While Mate's Away-England Edition

I usually wait until after Mate has returned from a trip to share all about our adventures while he was away. This time, a mid-trip post seems appropriate.  I love that he has the opportunity to travel and I always have a great time with the girls while he's away. However, something is a little different this time.  Perhaps it's the fact that he's in Oxford via London and I love London (should have hid in the suitcase).  Perhaps it's that we're still adjusting to this whole all-day, every-day school thing and a change in routine is a little unnerving. Perhaps it's that we barely had 2-minutes of time together the day before he left. Speaking of which, I am so glad he took a second to write the girls notes for their lunch boxes:

I had to keep reminding him to write neatly, but that's okay because I sure am enjoying the break from writing lunch-letters this week.

 We kicked off our girls-only week with a trip to the Geauga County Fair- a place where corn-dog "cheers" are totally appropriate.

 Loving the llamas

 They wouldn't cooperate, but that's a pretty perfect photo prop for our little family.

 Their favorite part is always the corn pit.

 We spent the next day exploring Mapleside Farms.

 For $5 each, they could play in the Adventure Park, which kept them occupied for about an hour.

On our way to Mapleside, the girls spotted a McDonald's with a gigantic play place, which we decided to visit before heading home.  It was really fun until Eliana needed me to climb all the way to the top to help her.  I got myself up there only to find out that an older child already helped her down.

I was left with no choice but to go down the 4-story twirly slide, which was kind of scary, by the way.

 We finished off day two with a movie outside (while wearing animal costumes, of course).

 The next morning, they decided all their stuffed animals needed super-hero capes.  Thanks to a box of random fabric, all 3,752 of their "pets" are now prepared to save the day.

 After a bit of time playing at home, we met up with my family in Chagrin Falls. A stroll through some of the shops, time at the playground, lunch and ice cream rounded out our day.

 Yesterday, we hung out at the pool for the last time this summer and still failed to cooperate for a picture.

 Since Summer didn't get the memo that I'm ready for Fall, we cooled off after school today with squirt guns, water balloons and the baby pool.  

Then this happened:

That's our house with a sign that says "No Dad" and a letter inside from Ava to her daddy. 

 It looks like we're all missing our guy a little more than usual this time around.