While at the Bunbury Music Festival last month, I won a GoPro HERO3 video camera thanks to Education at Work. EAW  is a non-profit organization helping to address the unemployment crisis in the U.S. They provide entry-level service positions that teach “foundational” job skills like time management, communication, collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. Please visit their website for additional information.

Back to the GoPro, I finally found some time this weekend to give it a try. We spent the majority of the weekend down at Williamstown Lake. My first video is a quick tour of part of the lake from the pontoon boat. As it was my first attempt, please forgive my fingers that are blocking part of the view.

The second video shows a human sized gerbil ball. Since the camera has a waterproof housing I took this video while floating in the lake. I took my turn in the gerbil ball but did not take the camera inside as I was afraid of dropping of it.

I’m in the process of buying more accessories for the GoPro, starting with a floating tether to keep it floating in the water should I accidentally let go of it. I think some kind of mount would be cool too, but I haven’t made any purchases yet.

Yesterday I met up with my mom (who was watching the kids), my brother, and his girlfriend at Kings Island for a few hours of rides and games.

Eiffel Tower

We started off in Planet Snoopy so Trey could ride a few rides first. First up were the trains of Snoopy’s Junction. This is always a favorite of his, and since he isn’t tall enough to ride by himself my mom was lucky enough to get to ride with him.

Snoopy’s Junction

From there Trey took my brother and mother on Woodstock’s Whirlybirds, a helicopter themed sky tram. I’ve been on this ride before, so I sat out to watch Paige.

Woodstock’s Whirlybirds

Speaking of Paige, Melissa took her on her first ride at Kings Island, the carousel.

Character Carousel

From there it was time for the big kids to get a turn on a ride. Since Diamondback is just outside of the kiddie land, and I had never ridden it since its 2009 opening, that was our first stop.

Diamondback

I love the collection of lost and smashed up cell phones on display in the queue. I was fortunate enough to hang on to my iPhone throughout the thrilling 80 mph ride. The first hill is 230 feet tall and it is the tallest roller coaster in the park.

Lost Phones

From there we let Trey have another ride or two along with a few games. When it was time for his mandatory soft serve ice cream, my brother and I snuck off to ride Firehawk, another ride new to me. This is a flying roller coaster in which the passengers spend the majority of the ride face down looking at the ground with their weight being supported only by the restraint system. I was not foolish enough to bring my phone on this one, so I don’t have a photo.

Delirium

From there we found our way to yet another ride I had never been on, Delirium. This is a giant frisbee ride that swings riders up to 120 degrees from center and up to 137 feet in the air, all the while reaching speeds of 76 mph. We wrapped it up by riding Drop Tower: Scream Zone, a ride that rotates the circular car up 264 feet before plunging back to the ground at 67 mph. We weren’t messing around with low thrill rides on this visit.

To help ring in my mother-in-law’s birthday, our family recently spent the day at Hueston Woods with all of my wife’s family. Besides swimming at the pool outside of the lodge, my favorite activity of the day was going to the Nature Center.

Dinner Time

Sunday afternoons at 2 PM throughout the summer, you can watch as the Nature Center’s resident cougar cub and bobcat are fed their dinner.

Cougar Cub

At first when we arrived at the cougar cub’s cage, he was very shy and hiding in the cave. Once the park employee appeared with the food he was very active and ready to eat.

Hungry Fella

The cub is around six months old. His enclosure was redesigned prior to his arrival and after the death of the old cougar who passed away last year at the age of 18.

Bobcat

In contrast to the playful cougar cub, the park’s bobcat is nearing the end of his life and the park employee said he wouldn’t be surprised if this was his last summer. He didn’t move much while we were there, though I did catch a peak of him eating his dinner once the large crowd had left.

Red-Tailed Hawk

In addition to the cats, the Nature Center also has a dozen or so large birds of prey including a red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and even a bald eagle.

Turkey Vulture

Most of these birds are permanent residents as they have injuries that would not allow them to live outside of captivity. However the Nature Center does Raptor Rehabilitation and accepts on average 50 injured birds of prey a year with a nearly 50% success rate of release.

Bald Eagle

The Nature Center also has an inside building filled with reptiles of the area. It too is worth a quick visit. The Nature Center is open year round, 10 AM – 4:30 PM daily and is always free.

Throughout this summer on Thursday nights a new event is taking place at Washington Park, Bandstand Bluegrass. After last night’s performance by the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars, three events have already taken place, with twelve more to go through the beginning of September.

Comet Bluegrass All-Stars

Last night my family and I went to check out it. The awesome thing about this event is it is fun for all ages. The photo below was taken from the children’s playground. So even if you are running around the slides and swings with your little ones, you are still within range of hearing the concert.

Washington Park Crowd

Eli’s BBQ is also available every Bandstand Bluegrass night with $5 pulled pork sandwiches. And Mt. Carmel is on hand as well to provide refreshing beer to those of age. Be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket as permanent seating is limited.

Eli’s BBQ

We had a blast last night and I’m sure we will be down again soon for another fun-filled evening.

Earlier this week my family and I visited Sunrock Farm for a two hour family tour. We joined several other families on a highlight tour of the most enjoyable areas of the farm. All of the children in attendance were able to milk a goat, bottle feed baby goats, gather eggs, hold a baby chick, pet a pig, and brush a horse. Farmer Frank was our guide for the morning, offering many jokes, as well as tons of information about the animals. The cost of the tour is $10 per person and reservations can be made by calling (859) 781-5502. Sunrock Farm also offers school tours, day camps, traveling petting farm, birthday parties, and much more.

Saturday morning my family and I went to Parky’s Farm, a 100-acre educational farm with live animals, wagon and pony rides, playground, indoor Parky’s Playbarn, and more. Most activities and exploring are included with $3 admission per vehicle, or the $10 annual Hamilton County Parks pass. The pony rides are $3 per child shorter than 48 inches, the wagon ride is $2.50 per person (2 and under are free), and the indoor playbarn is $2.50 per child (2 and under are free).

In addition to the above mentioned activities, our two-year-old love the petting yard with one month old baby goats as well as watering all the vegetables in the large gardens. We spent at least three hours at Parky’s with all the activities available. Since the park is inside of Winton Woods, there are many other activities you could enjoy, and you could easily spend an entire day there.

We spent the entire extended weekend down at the lake house in Williamstown. A little work was done to the house, such as hanging shelves in one of the closets, but the majority of the time was spent having fun.

Nick With The Screen

Our evenings were filled with the usual bonfire, but we had new entertainment as well. Kim’s dad received a massive inflatable projector screen for Christmas, and we finally got the chance to break it in this weekend. In fact we watched a movie each of the three nights we were there.

Free Willy

Nick was quite the fisherman, reeling in a half-dozen bluegill. I also helped Trey do some fishing of his own and I think we caught the smallest fish ever. After that embarrassment I did manage to bring in a couple of other decent sized catches.

Bluegill Fishing

Throughout the rest of the weekend we also took a few boat rides and even took a swim in the lake on the last day. The water was a bit chilly but I’m hopeful it will continue to warm up with the recent heat wave we have been having.

Last week the newest features of the Smale Riverfront Park were dedicated and opened to the public. The Duke Energy Garden and Women’s Committee Garden combine to more than double the amount of park space available.

Cincinnati’s New Front Porch

My favorite features of the Duke Energy Garden are a dozen family size swings that overlook the river. I sat on one of these swings for a few minutes and watched boats float by. I can already tell that these are going to be very popular.

Front Lawn

The Duke Energy Garden is the eastern most section of the park, just south of Great American Ball Park and to the east of the already popular Main Street Fountains. The pathways through the park are very close to connecting with the Ohio River Trail, which will soon link Smale with Yeatmans Cove, Sawyer Point, and Friendship Park, offering a mile and a half of continuous paved trail.

Duke Energy Garden

Even though the new swings are my favorite part of the park, my son continues to love running through the interactive Main Street Fountains. But since the swings are just around the corner from the fountains, everyone wins!

Main Street Fountains

Construction continues on the west end of the park. The PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground, being built next to the Roebling Suspension Bridge, will open in May 2014. And it looks like funding is in place to have the Vine Street Fountain & Stairs, carousel, and carousel building open in time for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

A couple of days ago I took my family to the Cincinnati Fire Museum for our first visit. My grandfather was a Cincinnati Firefighter so it’s a bit surprising that I never visited the museum before, at least not to my recollection, even though it has been open for at least as long as I’ve lived in Cincinnati.

Outside

Oldest Surviving Fire Engine

The fire museum is located in a restored 1907 firehouse, the Court Street Firehouse, which sits at 315 West Court Street. The Court Street Firehouse is a registered historic building, listed in the National Register on July 18, 1974.

Hand Pumper

Aurora Pumper

Mt. Washington Fire Department

Hook And Ladder Wagon

There are a few hands on exhibits for children, including an awesome modern fire engine cabin with functioning sirens and flashing lights. I couldn’t figure out how to get the lights to turn on, but leave it to our two-year-old who had them all flashing in no time.

Play Fire Engine

Captain Trey

Over 200 years of firefighting history is on display in the Cincinnati Fire Museum. Exhibits include examples of early leather fire buckets that all citizens were required to own and maintain, a massive 1808 fire drum that was used to sound the alarm in the event of a fire, and the oldest surviving fire engine in Cincinnati.

1927 Ahrens Fire Engine

Helmets

Another awesome family fun activity is taking a slide down the fireman’s pole. Trey had never done this before, so I had to give him a quick demonstration before helping him take a few slides.

Fireman’s Pole

Fireman Trey

We could have easily spent more than the hour we dedicated for this trip. There is a lot of historical information that can take some time to read through. But with low admission prices it is easy to justify a quick trip as well.

Happy Earth Day everyone! We were fortunate to catch the tail end of the Cincinnati Earth Day celebration at Sawyer Point yesterday. In addition to a ton of eco-friendly booths, there were a few animal centered exhibitors.

Freshly Sheared Alpacas

We barely caught the New Richmond Alpaca Farm setup before their three alpacas were loaded into a truck and taken back to the farm. One of the farmers told me that these animals were just sheared two days ago. The farm turns their unique wool into stuffed animals, clothing, and more.

Trey, Goat Handler

Trey had the most fun playing with the animals of Sunrock Farm. He was able to lead a goat around on a leash, hold a baby chick, and pet a really large rabbit. So much fun for kids of all ages!