My teens are 18, 17, and 14…and we have a list of fun things to do that they’ve asked for or that we planned together, to explore Ohio. My eldest is 23, and can sometimes join us when her work schedule allows and she’s interested.
We’ve been cooped up with quarantines. Last year was college preview camps, job stress, and ongoing personal complications. This summer is our year finally to have some fun.
Akantha will attend ice skating sessions to keep up their skills. They’re looking for a part time job. They’re baking their way through The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.
Tori has aerial arts lessons twice a week. She also works part time at a local grocery store. She wants to go kayaking on one of our local rivers. We’re going to several concerts this spring and summer: They Might Be Giants and Kraftwerk in May, The Chicago And Earth, Wind & Fire: Heart & Soul Tour and The Totally Tubular Festival in July, and The 311 Unity Tour with AWOLNATION and Neon Trees in August.
We do have some baseball college scout days for Alex and a big tournament in PCB, but we’re all home this summer other than that.
I don’t believe all that we only have eighteen summers with our kids. I am blessed that my eldest lives nearby and we are all still close. Tori plans to live at home as long as she can commute to college.
We have lots of plans for day trips, weekends away, or longer – yes, while it is busier to plan with teens and young adults and all the scheduling conflicts, we still strive to make memories happen.
Activities
My four kids all have passes to Kings Island this year. They can go together or with their friends whenever they’re free and the weather is agreeable.
We have Premier passes to Mason Community Center and they have a fun waterpark too!
We have some arts and crafts that have sat in the office closet for years. We have some household projects that the kids love to help with. And we’re gonna do it this summer!
- Dutch wooden shoe painting from our trip to Amsterdam
- Mosaic trays
- Tie dye
- Refinish garden bench
- Painting walls and doors and garage steps?
- Refinishing stair banister
- Staining deck
We have some places we’ve been wanting to try to see what all the fuss is about.
- Topgolf
- Main Event
- Pinball Garage
- Ohio Antique Mall
- Trader World and Treasures
- lots of fun local places to eat or get snacks
We have some things we love to do all the time too:
- Jungle Jim’s
- Various thrift and antique stores
- Bowling!
We have some fun places we’d like to visit around Ohio. We’ve been to lots of places already and we might revisit some of them.
There are also some fun museums on the Blue Star Map!
Dayton
Where we’ve been:
- Tori and I did a fun Dayton Photo Walk for one of her college classes last year.
- Of course we have seen the Wright Brothers sites and revisit the Huffman Prairie every year.
- We’ve visited most of the Dayton MetroParks over the years and we have some favorites to revisit.
- We’ve been to Fort Ancient and SunWatch and Boonshoft.
- We love Dayton Art Institute and attend their special galleries often.
- We’ve been to the USAF museum several times and Tori took some flying simulation courses there a few years ago.
- We’ve been to Ohio Caverns. sorta near Dayton?
- We loved Johnston Farm and Indian Agency.
- We hiked the Yellow Spring – finally!
Dayton Plans:
- Carillon Historical Park
- Trolls at Aullwood
- Dollar Book Swap
- Rabbit Hole Books
- Hartman Rock Garden
- DK Effect
- America’s Packard Museum
- Siebenthaler Fen
Cincinnati
What we’ve done:
- We loved visiting the Serpent Mound. sorta near Cincy?
- We love the Cincy Art Institute, but we don’t go as often as we should.
- Tori wants grad photos at Krohn Conservatory, so we plan to go see all that again soon.
- The Cincy Zoo and Botanical Garden has the famous Fiona Hippo and family.
- The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is wonderful.
- The Newport Aquarium is still a favorite! (it’s on the Kentucky side of the river)
- Covington is a cute little town where Tori took some pictures for her photo course, and we want to go back to look around!
Cincy Plans:
Columbus
Where we’ve gone:
- The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is humongous.
- Columbus Museum of Art is lovely.
- Schmidt’s
- Valters at the Maennerchor
- Book Loft
- Schiller Park
- Thurman’s
- Easton Center
Columbus Plans:
- Dawes Arboretum
- Westerville, especially Birdie Books
- Dublin, for the statues and street art
- Tensuke Market
- Inniswood MetroPark
- Indian Run Falls
- Hayden Run Falls
- North Market
- Franklin Park Conservatory
- Park of Roses
- Topiary Park
- Stuart Little’s home: 717 1/8 S. 3rd St. Columbus Ohio 43206
Toledo
Where we visited:
Toledo Plans:
- Libbey Glass Factory Outlet
- Toledo Museum of Art
- Tony Packo’s
Cleveland Area
We took a trip to Cleveland last summer, but we have so much more to explore near that city – to include Canton and Akron and area natural forests. We probably won’t get to many of these this year. It’s not a day trip from Dayton.
- Smucker Store
- Majestic Meadows Alpacas & Boutique
- Stan Hywet
- Squire’s Castle
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Chagrin Falls Waterfall
- The Holden Arboretum
- Rockefeller Park & Greenhouse
- Umbrella Alley
There are some other places that aren’t near major cities.
We’ve been to Hocking Hills and Burr Oak.
Tori and I did an ODNR Contac trip to the Zaleski area (where I got my first tick so we call it the tick forest).
Where we’d like to see:
- Kingwood Garden
- Midwest Glassware Outlet
- Moonville Tunnel
I’m in several Facebook groups for Ohio road trips and day trips that give us lots of fun ideas and reviews.
I hope you get to have a summer of fun! It sounds like you have some great plans.
What fun ideas! We’ve only ever driven through Ohio before, so my only stops have been Cedar Point and Great Wolf Lodge. Thanks for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #37 linkup. We hope to see you sharing more posts next week at #38.
I don’t believe we only get 18 summers with our kids either; heck I’m in my 40’s and my mom and I (or my sister and I!) still take off for little trips here and there as we can fit them into our schedules. It sounds like you have lots of fun summer plans.
oooh this is what I pray for! sounds lovely.
We all need a bucket list
Have fun!
May you all have a wonderful summer and cherish the memories you make!
Wishing you a lot of fun together!! You reminded me of a few things I need to take a look at.
-Soma
happy to help! have a great summer!
So fun to stumble on your blog from another blog link! We also live in the Springboro area, and although my kids are much smaller (9, 7, 5 and 1) this is such a great list!
oooh how much fun! it’s a great place for families!
My husband is from Dayton! The USAF museum is one of my favorite places that we’ve visited more than once. And the Cincinnati Zoo is a fabulous spot for families of all ages.
Another location we’ve enjoyed close to Cincinnati is The Ark exhibit.
Thank you for all your fabulous ideas and sharing it with all of us.
we love the zoos and USAF museum!
Hi Jennifer,
We home schooled our 3 all the way from grammar school through high school before sending them to our nearby Jr. College before university. So we had lots of time with them. But post college, has scattered them across 3 different US time zones and we really miss them. The house is too quiet, nice in one sense, but always a silent reminder that they’re all not here with us. It’s creepy I tell you.
Anyway, we’re beginning the process of leaving California, to sorta follow our kids and Ohio has made the list of possible destinations as it’s kinda close to one of them.
Your list of things to do there was a great reminder that we should look more closely at Ohio.
Many thanks
it’s a nice central location with lots of benefits!
Lots of fun outdoor stuff there…I’m finding it harder to get our teen to do anything…hoping this stage passes soon! #WeekendCoffeeShare
yes, often they warm up after we arrive at some places.
Sounds like you have a lot of fun summer plans. It’s great that you and your teens / children strive to make memories together. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
Some of my Grands have quickly become teens. I look forward to doing activities with them as they age. Daughter has day trips planned for this summer that includes activities for the different ages. I’m looking forward to participating with. One thing I enjoy from time to time is putt putt golf. That on my list of things to do with the older ones.
yes! minigolf or puttputt used to be everywhere! My kids asked to add this to our list.
There are so many places I want to visit and things I wan tot do, I just never seem to get round to doing them, I should make my own list and pick one each weekend. Thanks for linking with #pocolo
What a great Ohio summer bucket list with teens. It’s so nice that your oldest lives nearby and can join you all when she can.
Thanks so much for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friends May Link Up.
‘So many fun ideas! This will definitely be a summer to remember! Thank you for sharing at You’re the Star Link Party! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures & Old Rock Farmhouse