Ault Park Family Date

Cora is constantly asking to go to the park, but the park closest to us is a little high on the skill level so it's not the best for Ida. Over the weekend, Ben and I decided we'd like to hit up our old stomping ground and enjoy a trip to Ault park.

Last time we went to the park, Ida was barely walking so we weren't sure what she would do this time around. She surprisingly just jumped right in climbing up the stairs and enjoying lots of trips down the slides. Ida was also really into the mulch.

Cora loved being the big sister and going down the slide with Ida on her lap. She was so encouraging of Ida trying out new things and was loving having her sister playing with her.

We were pushing the girls on the swing and I was suddenly realizing how big Cora is getting. I was remembering the days when Cora was the same age Ida is and we'd make evening trips to Ault Park. Giggling to myself remembering the time she fell off the swings... then a couple days later she wouldn't even dare to move while swinging. She loved the swings this time (as always), but was mostly interested in whether Ida was enjoying herself or not.

Ida ended up loving the swing. She got a little fussy if it went to high or fast, but overall she was a fan. She kept going back to it a couple times, so Ben spent a lot of time pushing her in the swings as I remembered all the times I'd bring Cora to the park and the only thing she'd want to do is swing.

It was a fun family outing and I love our slow weekend days together. It was fun watching Ida run around and explore... and it turns out watching Cora flourish in her role as a big sister has been even sweeter than I ever could have imagined.

Fall Walks in the Neighorhood

Our town has been working on extending their bike path and it turns out that part of it is only a block from our house. When we headed out Tuesday to go vote, we were able to check it out  since it leads almost straight from our house to our polling place.  We enjoyed the crisp weather and all of the fall leaves.

Cora's style is really developing lately. Cora loves to pick out her outfits, so there is always a lot of compromising when we need to make sure she is warm enough for walks. On our walks, Cora is really into picking up as many leaves as she can (just like her momma) and enjoys looking at all of her nature finds. She puts her favorites at the top of the stroller so she can have them for a little bit longer.

Ida is always happy to be along for the ride. She watches as her sister runs around like a crazy person and will point to things she finds interesting. Once Cora and I have picked out some favorite leaves, we like to give some to Ida to play with. Ida will wave them around and take a good look at them as we continue to walk.

I love finding all these new places so close to our home that we can explore together. All of the trees in our yard are just green or brown or already bare, but I love that we can just go for a quick walk and check out the fall beauty around us. I also love having these two adventurers to explore with.

A Magical Backyard

On our way home from a school playdate yesterday, we made an impromptu visit. We headed to the backyard to see if there were any flowers to pick to bring home. We walked into a yard full of Black-eyed Susans! We were being a little loud oohing and aaahing over the beautiful yard full of flowers until I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a deer! ...and another deer! We all just stared at each other until Cora made a little too much movement and the deer ran off. We picked a couple of flowers and Cora peeped down at the bottom level of the yard to see if she could spot the deer. The pictures aren't that great because it was already starting to get dark, but I'm hoping to get back there for some pictures in a morning golden hour. It was such a beautiful surprise!

If you could pick to have a field full of one flower, what would it be?

Cincinnati Art Museum

Last week, I took a little time off work to relax and have a little staycation with the girls. I had a dream about a bunch of my high school friends meeting up at an art show and the show had all kinds of crazy stuff, so I got the urge to go check out the Cincinnati Art Museum. I haven't been since I went for art history assignments in college, but I was excited to see some of the new stuff and for Cora to experience it for the first time. Above, Cora is admiring the Mihrab (prayer niche). This is right near the entrance and probably one of my top five things I loved from our trip.

Cora liked some things and didn't like others. We have a rule when looking at art (mostly from our trips to art fairs) that we only say what we like about things, and if we don't like it we just move on. Cora told me some things she liked, but we didn't spend too much time at any one piece. I've always been a Monet fan, so we had to stop and admire Rocks at Belle-Ile, Port-Domois (below).

We went to their current exhibit featuring Folk Art in America. Cora loved the little horse statues, lion statues (above), and the carousel figures of a rabbit and elephant. She had lots of questions about every single piece in the museum, so I did my best to answer what I could. At the Folk Art exhibit, we heard a tour guide talking about how when someone's loved one died, they would get a painting made of them. Cora is very curious about death so she had a lot of follow up questions about that.

Ida rode along in the stroller and seemed pretty content just riding along and looking at things. She stayed up the entire time and really only got a little fussy towards the end because you can't bring in food (and we're a family that loves our snacking).

Walks With Cora : Ault park

When my friend Jazz came to visit, we made a little stop at Ault Park.  Ault park was a favorite place for Cora and I to visit when we lived over in Oakley and we visited when Jazz was in town two years ago. Ida loved sitting at the fountain and watching her sister wading into the water.

Cora was tired from our little trip to the graffiti tunnel, but was reenergized when she heard she was allowed to put her feet in the fountain.  This was always her favorite thing to do after our hikes on Ault's trails. This park holds so many sweet memories with Cora, so coming back here will always be special.

 See more #WalksWithCora and #WalksWithIda on Instagram.