indiana series - pt. 6 - everything else

Ok, here is everything else we did in Indiana. I am telling you, it was a whirlwind.

We,

had pizza at our favorite college joint,

hot tubbed,

spent time on another great front porch,

sprinklered,

caught 4,275 frogs,

slip and slid,

made funny faces,

had ice cream, in one form or another, for 16 straight days,

had pizza with our cousins,

played with brady,

and max,

who is lucky enough to have horses on his farm, (oh lucky boy!),

ate lunch at an old fashioned soda shop,

and finally welcomed home daddy. How we missed him.


So there you have it. Our Indiana trip in post or 6. It was a fantastic trip and we all had a ball! Hope you enjoyed reading all about it. Now, back to regular scheduled programming...

And, as a final note, I am the current reigning 5k champ (in my age group)for a race I was urged to run (and so didn't want to). I am not going to tell you there were only like 7 other women running in my age group. Nope. Not going to tell you that at all. I am going to leave you with the impression that I am just THAT GOOD.

indiana series - pt. 5 - Aunt Linda!

I love my Aunt Linda.

She is so good to us.

Staying with Linda is like staying in a 4 star hotel. And I am not even kidding. You go down in the morning, and your breakfast is all laid out for you. Then by the time you eat it and go back upstairs, your bed had been made. It is really quite nice. That only happened once though. After that first time, I made my bed before I went down to breakfast...

She is my mother's sister and is really like a grandma to Ellie.

We are very lucky.

We always shop with Linda, who of course, knows every single person we pass on the street. And we always take time to relax and take in the scenery.

and she belongs to a great country club where we lunch on the patio...

and swim.


Plus, (as mentioned previously on this blog), she has the worlds best front porch. It is great for swing napping,

a picnic breakfast,

and some good kitty cuddling.


Uncle Wayne isn't too bad either.

Thanks so much for letting us stay so long and for making it so enjoyable.

We love you!

indiana series - pt 4. the fair!

Oh the fair!

It is so podunk.

So country.

So hickville.

So fun!

Since we were at Linda's, right on Main Street, we would sit on the front porch and watch the fair arrive, bit by bit, piece by piece.

The build-up of excitement for Ellie was legendary. Which of course, only makes it more fun. "Is it tonight mama? Do we get to go tonight??"

I think I mostly enjoy the fair because I get to see people I would never get to see otherwise.

Of course, I also enjoy the

funnel cakes,

the cake walks,

the parade, which Ellie was in this year. With Elvis!


the outrageously expensive games,

watching the trains go by right in the middle of it all,

the talent show,

watching fireworks with every single member of your family, sharing bug spray and sweatshirts, then playing tag in the dark,


watching teenagers awkwardly hold hands,

the cotton candy,

watching the older couples dance to the country singers,

watching Ellie ride rides,



putting someone in jail for $2, and knowing they have to stay there for 10 minutes,

the fish fry,

the dime toss,

looking at the church's baskets, deciding which one we want to try and win,

did I mention the cotton candy?,

the lemon shake-ups,

and catching up with old friends, seeing how big the babies have gotten, touching newly pregnant bellies, and reliving old school days.

But you want to know what was the very best thing about this year?

Really, the VERY BEST THING?

Are you ready?

It was,

the fact,

that Ellie was finally big enough to ride the carousel by herself!


No more upset tummies for mom!

Yea!

indiana series - pt 3 - met another one!

Yep! Met another bloggy friend! It's Shannon and Jaden from Living my Life on Purpose!( see blog on sidebar, my blog STILL won't let me link.) It was so great to get to meet these lovely ladies. We went to the Fort Wayne Zoo and it was one of the nicest zoos I have ever been to, and I have been to A LOT of zoos! Jaden was our tour guide and did a great job leading us around to all her favorite spots.

While at the zoo, we made faces,

took a boat ride (and a train ride, and a sky ride, and a carousel ride),


fed a giraffe!,

held hands with our new friend,

and gave her a squeeze.


Thank you Shannon and Jaden for showing us such a great day! We had such a good time with you girls!

After they left we decided to stay a little longer. Ellie,

rode a horse all by herself. Seriously, the girl working the pony rides told Ellie to pick one, she did, the girl led her to the path and sent her on her way. ALONE. I about had a heart attack for a minute until I realized how much Ellie liked it and how relaxed, (i.e. lazy), the horse was.

We also brushed a goat,

and gave our new giraffe friend (aptly named Lettuce) a big hug.


Just another fun day in Indiana!

indiana series - pt. 2 - memorial day!

It was a fantastic day, so instead of just writing about it, I thought I would do a picture story. So here goes:

It dawned like this.

One little girl was very, very excited.

The grill started early with spicy fish. Not your usual fare, but delicious. As was the strawberry rhubarb pie...

The big kids were in attendance and Ellie was thrilled to be included.

Then we did our annual "drawing of drivers." Big pool of Indy drivers, big stakes, big deal. We didn't win. Bah!

Ellie was also thrilled to have shoes that matched Quincys!

Then Ellie hung out beside the pool, deciding if we wanted to get in.

Lots of visiting happened.

She got in! First with mommy...

then Izzy...

then Quincy...

then Nick.

Then she got brave and swam by herself. She did this most of the rest of the afternoon.

While she was swimming, there was an enormous gin tournament going on. Again, a big deal in this family. I didn't win again.

Finally she got out for a hotdog.

Then we watched a little volleyball and played a little bocchhi.

By the end of the day, she was pooped. This is how she fell asleep. For real. Looks comfy. Not.


My family. I love 'em. We are all just a titch nutty but that's what makes us fun.

and we're back! indiana series - part 1.

Oh heaveans! What a trip we had! I was afraid 16 days would be too long, but it wasn't. As a matter of fact, for the first time, in a long time, I wasn't all that anxious to get back. I think we were there long enough to really settle in.

And settle in we did.

I have a wonderful group of friends here where I live. I mean, really, really, good, but there is something special about being surrounded (and I mean SURROUNDED) by family.

People who have always loved you.
Always accepted you.
Always been there for you.

It was so nice. And everyone there adores Ellie and wants to spend time with her and love her. And the kids! There are about 20 kids around Ellie's age nearby. At all times. She never stopped playing. It is going to take weeks to get her back to normal.

I have debated the best way to go about blogging about my trip and have decided to do a series of sorts, because so much happened! And then I decided, I should just go in order of how things happened.

So Friday, when we first got into town, we found ourselves with not much to do so we had our first family golf outing. I am very happy to say that Ellie loved it. She wanted to hit and putt on every hole and was very respectful of the "quiet on the course" rules. Oh, how we want her to like golf. It was extra special, because I used to work here and Chris and I have probably played 4,397 rounds of golf here together.

Here she is getting a little practice on the practice green.

Getting ready to start!

Teeing off on the first hole.

Getting a lesson on how to tee it up from Daddy.

What I want to see a lot of in my future, Ellie and Chris in the course.

She even got to drive a little bit.


It was such a fun family outing. It is a little harder to get courses around here to let her on, but we are determined!

davis, out!

Ok people.

I am going to be disappearing for a few weeks.

But I will be back.

I promise.

Please don't desert me.

Ok?

Ellie and I are going home to Indiana for 16 days. Yes. You heard right. 16 days. We always go home for Memorial Day and we always go home for the little homecoming fair. This year, they are very close together, so instead of making the trip twice, we are just staying there! Chris is coming and going as his job allows.

Should be fun!

I am sure there will be many blog posts dedicated to our trip when I get back.

Oh! And we have a little 4 year old graduate today. One year of preschool down!

See you on the other side!