Picture with Santa

Image courtesy of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.

It was our third annual trip to visit Santa at the Ohio Statehouse, and for the first time we have a success story.

Even if the kids weren't smiling, they weren't crying. That's success as far as I'm concerned.

I was in such a hurry to take my photos that I forgot to focus on the kids' faces, so they are a tad bit blurry. Happily, the official photographer standing next to me got some good ones, although the best of the bunch features a blurry Mrs. Claus hand. But the photos are free, so I'm not complaining!

Photo by me. Notice the pink shoes --
I realized at the last minute that her fancy black ones didn't fit!

Photo by me.

Edith seemed neither scared nor happy, just interested. Atticus, of course, had no idea what was going on. I'll take it.

Image courtesy of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.

Image courtesy of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.

Photo Friday: Ravioli Pizza

Ravioli pizza from Bay Ridge Pizza -
exactly what it sounds like.

Columbus's Audubon Center

View from the Audubon Center

The kids were up a bit earlier than normal on one recent Thursday morning, so I made a decision. We would finally visit the Audubon Center downtown, near German Village.

On Thursdays the center has a children's story time, so that would be the perfect morning to check out what it had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised.

The story time itself was fine, but the surroundings were amazing. A few kids gathered around the woman reading the stories in the center's library, a room with three walls made of windows, overlooking bird feeders, the nearby park and the downtown skyline. Also in the center: a small children's play area, with costumes, a climbing structure, puppets and more.

It was a cold, windy day, so we almost went straight home. But we finally decided to brave the elements and walk over a curving path over a pond to the park. There were a couple of playgrounds, but two things make the park stand apart -- a large climbing structure and a water tower with a viewing area partway up. We tested nothing (saved that for a sunny day!), instead abandoning the largely deserted park for our car.

I've known about the Audubon Center for quite some time, and now I'm disappointed that I've only recently visited. Now I'll have to wait until the weather turns next year to truly take advantage of the park.