Fun with Emily: July 2026

Summer S'mores

Thursday, July 16, 2026

For my birthday, I got some of the wood pellets for the little Solo stove we got a few years ago to take to Stonewall. I had been hoping to make s'mores at least once this summer. So tonight was the night! We got marshmallows, Hershey bars, some caramel bars and of course graham crackers and then we lit the little Solo up! It took a bit to get going, but once it did we had no trouble making a whole bunch of s'mores! We decided the caramel ones were delicious, but the nostalgia of original Hershey did not disappoint. It was a fun night. Hope we can do it again before the end of summer.

My Birthday

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Normally I do not post about my birthday, but this year was really special. Not only did I get a fantastic new lens for my camera for our Alaska cruise coming up in September, but Emily made me the best gift ever! It was like a little scrapbook page filled with loads of pics of us together over the years. Needless to say, I cried. Also, I got cake. That helped with the tears. You can't cry while eating cake. It is physiologically impossible.

Kings Island 2026

Sunday, July 12, 2026

I wasn't sure we would get to go to Kings Island this summer with all we had going on already, but we managed to find a weekend to visit Grandma, shop at The Greene, eat yummy cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, get pizza at Marion's, ice cream at Graeter's AND go to Kings Island too! Originally we had tickets for the park on Saturday, but it rained. And when I say it rained, I mean it RAINED. So much rain. So, instead we spent Saturday shopping. We gave Emily and Kian shopping spree cards again and I think they had a lot of fun. Plus, they both got some things to take to school.

When we got up on Sunday, the sun was out and we were ready to go! We grabbed our Fast Lane wrist bands and headed straight for the rides. First up was action zone (I think they still call it that) and the first ride of the day (literally we were on the very first train) was The Bat. Not the most exciting, but it does not have a fast lanes so we did it early before there was a line. From there we did Banshee, Drop Tower and Invertigo.

Then we headed toward Coney Mall and did Adventure Express, The Racers, bumper cars (so fun), Orion and Flight of Fear.

Then it was time for lunch at Miami River Brewhouse. We like this place because they have a good menu and we can sit down in A/C to rest a bit. It is expensive, but we like it and it is worth it for the rest out of the heat.

After lunch we made our way back to Coney Mall and rode the old fashioned cars and Windseeker followed by the Stunt Coaster.

Then we hit up Mystic Timbers, the Beast and Diamond Back (Emily's favorite).

We had a great day and got to ride everything we wanted. But, but about 4pm it was time to hit the road for home. What an amazing day! Until next year...

4th of July

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Happy 250th Birthday America! This year America celebrates a BIG birthday and we got home just in time to celebrate it....or at least Emily did. We landed at 5:30 from Sun Valley and Kian met her at the airport. They were off to meet friends and enjoy Regatta and more fireworks. While I was not there (I was home doing vacation laundry), these pics sure made it look like a good time was had by all!

Not my pic, but this was taken at the capitol in Charleston with the big Ferris Wheel in the background. It was really beautiful so I swiped it for the memory. The kids tried to go ride it, but there were thunderstorms in the area, so they did not get the chance. Maybe it will be back someday.

Sun Valley 2026

June 29 - July 4, 2026

This year we went to Sun Valley a little later. Honestly, we pushed back a week to try to get one of the big headliner skaters at the Sun Valley on Ice show. They tend to do the biggest talent over the 4th of July so we hoped to get to see Ilia Malinin. Unfortunately, that did not happen. In fact, they ended up moving the show to mid-week instead of July 4. Not sure why. Anyway, we were a week later this year.

The first part of the week Saturday - Monday were pretty chilly. We had pants and sweatshirts with jackets and it rained on and off most of these days. So we spent a good part of the day inside binge watching some TV shows and relaxing. Emily also started her ice time with Craig - Yay!

By Tuesday, the weather improved and we were able to get out and walk around downtown and also grab some ice cream at Leroys! We were all set to go to the pool for a late afternoon swim when we learned that there had been thunder in the area...no clue where...so the pools were closed. We wandered around in the village to kill time and then the pool finally opened in time to take a quick swim before heading to afternoon freestyle.

One of our favorite places in all of Sun Valley is Konditorei bakery. We go every morning for a breakfast treat and sometimes later in the day to choose something for a later evening dessert. Everything they have is so good!

Wednesday night was Sun Valley on Ice and the headliners were Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik. At first I wasn't super excited about this, but wow, those two were incredible. I was really glad we got to see them! It was also super fun to see Ryan Bradley and Craig in the show. They are such great performers.

Craig!

Then we finished off the night with fireworks! Best night in Sun Valley for sure!

The rest of the week the weather was really nice so we took advantage of that time to stay outside a little more - we rode into town, did a little more swimming and enjoyed the relative downtime this vacation brings.

We closed out our trip with one final visit to Village Station - our favorite dining spot - and some Konditorei treats for dessert. One of the most relaxing weeks of summer. Love it!