Mainstrasse Village!!

Last weekend I spent three whole days in Covington, Kentucky working at a gymnastic meet. My only wish that entire weekend was that someone would skip on over to Mainstrasse Village and pick me up some yummieness. Mainstrasse is a restored 19th century German neighborhood. There are shops and restaurants housed in renovated buildings that are joined by cobblestone walkways. This area is just too cute. All a Cincinnati family has to do is cross the 75 bridge into Kentucky and take the first exit. The one landmark you see from I75 is the above Chime Bell Tower.

This bell tower plays a 43 bell carillon hourly and presents a little puppet play of the folk tale "The Pied Piper of Hamelin". Bill and I had just visited this area in November and these pictures are from that trip.

The shops are fun and entertaining. I do hope that more will open and many of the ones in business now stay for a long time. We were able to spend time in a few but will definitely go back for more sight seeing and eating. Fun and relaxing.

One of my favorite shops was Strasse Dog. I know...Iknow...you all remember that I am not a doggie clothing kind of person, but this shop was full of fun doggie toys and treats, too. Plus, the adorable little corgi, Cowboy, was on hand to greet the customers. I think I spent a good 15 minutes with the little pup. Too bad he wasn't for sale. Really......too bad. I think he loved me!

Our favorite memory from that trip was the tasty, creamy, oh so delightful gelato from Europa!Let me tell you...before tomorrow comes....go to Europa in Mainstrasse and get some!! You will make me your new best friend for telling you about this gelato. Really. You will.
Creamy....yummy.....yummieness. I enjoyed it just as much as the ice cream from that famous Cincinnati ice cream establishment. Yes, the gelato was that good. Could become an addiction. See all that loveliness in the picture below? Gelato!

Just so you know, my wonderful Sir Bill stopped into Europa last weekend and brought me some gelato while I was working so hard at the gymnastic meet. I cried and I ate and then I cried again.

I think I'll get myself down to Mainstrasse again this weekend!

Lessons Learned from Birthday Shopping

Bethany's birthday is on New Years Day. It was a great birthday and having her birthday fall on this holiday has been fun. If not for a birthday celebration we would just be sitting around watching football and eating leftovers and never getting out of our pajamas. OK, we still don't get out of our pajamas.

The problem, however, is shopping for this birthday. I don't like to pick things up during Christmas because, well.......I feel guilty. I would feel like she was just receiving left-over Christmas presents. So, that leaves me with shopping the week after Christmas. Which is fine, unless a major obstacle comes up during that week. And this birthday........it did.

I, purchaser of most gifts for the family, came down with the stomach flu. By the time New Years Eve got here, I was able to stand up and walk but I had to enlist my parents to chauffeur me around. I felt like a baby asking my children's grandparents to crate me around but they were also needed because they hold the membership card to the most important store I needed to go to - Costco. And this is where the lesson in life comes in....

Don't Go To Costco on New Years Eve if You Are Recovering From the Stomach Flu!!

All the sample ladies were out in full force on this day and they must receive commission on items sold because they were Relentless!! It just wasn't enough that my poor pitiful almost throwing up self had to deal with the SMELL of the food; I had to listen to every little sample lady's plea to try HER delicacy......Asian salmon, barbecue beef, guacamole, fried dumplings, granola, chocolate cake, so much more and the topper........Three Bean Salad. (I get squeamish even now as I type that one). One thing I learned about these women - they are hard core. I just wanted to scream out, "Leave me alone or there will be a clean up in aisle 4."

Fortunately, that wasn't needed. With Grams and Gramps help we found Bethany's Pyrex and movie, a couple of other things and skedaddled out of there. I think my parents saw that I was turning green and wanted to avoid a scene. Because that would have been more than they signed up for.

The opening picture......the Pyrex. It was very much appreciated.

Undocumented Visitors to the Manger

Jar Jar Binks by Christian............ Happy Feet by Anna.............

101 Dalmatians by Bethany..............

Goofy by Christian................

Never a dull moment at our manger scenes!!!

A Day in Oakley

Our family has recently rediscovered the joys of Oakley. Since our church is in this area and our two oldest are at school nearby we have a chance to snoop around the area quite a bit. So I am going to tell you about a Cincinnati Field Trip that every couple and/ or family should not miss! King Arthur's Court is the BEST and I mean the BEST toy store in Cincinnati. Even if you are not in the market for buying, this is a great place to play! Toys and games are out for everyone to try. Their Lego and Playmobil offerings are extensive and all of their toys make kids and bigger "kids" think and imagine. Very fun.
We usually tie in lunch or dinner when we are "field tripping it" in Oakley. Our favorite place - Dewey's Pizza. You can half your pizza at Dewey's so adults can satisfy their taste and kids can happily enjoy more traditional toppings. There are other locations around Cincy but this one is our fave.

Our most recent find up Madison Road is AbbyGirl Sweets! A cupcakery! You all know I love me some cupcakes and our family is currently out to find the "best" cupcakery in the United States! We have had some pretty good cupcakes but so far the actual "best blend of icing and cake award" goes to this establishment!! I highly recommend the peanut butter/chocolate cupcakes.

Yes. Yes I do.

Also, if AbbyGirl's does not totally quench your sweet tooth your family may want to try Aglamesis Brothers Ice Cream and Candy. They have caramel marshmallows that have to be tried!

Yes. Yes you should. (oh, and their raspberry whipped cream, too.) You'll thank me for that tip.

Stay tuned for more updates on this wonderful area. I know we have yet to discover it all!

Christmas Tree Shopping Near Cincinnati

Bill and I have been cutting down our Christmas trees for over 20 years. So we have experienced a variety of tree farms that have offered cut your own trees. I would consider Bill and I connoisseurs (Christmas tree snobs) and we have found the perfect place not too far from home. Big Tree Plantation www.bigtreeplantation.com is located in Morrow, Ohio and offers the best selection around. Here is the whole crew out shopping this year! Poor Anna injured herself in the gym earlier in the day so she got a little transportation help from her strong and mighty big bro!

It has never taken us longer than 30 minutes to pick the perfect tree. Getting it back to the tree shaker was easy and the process of paying for and tying the tree to the car was painless. They even have a pretty sweet gift shop offering free hot chocolate. Santa was there, too, plus some reindeer.

This year they added outside food vendors. Food as in fried stuff. We had to try some of that fried stuff since I refuse to fry food in my own home! And the crazy idea that someone would put snickers, oreos and rice krispie treats in a Fry Daddy was just too intriguing!! We can now say that we have partaken. We will not partake again!!

So, aside from leaving there with higher cholesterol levels, we had a marvelous time. This is definitely our pick for a family Christmas Tree adventure!!

The End of a Season

Most people mark the end of fall by the calendar - December 20. I however mark the end of fall by the date that all those darn leaves are cleared from the property!! You see, we have about 3 acres with about 20 mature trees and it takes us pretty much a whole month and a half to clear them off! Many of my friends comment on how beautiful our home and property are but are soooo happy they are not the owners of all those leaves that fall each autumn! So when they are finally off of the trees and off of the lawn we have our ceremonious picture taking event. I had to have Grams and Gramps get in on the action. After all they have been raking these leaves for --oh, about a 40 years! (not sure why they wouldn't sit down in the pile though, party poopers!).
Anna and the pup were next to have their picture done. It was a hot fall day. Can't you tell by the 12 inch tongue hanging out of the dog's mouth? She's probably dripping slobber all over those leaves that Anna will jump in later!!!


Even that crazy couple below stopped long enough for a photo-op!

Now this is the only remaining pile in the yard! Yahoo! We will leave this one as a drop zone for Anna's zip line and a place for the pup to lose all of her outdoor toys!!

Now that the lawn is clear - Bring on the Snow!!

Hiking: Miami of Ohio

Bill and I have decided that our future will include a lot of hiking!! We both enjoy it very much and have decided to see how many trails we can get under our feet before we cark! That's Bill's term for leaving this earth! I bought a wonderful book entitled 60 Hikes within 60 Miles and we have begun checking off the hikes surrounding the tri-state area. Our first hike was to the natural areas of Miami of Ohio and it was Fun, Fun, Fun! The Sycamore trees were huge as Anna and Bill are showing above. Anna could even crawl up in many of the crevices of the trees. When not crawling in she was climbing up!

The swinging bridge was the absolute coolest! Love this pic of Anna going across. She and her dad had the best time swinging and swaying! I made them stop when I came across. Although they did dare me to run across. I managed a slow trot!!

I did run across the concrete stepping stones. OK, it was also a slow trot but I did it more than once! Anna continued another three or four times.

The total length of this particular hike is 4.32 miles. We broke it up to get to the swinging bridge faster so I believe we did about 3.5. Certainly the 4.32 is doable with Anna. For younger kids it is only about a mile trip straight to the swinging bridge.
I highly recommend this hike for all families. I am sure you can visit

www.muohio.edu and locate the natural areas to hike. For a good reference this hike circles Bachelor Pond.