West Virginia in my bones

My grandfather is from West Virginia and his was a great man. Something in me is connected to that place. There are a lot of jokes about West Virginia in regards to teeth or the lack thereof. There are jokes about OJ Simpson moving there because everyone has the same DNA, but what is undeniable is how beautiful of a state West Virginia is. We met some friends from Virginia half way for a week of vacation at Babcock State Park. It was built by the CCC boys in the post great depression era and some of it's original works are still in place. Just wanted to share a couple of shots from our week.

On a rainy hike through the woods.

Our kids are 10, 8, 6, & 4. They are best friends. Always good spending time with them.

Ollie's face in this one is great. Nothing like a healthy fear of fire.

We broke out some sparklers and got some cute shots of the kids.

Melissa even did a couple.

We always try to get family shots whenever we can. So cool to see how the kids grow and change year after year.

Here are all of the kiddos lined up in order.

This one part of the river was dammed up a long time ago to make a pool area for army solders. Still intact today. A fun place to swim and explore for all ages.

Out on another hike.

Probably our favorite part was our time on the lake. Canoes, kayaks and fishing for all.

Charlotte was so proud of herself when she captained her own kayak. I have a feeling we are going to be kayak owners pretty soon.

Maybe Charlotte can teach me some tricks to stay in the kayak for next time...haha!

holiday weekend 2015

Traditions are important to our little family.  We have been doing the same thing every Thanksgiving weekend since we have moved back to Ohio.  Between Thanksgiving, tree cutting and decorating and a visit from the Smith Family the weekend is one of the most fun of the year. Every year I make Thanksgiving shirts, here are this years shirts... Button Turkey and Football Turkey!

This was one of our best Thanksgivings to date, the food was yummy, the kids behaved oddly well and  everything went so smoothly.

We had a student from CCU come stay with us over break.  The kids really enjoyed Ms. Amanda and she was a big hit at Thanksgiving with all of the cousins!  We enjoyed having her over break and both kids cried when she left.

Charlotte was very interested in baby Corah and was so excited to get to hold her, she later documented the experience on her doodle pad.

Corsey's Tree farm was our first stop after Thanksgiving day. It was a great experience like always. This year we got a little further into the tree farm because the kids could walk a little further without getting tuckered out. 

Good thing we have such a strong daddy!  The kids are always so interested in the cutting process.

Over the river and through the woods....

Daddy is so strong!

Besides the Christmas trees, Corsey's also has animals...I am pretty sure each one got a cuddly hug from C.  

We had a great time with the Smith family as usual.  We always end up going to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.  This year we also got to see Santa and got to go bowling.

Charlotte won on the kids lane (she used the ramp, so it wasn't exactly a fair game) and Josh won on the adult lane (he was pretty excited and he did not use the ramp)

Gibby and Grandpa came over for lunch and to decorate the tree.  Grandpa and myself hung the lights and the kids and Laura did most of the ornaments.

Hope everyone had as good of a Thanksgiving weekend as we did.  Now, onward to Christmas!

a whirlwind summer

I have now been working on this post for roughly a week and have had to change this first sentence a couple of times.  Needless to say, the Hess family has been extremely busy for the last three four weeks and here are some shots to show what we have been up to! A few weeks back, just after Father's Day, Jay was busy with the NACC and I was busy with Sportscamp, it was a great week, but we were both pretty exhausted.  A couple days after that, our lovely Smith Family came for a visit.  They were on our summer bucket list and the kids were so excited when they got here! We hit some of the major highlights of the Cincy area and got to see some great shows including a movie, a firework show and C and K go round and round like any sisters will when close in age and temperament! The day that the Smiths left to go back home, Jay and I flew out to California for a few days...just the two of us.  We had a great time and can't thank Tiki and Grandpa enough for the nice little get-a-way without the kiddos!

First, off....Cincinnati Museum Center.

Here is the crew at Coney Island. They loved it and it might have been a few of their most favorite activity of the week!

Our two spunky girls got up the nerve to do the roller coaster first. I love the excitement on K's face and the way that C's looking up at the big coaster!  C has done this coaster before with her Auntie Paula, but when asked how she liked it she will tell you honestly that she cried the whole time.  I was shocked that we got her on it again this year, but proud of her for trying it again!

She is still looking!  

And, the after picture of the brave girls and two goofy dads......K is super proud and pumped and C will still not take her eyes off that thing!  I can only imagine what she was thinking!

Some shots of the big slide. I always forget that I am afraid of heights when I get all the way up there and I am expected to sit down on a tiny slide, without slipping down on the bag while holding one of my offspring.  All of the children (and Josh) loved it way more than I did!

This is the tilt-a-whirl.  Let's just say that Jay and I did not have a good experience on it, but the kids loved it!  We are both concerned that we are not going to be able to keep up with our thrill seeking children as they grow!

The carousel and some cute little boys!

My personal favorite...the bumper cars.  All the kids enjoyed these!

Scrambler and the brave big kids that would ride it alone! 

Ferris wheel with kiddos and dads!

Trains and spaceships!

We also visited the zoo and got to catch one of the barnyard shows. The kids really like it and KB even got to race a chicken!

And of course, a reds game!

The day that our sweet Smith Family left, Jay and I headed out west to LA to spend a few days without the kiddos.  We saw some of the sights, took a tour, lounged and enjoyed some local scenery.

Below is a cool spot in Laguna Beach by the Montage Resort. We ended up coming back here again at toward the end of our trip. Just beautiful.

We rented a tandem bike in Venice and enjoyed the 3 mile ride up to the Santa Monica Pier.

We try to take shots like these wherever we go.

Teamwork makes the dream work when you are working with a tandem bike...

There was a bubba gump shrimp restaurant on the pier. We didn't eat there, but we had to get a shot of Jay sitting on the famous bench from the movie.

We went on one of those "see the sights" tours. It was long, but fun and interesting.

Within the next couple of hours we are headed out to Florida, the kids are so excited about the plane ride, the ocean and the crabs with their chompy, chompy's!

easter weekend

It is finally starting to warm up in our neck of the woods, so we have been spending more and more time outside. This is the first year that C understands the seasons and she is very aware and informative! We had a wonderful weekend decorating eggs, visiting the easter bunny and having some fun with our family and friends.  Pictures can always say it better than I can, so here you all go!