that my summer break is almost over so I have a delicious summer treat to share with you today to help keep summer alive and kicking.

I have been drooling over these Creamsicles from Elsie and Emma's blog A Beautiful Mess and even made making them part of my Summer Bucket List. Whelp, I finally made them and you HAVE to make them too. They are easy, fresh and so delicious. The perfect cool down after a hot summer day.

What you need:
4-5 oranges freshly squeezed or 8 oz. orange juice
2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Blend orange juice, ice cream and orange zest until batter is smooth. Fill popsicle molds 3/4 full leaving the top 1/4 empty for the whipping cream. Use a whisk or mixer with whisk attachment and whip the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Spoon whipped cream on to the top 1/4 of the popsicle mold.  Freeze overnight.

This recipe makes enough for about 8 popsicles depending on the kind of popsicle mold you use. I made 4 at a time and saved the extra batter to pour in again as we ate them.

Enjoy!!

*Don't forget to enter the Noonday Collection Giveaway on my blog to win yourself the lovely necklace below!

Summer Bucket List

-Bike ride on the Loveland bike trail 

-Try out at least 3 new restaurants in downtown Cincy

-Read at least 10 books on my list 

-Use our canoe  

-Try out some new donut recipes

-Have a picnic at the park

-Go to the drive in

-Put together a photo wall

-Travel to a state we've never visited

-Find new places to hang our hammocks

-Make creamsicles 

-Go back to Findlay Market

-Do some of the DIY projects I have pinned 

-Find a way to give back/serve others

-Attend a few Reds Games and explore the Banks

 

What's on YOUR Summer Bucket List?