Cincinnati, Ohio

We decided to take a little Labor Day family trip to Cincinnati. It's only two hours north of here, and they have IKEA! We wanted to do as much free as possible, so the plan was to leave around 7:00, grab breakfast at Wendy's since we had breakfast coupons, get to IKEA around 9:00, go to Washington Park around 10:30, and then get some famous Cincinnati chili for lunch and head back. Short but fun and Malachi could crash on the way back. Right...

First, we actually left on time and stopped at Wendy's for breakfast. Then we got to Cincinnati around 9. That's where our plan started to break down.

IKEA doesn't open until 10:00. And it was raining.

We we tried to find a mall so Malachi could run around, but the only mall we ended up at was this one: a technology mall that sold copiers and printers.

Next we thought we'd try Barnes & Noble. Doesn't open until 10:00. 

Eric finally suggested we go walk around the lobby of a nearby hotel. I was pretty hesitant, but it ended up being a great idea.

 Finally we ended up at IKEA. Malachi had fun trying out beds.

He also liked the kids area where he could try out their toys.

By the time we left it was packed!

So next we tried to go get chili since it was time for lunch. Ya, they close for the holidays. 

We tried to find the other big chain but couldn't, so we ended up at Burger King. Of course after we left we drove right past the other chili chain. 

Finally after lunch we made it to the park. It was really cool with a playground, splash park, and musical instruments built in!

We left around 1:30, and Malachi slept almost the whole way home. Even with us going the wrong way and heading to Lexington instead of Louisville. Oops! It was quite the day trip.