Janine and I made a very harried trip to Kentucky today to attend our first Usborne Regional Convention. It wouldn't have been a bad drive except that we got 6 inches of snow last night. We could not be deterred though, so we left extra early and took our time. It was a little scary when a lady spun out on the highway right in front of us, but amazingly, she slid around and behind our car, so we continued on our merry way without incident.The hotel where convention was being held was like stepping back in time. It's called "The Drawbridge Inn" and was decorated with armor, weapons, and other things from the Renaissance time period. The convention was really great. We got to meet some new people, and learned a few things to help us grow our businesses. After convention, we went to dinner at Montgomery Inn with our supervisor, Sherry, and her daughter, Jessica. My sister, Katie, who lives in Cincy and my brother Andy, and his fiance, drove across the river to eat with us too. 
To help deter grafitti in the bathrooms at the hotel where convention was held, they had chalkboards hung on the wall of each stall. Janine left me a note in the bottom corner.
We took the kids to the Newport Aquarium today. It is nice to go in February because the kids get in for free with a paying adult. We met our friends, Todd and Janine, there, along with their kiddos, Sophia and Wesley. The kids had a blast exploring and the adults had some good conversation as well. Our visits to Newport are always topped off with pizza from Dewey's. My sister, Katie, met us, since she works just across the river in Cincinnati. My brother, Andy, is stationed at a base in Blue Ash, so he drove down to meet us as well. We had to send Nathan out to the parking lot to meet him because Andy rarely has cash on him and didn't have money to pay for parking. It was a most memorable day!
Jacob touching a shark
Nathan feeding the birds
Jacob and Wesley swimming with the jellyfish
Nathan and Todd show the kids how to play "Frogger"
Ellie
Jacob
Alligator
Touching horseshoe crabs and other sea creatures 
Watching them make our pizza at Dewey's
