The Final Days of Summer: Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Science Center, Bathroom Remodel, Oktoberfest and the Zoo!

On top of the two weddings our family was in this past year we had a lot of projects and fun... this post is an attempt to account for all that we did (so it's a bit long!!!)

We remodeled a bathroom! This was a big, long, stressful project... but it's so pretty now, I'm glad it's done! The bathroom was definitely outdated when we bought the house, but the project got bumped up on our to-do list because the sink and tub started leaking and I had finally had enough of the quick-fixes we had used to repair them. Overall we were happy with the final project, but getting there took a lot more time and money than we originally expected so that of course caused a bit of stress.  We also had a majority of the house painted and the project got messed up by the original painter, so we had to re-do half of his work... a bit of a stressful project as well!

We did have lots of fun too - my dad, sister and her kids came out to visit and we went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, an Indians game and hung around our house cooking out on Labor day weekend.

We went for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, but we ended up getting to see parts of the air show downtown and caught a live concert of a cover band playing songs from the 90s. It turned out to be an awesome day in Cleveland.

Hank played soccer this summer.

And we went to the zoo lots!

At the zoo with our friend Henry!

At the end of summer we participated in the annual Akron Marathon (Ben, Nick and Sean all ran the half... I decided not to run this year because of our busy schedule).  But participated in cheering on all the guys with the kids. We got up early and saw them each 2-3x's throughout the course and then we found ourselves in the middle of downtown with hungry bellies and only one option... so the kids had Swenson's burgers for breakfast!

This has become one of our favorite annual traditions here in Akron! It also has worked out for our out of town friends to be around for the Oktoberfest the same weekend.  Our friend's Kate and Ben put on an amazing party with tons of great food, drinks and games... I even participated in the steinhoist game and came in third!

We also went for a hike while Sean was in town at the gorge here in Akron. It was a pretty hike and the kids had fun being silly and active!

The last major thing we did this summer was join the Cleveland Science Center. We saw the outside science center when we visited Cleveland with my dad and I decided to take the kids back up to check it out. We had a blast exploring and bought a membership so we can go back for me. It's definitely a little older for them, but there was a kid room designed for kids their age and the kids had a great time exploring (of course until it was time to leave, then everyone started melting down and I immediately regretted taking them anywhere and spending so much money just to have them throw fits.... ahhh, the joys of parenting....)

The whole area around the Science Center is really cool... it's in a bay off Lake Erie with a great patio and really cool buildings. This is definitely one of my new favorite areas.

This little bird had no fear - he stayed so close to us the entire time we ate our lunch, it was so funny!

(when the kids dress themselves...)

And for some random silly summer fun... the kids came downstairs all dressed in Ben's shirts.. it was too adorable not to capture!

And finally, this boy... I love his love for the outdoors. Rain, snow, shine, Hank loves to be outside and will play outside by himself for hours. I despise this pool of water, but he loves playing in it so I'm trying to be thankful for the hidden blessings in life.