Our Super Toledo Saturday!

This morning I posted about our day being a great Toledo day - it so was! It was so wonderful to be together and do some "Toledo" things and some fun family things. So tolerate this post of our day as I run done some great things we did.

After a lazy morning we gathered ourselves together and headed down to the Main Library. We had to make a quick stop at our West Library to grab a book Manhattan had on hold (she received her library card a couple of weeks ago and has been using it) - An American Girl book!

After we parked in the basement parking of the Main Library we heard lots of birds - I wish I could get pictures of this but everytime we hear an interesting sound Marin puts her hand to her ear and says "oh-oh-oh". I know I have used this with both my kids to get them to stop and listen - she does it for everything she hears and it is incredibly cute! Anyways - as we looked around we saw a nest with four baby birds right behind where we had parked. We also saw a mother bird flying around with a worm - we all stood really still and quiet and watched as the mother landed and fed her babies. It was like a segment on Animal Planet and it was amazing! We all thought it was so cool! She fed the babies and then she was off again!

After watching the baby birds for awhile we headed into the library - it is a 3 story library that was remodeled and added onto before Hattie was born. everytime I go I am amazed at its beautiful architecture and style! We wandered through the library for about 1 1/2 hours then we headed home. While we were there we checked out some videos and TONS of books. I brought a bag for each of the girls but it was not enough. Once Hattie discovered The American Girl (AG) and Magic Tree House section the bag was filled - then she found a NEW Rainbow Magic Fairy book and a few new books. Needless to say we left with about 25 books and most were Manhattan's. Marin was just excited by the toddler zone (which is twice as big as her room with puzzles, games, computers, stuffed animals,a nd tons of books in it) and all the interactive decorations about different books! They have a large fish tank (Rainbow Fish) a jeep you can sit in (Sheep In A Jeep), a cat (Cat In The Hat), and lots of wall murals that light up and blink! So fun! We were exhausted after our adventure in the Children' Library - these last shots are taken from the 3rd floor to the Main Floor.

We headed home for lunch (which Marin skipped cause she was so tired). Following lunch Manhattan set up and cozy reading area outside in the swing set. She took her sleeping bag, blanket, and large pillow as well as all her books and set herself in that for most of the two hours that Marin was napping. She ended up reading three books and half of two - tomorrow we are planning to do a flower arranging project that was talked about in one of the AG books - kind of fun. While she read, Dad mowed the lawn, and Mom ran some errands (ALONE) -also kind of fun!

After Marin's nap we headed off the dinner and the park. As it happened we went to a faraway Taco Bell and ran into our ward missionaries! We treated them for dinner - bonus for us! It was fun to have them with us!

After dinner we went to a park - we ran into some friends that lived close by!! had a great time except for a few choice things. Manhattan loves this spinny merry go round - she gets herself and Marin going really fast. It is the best reason to go to this park!! These spinny things are not allowed anywhere else I think!!


We tried to help Dad find a geo-cache but it was missing in action. As we played Dad continued to hunt for it for some time but no luck! I like this picture but I had to zoom so he would not see me!!

After Dad got done hunting and our friends arrive, Manhattan challenged Dad to a spin off to see who could spin the fasted (she says that she did not intend to be on when he did it!). Anyways - Dad was the fastest spinner and he spun Hattie right off! I am laughing as I write this only because it was so darn funny and she was NOT hurt - but I do think it scared her a bit!!!

Marin has decided to climb the jungle gym and try to cross the top - if she gets unsure of herself she just drops down and expects mom to catch her - she almost got hurt a couple times. In the end, good parenting prevaled as I tried to encourage Marin down the slid by grabbing her toes which sent her down off balanced and over the edge of a LONG and TALL slide. She hit her head and was so mad. I felt so bad!! Another good example of GREAT parenting!!!

After our dangerous but fun time at the park - we headed to our favorite ice cream place, Handels. When we arrived we found that their gift card reader machine was broken (oops) and all we had was our gift card (thanks to the Spangler Family). Without any tears, we headed to the other Handels in town (thank heavens there is two of them) and enjoyed some yummy and messy ice cream!

After a long day we headed home for baths and bedtime. Marin went to sleep with no problem (probably due to her head injury) and Manhattan read for awhile before Dad came to say goodnight. Just as he did her wall shelf came CRASHING down on her - scaring her to death and interrupting this fabulous blog post! Morgan was there and was able to rescue her pictures and books ( I think she had overloaded it a bit - she loves having her books close by)! All is well that ends - again no one was hurt and this one was NOT becuase of our crazy parenting!!!

So the end of the FABULOUS Toledo Day! I am so grateful for my wonderful family and all the fun we had today! It was really great to be together and to do things as a family! I know nowNow, I am EXHAUSTED and I need to go to bed!! Wish you were all here - we would treat you to Handels ice cream and this time we would make sure we had plenty of cash!!!

Thanks for reading about our fabulous day - if you are ever in Toledo - we will take you along!