Staycation

That is not my favorite word, but it really did describe our vacation this year.  Paige was only six months old and we didn't really feel like we had it in us to drive or fly anywhere too far from home.  Instead we thought of all the places within a two hour drive that we hadn't ever been to.

First up, the moon.

Kidding!  We visited the Cleveland Children's Museum for the first time.  It was nice enough, but to be perfectly honest, it's got nothing (really, nothing) on the Denver Children's Museum.

The next day we headed to the Akron Zoo.  None of us had ever been there either.  It was fantastic!  What a great zoo for young children.  Don't misunderstand, anyone would enjoy the Akron Zoo, but there were so many special touches and attractions specific to the preschool set.

Mama likes the penguins!

Frontier Town

Petting zoo area with train, barn, and cow-milking.

Amish Country was next.  That was a long day, but we had a ton of fun and got our fill of cheese and baked goods!  We also visited the West Side Market and the Great Lakes Science Center.  I'm actually really glad we opted to do our vacation this way.  We were able to show our girls some of the fun adventures they can have right here at home and discover some of the Cleveland area treasures we had been missing as well!