In and Around Perrysburg, OH

Young's family lives in a suburb of Toledo called Perrysburg. I love Perrysburg. It's a small town, full of families, has just enough larger stores for convenience and close to a major city to have good restaurants, sports, museums, etc...oh, and they have all four seasons of weather!! Perrysburg also sits right on the Maumee River so there are lots of activities/exploring to do as well. I love Perrysburg...
We decided to go explore Perrysburg one day and started at the River. We were surprised at all the people fishing along the banks . Timo and Cameron were mesmerized by the process of catching fish. There was one gentleman kind enough to let them see the whole process of bating, casting and reeling in the "big one". The recent heavy rains there was causing a bumper crop in fish this year so everyone was enjoying a big catch. The rains also caused minor flooding in the area which left lots of dead fish laying on the shores...Timo loved poking them with his sticks, such a boy, yuck!
We took a little hike in the woods through some nature trails which clearly showed we have city kids. Constant complaining about spider webs, limbs in their way, logs to step over, waaa, waaa, waaa. Needless to say, our hike didn't last long...
We left the river and went to check out the cute downtown area. We visited the public library where the children's center took up half the library! So much for the kids to do, see and read there, we could have stayed all day...but alas...Timo got stuck at the train table and didn't move.
Lunch! We loved the local taqueria, yummy tacos!
We also took time out to visit some of many HUGE playgrounds in the area. It was their first time on a rock climbing wall and I was surprised how high they climbed.

We had so much fun in Perrysburg...and can't wait to go back in the winter to play in the snow!!

Kitty Cat Pool

As I mentioned earlier, while in Toledo, we got the kids a little kiddie pool, which Cameron calls the kitty cat pool, to play in for some summer fun. I think we "hit the pool" almost every day trying to cool off from the summer heat. Even Daddy found a way to relax...and Timo was more than willing to help out.
I love their creativity...pretending to fish one day and rowing a boat the next.

We're not sure which was most fun...filling up the pool or getting to eat our snack in the pool...
Oh wait, having a water fight with our cousins was the most fun!!

Historic Sauder Village, OH

One of the days we spent in Ohio was going to the adorable period village of Sauder Village. In case you didn't know this about me, I LOVE history and anything historical to look at. Basically anything with a story behind it...and Sauder didn't disappoint. It's the cute little village frozen in time from 19th and early 20th century.

There were all types of craft shops with real craftsmen working...basket weaving, glass blowing, cotton spinning, printing press, etc...but the most exciting were the tinning and pottery. Timo loved the hammering and tools of the tinsmiths shop, go figure, and Cameron could have watched the potter play with clay (play dough in her mind) all day.
After visiting the craft village we headed to the Little Pioneers Village to play in the "just my size" log cabin, barn and farm. The house was filled with period toys, furniture and dishes. Timo threw the best tea party ever!

Outside was a barn, complete with a "cow" that you could milk, eggs to collect under chickens and wheelbarrows to push.

Timo trying to figure out how you get butter our of the butter churner...
What's a 19th century village without a stage coach? Timo practicing yelling "Ya!" at the horses while Cameron holds on!

And of course there was a train ride! As you know, we never miss a train ride.
We happened to go at the end of the school year which meant tons of school groups on field trips there. The train was packed all day with the school groups so we had to wait until all the groups left and rode the train as our last activity...and it was well worth it. The train driver was so nice, he let the twins ring the bell and blow the whistle!

Short Update

Due to shotty internet, losing track of time and just general having a blast on our summer vacation, I haven't gotten around to posting or keeping updated on our trip. And I can't really even begin to update you all yet because my internet is limited right now...but we're in NC now, just home from Myrtle Beach. I just wanted to post a photo to show how great our summer has been so far...

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day morning at Fort Meigs watching an reenactment of the War of 1812...or at least some of us saw the battle while others stayed inside with a child that was too scared of the canons. But Cameron and I had just as much fun watching from the windows inside in the air condition.

We then went over to Young's sister's house for a cookout. It was so hot outside to play but the kdis wouldn't come in! I think children must not develop their "uncomfortable" senses until about 10years old. So Young ran up to the dollar store and bought a little kiddie pool, yeah! They loved it! The funny thing is Cameron thought we said kitty pool...that's all she called it, the kitty cat pool.

Their cousin, Sena, hooked up the water hose to the slide and make a little water slide/obstacle course for them...what fun!

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

The way the activities of the day worked out, there was no time for a nap...or rather the time went by so fast, we realized around 5pm, when Cameron was having a major tantrum over nothing really at all, we skipped the naps. Poor Cameron just couldn't hang on another hour till bed time, she fell asleep in my lap while eating dinner...

We love being around family!! Being so far away, it makes coming home so special...and so much fun.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

First up on our AAA baseball tour this summer, the Toledo Mudhens! This first game was Timo's reward for being potty trained and wearing big boy underwear. We told him if he started using the potty we would take him to a baseball game...bingo! So the first day of our vacation we headed to the ball park with our cousin Sena with us.

It had been such a beautiful day, sunny and warm and we were all so excited. The day we were going was autograph day and kids could run the bases after the game...sweet! Once we got there we found out it was double header game b/c of a rain out the day before. And since it was a double game, there was no autograph session...and kids could run the bases after the second game. No way would the kids sit through two games, bummer. Oh well, we were just as excited...until the rain started...more like a down pour for 30 mins, then another down for for 30mins...good times.

We passed the time walking around, seeing Muddy the hen, eating and coloring pages the staff passed out to the kids.


Finally, after a two hour rain delay, the game got underway! Of course, now we were running on borrowed time as far as temperaments were concerned and fast approaching our limit with the kids...or rather they were fast approaching their limit period. We made it through 3 innings of the first game before it was time to leave. It's always best to leave BEFORE the melt downs happen. But at least we got to see a little baseball and have a fun family time at the ball park...not to mention the Mudhens were playing my home state team, the Durham Bulls (the Bull's won, woo hoo!).
We got the kids a baseball and bat at the game so when we got home Timo wanted to go outside and show us what he had learned watching the game....I think we have a future baseball star...

Batting Practice from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Vacation, Leg #1

Just a quick note to say we made it to our first leg of vacation, Perrysburg, OH. It's so great being around family, seeing Mom and Dad Ko and the rest of the Ko clan. Timo and Cameron are soaking up the sun, fun and being the center of attention. I have a million pictures already from our adventures but not much time to post yet. I'll leave you with a few from our flight...so thankful the kids are 3 years old now! What a difference in flying with them now than at 9mo!! It was actually fun to fly this time...and so thankful we made it safely!


We were lucky enough to get upgraded to first class (on of the perks of having a husband that travels ALL THE TIME). Having the extra space and lots of food/snacks/drinks was such a blessing. We did get split up...Young and Cameron were about three rows away from Timo and I but it was really nice being one on one with each child, something we rarely get to do.

The flight attendant was so taken with how well the children behaved, he invited them into the cockpit to meet the pilot after the flight was over! The pilot said they could sit in the chairs but the twins were too scared...this is about as far as they got. But Timo asked the pilot a tons of questions and he was so polite to explain everything to Timo. What great guys the pilots were.