Hendricks County Fair

It has been an interesting few days…our plans changed numerous times….from going to KY to visit some of Mark’s Aunts but cancelled due a funeral (yes, another one)…to Evansville to visit a dear friend, but cancelled since Kate got sick….then to going out to the Lake but postponed due to the weather….so we ended up at the Hendricks County Fair Tuesday night.

It was so much fun! I am glad I ‘ditched’ my support group meeting that night so I could take the kiddos! We got there at 2:30 only to find out that the midway did not open till 5PM! The animal exhibits entertained us for only an hour, and that left us 90 WHOLE minutes to burn before we could go on the rides and play games. For once, the kiddos did wonderful and we just hung out and patiently waited for the midway to open. (something my kids seem to lack the ability to do!)


So we got our discounted wristbands and rode all the kiddie rides. Kate barely made it on the kiddie rides as she is just 36 inches. But in the end, the area where you could go on pony rides that included a mini petting zoo with farm animals was where they wanted to stay. There were baby chickens and the kids were having a blast….of course I was asked numerous times if we could take one home…. NOOOOOOOOOOO!! We were there over 5 hours and the kids were filfthy from having so much fun and I was exhausted!


Oh, speaking of animals (and this one is really, truly my doing) is we now may have a cat….yes, a cat! I loved having cats growing up, but Mark was severely allergic to them so we never had one….anyway, there has been this stray coming around. So I took him in. He has a microchip, however the owner has never registered him and the Indianaplios Animal Control cannot find the info on the ‘owner’. So for now it looks like he may be ours….and if I turn him over to the Indianapolis Animal Control, we all know what will happen. The kids have already fallen in love with him and named him Gilbert (after the cat on Calliou). So far Buddie and Gilbert get along (more like Gilbert stays away from Buddie while Buddie tries to play with him). Yes, I know, we don’t need any more animals, but I am animal lover at heart.

Kate on the boat ride. Every time she went by me, she blew me kisses!

Luke with the TWO baby chickens in his hands!

Kate holding a baby chicken.

Kate on a pony ride....she loves horses.

The kids 'milking' a fake cow....they thought this was pretty cool.

Luke on a tractor at the fair....his second favorite thing.

Gilbert the cat (sitting on Luke's lap while he is wearing his Spiderman costume).

Lazy Days of Summer

Okay, being the organized-planner freak that I am (but don’t always want to admit), I thought every day this summer we would be out doing ‘something’…like the pool, or the zoo, or the park to keep my very active kids busy. Well, lately that something has simply been staying around the house as the kids just want to play with the neighborhood kids. They go next door and have races down the neighbor’s driveway or the other neighbor’s backyard to play baseball or jump on the trampoline. Inevitably, all of our bikes, strollers, and anything that moves ends up out of our garage and over at a neighbors, with all the other kids ‘stuff’. Eventually one of the parents breaks out the Popsicles and the kiddos are happy. I must say it really has been nice to just relax and enjoy the summer with the kids without having something planned every day!

Oh, and the weather has been delightful! In the mid-70’s with no humidity and a lovely breeze. Perfecting camping weather and if I was brave enough (which I am not yet!) I’d take the kids camping outdoors for the first time. About the only downfall of this cooler weather makes going to the pool unattractive. Oh, well.

And the best part of summer is sleeping in….the kids have actually been sleeping in till well after 8AM!! LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luke starts Kindergarten in just over 3 weeks….YIKES….our routine has gone out the window with the cool, summer breeze, but we are thoroughly enjoying our lazy days of summer!!

Luke at the Splash Island in Plainfield.

Miss Kate dressed up in her princess dress and crown.

Oh, I must add that earlier this week we were able to go out to the Triangle house for a couple of days, mid-week. Something we never got to do before. Oh, the lake is wonderful to be at when no one else is there. And I must boast- I got the boat started all by myself. The kids and I took a boat ride, went swimming and I even got it docked without any major damage. The only mishap was trying to get Buddie back on the boat after we all went swimming. Even with a life jacket on with handles on the top to help lift him back in the boat, I simply could not get him back on the boat (in my defense he is on the hefty side!) I ended up driving the boat to shore while he swam next to the boat and was able to get him back on the boat. Whew!

No Doubt Concert

A few months ago I won from the website, Indy Moms Like Me, a VIP package to go see "No Doubt". It included VIP parking, access to the VIP tent, dinner and ‘soft’ drinks and AWESOME seats in the 16th row! I LOVED No Doubt when I was in college and I think Gwen Stefani rocks and is the coolest working Mom I know! It was an awesome concert. Their energy level was amazing (and I thought my two kids had the most energy in the world!?!) It was a great night hanging out with the girls!!!

No Doubt at the beginning of the show.

Amy Litchefiled Bultemeier and myself (BFF since we lived in Antioch, IL and we both now live in the Indy area)

Gwen Stefani totally ROCKIN' it...aren't these seats awesome??

STL 2009

Finally made it out to STL like we have been planning for some time. I forgot how much I love STL (I used to spend a lot of time there when I was in college since it was about an hour away and it was the closest BIG city to Jacksonville).

The timing of the trip purposely coincided with my friend Alison’s visit to STL to visit her family (she grew up there, but now lives in Hudson, OH with her DH Bill, who was the best man in our wedding). We got to hang out at Alison’s parents house and go swimming in her pool …the kids want to go back and swim in her BIG pool soon!

Then we went to the STL zoo for a day. We met up with a dear friend of mine from college, Angie, who is performs the Sea Lion show (and at no request of Angie, since she is probably one of the most humble human beings I know, you MUST see this show if you go to the STL Zoo…..it is awesome!). After the show we got to meet Benny the Sea Lion. The STL Zoo itself is really top notch and so big we only saw part of it in one day. Which is okay, just an excuse to go back again to see the rest and see Angie and Benny!!

The third and last day we were there, we went to Grant’s Farm. For those history buffs, Uyless S Grant married into the Anhieser-Busch family (who founded Budweiser beer) and retired to a farm west of STL. The highlight of the visit was seeing the Clydesdale's (at least for me!) Then we headed back to Indy so I could get caught up on my school work!!

Luke having fun in Alison's pool

Luke making a Sting Ray and Kate making a Andean Bear at the Build-A-Bear store in the STL Zoo. (I really need to see if this company has gone public and if so, I need to buy some stock in it!!)

On the Train ride at the STL Zoo.

Angie and Benny after the show. What a job....getting kisses from Sea Lions every day!?!

The three of us in front of Benny after the show.

Kate trying on a pink cowgirl hat at Grant's Farm.

Okay, lots of pics to post and updating needs to be done on this blog! Check back in a day or so. It has been super-duper busy here. I am in class right now!!!

4th of July

Oh, the grand plans we had for the 4th got washed out with the rain :(


We headed out to the Lake Friday afternoon and met up with my friend Emily from Louisville. We were all excited for an early evening boat ride only to find out that a light was left on the boat for the past 5 days and the battery was drained...so no boat ride for us! Luke did get to fish a little while we tried to figure out what was going on with the boat which made him a happy as a clam. We then took the kids to the swimming beach, which of course they enjoyed. After some dinner off the grille, we went to the Big Berry for some ice cream. The kids went to bed without much of a fuss for once, so Emily and I drank a little Oliver Wine and watched the movie "He is Just Not That Into You" (which is a pretty good movie!)


We woke up to a drizzly morning on the 4th....so gone were our plans of taking the kids hiking at Turkey Run State Park. We did manage to get to the Amish Farm Market for some yummy pretzels. Papa Amos came out for the day with cousin Josh. We were stuck in the cabin ALL afternoon as it rained, and rained, and rained.....I must say the kids did GREAT being stuck inside all day. After a minor mishap of running out of gas for the grille and Papa having to change tanks in the pouring rain, we had a nice dinner. After Papa and Josh left, Luke fell asleep nice and early. So the girls found another chick flick on TV, this time Top Gun (by far one of my favorite movies...lots of hotties in dress whites). Since it was still raining, the fireworks on Raccoon Lake were cancelled.


This mornig we woke up to another cloudy and dreary day :( So we all headed back home. Since it has finally cleared up, we are planning to catch the Plainfield fireworks tonight from our yard as the kids were totally bummed they did not get to see any last night. Even though our grand plans were washed out, it was a great weekend (I got to watch TWO whole movies from start to finish...I cannot remember the last time I did that!!)

Ms. Kate entertained us dressed up in her new princess dress with her Rainbow Bear.

Papa Amos with the ducky umbrella trying to cook steaks in the rain!!

Luke and Josh keeping themselves entertained by playing with boats in the sink. (Check out Luke's new buzz cut! He took some scissors to his hair the other day...)

Summer Fun

The kids have been having a blast just staying around the house and playing with the neighbors. For some reason, Luke has been wanting to wear Kate's swimsuits or gymnastics outfits. I think it is because he has been playing with Kate and Maddy and they like to go over to Maddy's house to play on her trampoline...and I am hoping it is a temporary phase!! So of course I have had to take some pictures to use as blackmail later!

Luke in Kate's Minnie Mouse swimsuit with Mady in the "Aligator" pool

Luke in one of Kate's gymnasitic outfits, with Maddy and Kate in theirs.