We had an amazing summer. Like last year we took a couple seconds of video from each day. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did while experiencing it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EdJ_FnL42g
summers last weekend
We have been living it up this summer and as the summer comes to a close we decided to go out with a bang! Our family had a very eventful weekend filled with Thomas the Train, a sweet birthday party and Coney Island with the family. Here are some shots of the fun we had...
We got to go up and see Thomas in person,
get animal balloons made,
run through a corn maze (we did this about ten times),
and meet Sir Topham Hatt!!!!!
The train ride and tractor ride were both fun too!
Coney Island with the family and we rode all the rides!
The giant ship,
and the little motor boats, 
the scrambler, 
we enjoyed some park benches,
while the brave ones faced the whirl a twirl,
the giant slide is a must,
and Melissa's personal favorite the bumper cars!
Of course, we could not forget the ferris wheel,
and some of the good classic little kid rides!
We had a great weekend, and I can honestly say I think we are all tired out and think going back to school is best for everyone! Both Charlotte and Melissa start school on Wednesday and normalcy will return to the house once again!
a beach vacation
Our little family just got home from the beach last night. We had an excellent time and are both refreshed and exhausted as any good family vacation should leave you. Here are a couple shots of our adventures in Florida. The condo that we stayed was right on the water and perfect for all the gear that a family with little ones will haul out to the beach for a day of fun.
It was filled with a bunch of great birds, that O was very interested in and demanded that each one be snapped with the camera!
The kids of course had a great time on the beach. C particularly enjoyed digging up the sea creatures and transporting them up closer to our canopy to their new home to "watch them hatch". She had quite the system going on. O had fun running around like a goofy little boy, looking at all of the animals and making known every boat that sailed across our view. He also took a big interest in a boogie board.
The condo that we stayed at had a great pool and most mornings we had it all to our selves. It was nice, because I could also see and hear the ocean from the pool, so everyone was happy. Our condo had a laundry room filled with toys, so the kids had some fun stuff to play with in the pool. C in her devilish little way found the only working squirter and claimed it as her own for the whole week. O had a great time paddling his way around the whole pool in a floaty.
While on vacation we had to partake in customary vacation activities such as putt-putt and a dolphin cruise. C has deemed putt-putt as her sport for life and had a great time. O really just enjoyed the giant stick in his hand to hit things with. Both kids loved the cruise and were delighted to see dolphins in person and so up close.
To end our adventure, we could not leave the beautiful beach without taking some shots of the kids. I love how these turned out. Photo credit goes to Jay, darling beach dress props to Kathryn Sue (we love hand me downs!)
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!