Jay Hess Jay Hess

Fall weekends are for fun

Fall is busy for our family and your is probably similar. Last weekend we were able to couple a work trip Jay had with a little bit of fun in Columbus, Ohio. If you haven’t been to Cosi in a while, you need to. Our membership at the Cincinnati Children’s Museum got us in for free and we spent most of the day playing and learning.

We had two birthday parties this weekend as well, but also found time to make our annual trip to Shaw Farm for pumpkins, a corn maze and everything else they offer. We conquered the corn maze together and celebrated with Chinese food of course. Here is to making fun, family memories.

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Jay Hess Jay Hess

How do you like them apples?

A couple of weekends ago we headed out to a local apple orchard that has become a family tradition since out time back in Ohio. Due to an indian summer, we left our sweaters and flannel back home in exchange for a little bit of sweat on our brow. The weather didn’t feel very fall-ish, but picking apples always feel right. Ollie, who demands his apples at home be peeled, could be found chomping on apples fresh off of the limb. We had fun as a family walking around the farm and enjoying the time together. Next stop, the pumpkin farm. We are glad that you are here Fall.

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Jay Hess Jay Hess

First day of school 2018

The end of an era and the beginning of another. Both kids are in full day school. Both kids were excited to get back to school and we can't wait to hear about their first day over ice cream when we pick them up this afternoon.

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Jay Hess Jay Hess

horses and caves

We headed to Kentucky for a quick trip to visit two places we knew both kids would love. First was the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.  We got the opportunity to visit with some previous Kentucky Derby winners like Go for Gin and some other beautiful horses. There was a great show with music that showcased a bunch of different breeds and the Lexington Police horses even stopped by as well. The kids got to pick out ponies for pony rides and they loved every bit of it. It was a beautiful day and I think we will return again to check out more of the horse park.

Then we headed a little further south to Mammoth Caves. We did some hiking around the National Park. We tried to explain to Oliver what a sink hole was and then were able to take a two hour tour through some of the caves. It was a hot and humid day so spending a few hours underground in the 55 degree caves was perfect. The kids learned a lot and I'm sure we'll make a return visit next year to take on more of the over 400 miles of caves at Mammoth. It was a fun adventure and we checked off a few more on our summer bucket list for 2018.

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Jay Hess Jay Hess

A week at Ocracoke

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This picture says it all. You can see just why we take 2 flights, drive 4 hours and take a 1 hour ferry just to go to the beach. Ocracoke Island is quiet and slow paced. There aren't any tacky restaurants or shops. You can't find mini golf (even though we did play in Nags Head on our way back to the airport) and there certainly isn't a Starbucks or McDonald's. It's not odd to be the only humans in sight for stretches of the coastline. We came to love it before Charlotte and Oliver were born and now we get to share it with them...and we had a blast. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

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