Spring Break 2012

Wow, what a whirlwind the last 3 weeks have been!  Between sickness, spring break, a surprise birthday party, a wedding and Easter, we have been busy!  I'll do my best to catch you up on our spring break in Illinois.

My big sister turned the "big five-oh" on Easter Sunday.  Her hubby planned a surprise birthday party the weekend before.  She was totally clueless and we had so much fun!  After she arrived, Jensen's showed up with yet another surprise...a new recliner!  Laughter and tears was all she could muster!  Good times!

The kids on Palm Sunday

We decided to head to the Children's Museum of Illinois with Catherine, Hunter and Ryleigh.  I was pretty impressed with this Children's Museum.  It was lots of fun.  Of course, when we pulled up, my kids commented how small it was.  They are used to the monstrosity in Indy, but once inside, we had a good time anyway.

I did manage a picture of Ryleigh.  She did a lot of smiling and hanging out while we were there.  She is the best little girl!  So proud of my niece and her beautiful children.  On a side note, all my pictures of Hunter are blurry.  We couldn't get the little guy to hold still long enough! 

Love her!  How can you not smile at this?

 We did have a little mishap that warranted a trip to the E.R.  One night before bed, Madelyn and Molly were playing and running through the house.  Molly fell and hit her chin on the pull-out couch in the back bedroom.  Some glue, Elmo stickers, a color book and some suckers later, we were on our way home.  I was so proud of how well she did.  She was a little reluctant but had no tears and even told the doctor 'thank you' after she was done. 

Molly being brave!

Easter Sunday, we went to church then had dinner with my parents and my sister and her family.  Then after, we did an Easter egg hunt!

Dressed in our Easter best!

The kids also went train hunting with Papa several times, had fun watching the momma and baby bunnies in the back yard, played with the neighbor kids and made numerous trips to the park.  Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us come hang with you for Spring Break!  It was nice to get away and relax!

Tricks or Treats

We had a wonderful and full Halloween weekend.  On Friday we took the kids to their first haunted house at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  David loved it!  Madelyn screamed and cried the entire time, but then after said she had fun.  Hmm...  I'm not so sure.  Molly and I decided to sit this one out.  Good thing I guess.

A Mermaid Princess, Mario and a Parrot

On Saturday we found a Trunk or Treat.  And Sunday was another Trunk or Treat, some pumpkin decorating and we also made Halloween sugar cookies.

Madelyn designed a face and David a Mario

Finally Halloween night, we went out Trick or Treating.  This time, Madelyn wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake.

Molly seemed to catch on quick what all of this was about.  And she was not shy at all.

She was pretty popular with the homeowners and gathered us.... I mean her.... lots of candy!

Shell Island - Day 2

I know, I know, technically vacation is over.  But I'm going to relive it again this week, just for you.......What's that you say?  OK, OK.  You caught me............ For me too.

Enjoying the pontoon boat ride.

Friday we spent the day at Shell Island.  We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised.  We were greeted on the island by lots and lots of jellyfish.  Some were huge!  At least 2 foot in diameter.

The island itself is 7 miles wide and about 3/4 of a mile wide.  My suggestion for next time would be not to have so much stuff to carry because we did a lot of walking before finding a place to sit and relax.

The kids and Daniel ventured off down the beach after awhile to search for more shells.  They found all kinds of neat treasure including an abandoned boat.

The vegetation on the island was just like you would picture for a deserted island.  It kinda made me think of the Swiss Family Robinson.

And what did Molly and I do while they went out on their adventure?   We sat and played in the sand, waded in the waves and even sang songs of praise to our Awesome God as we soaked up the beauty of his creation.

The day was windy, and the surf was high, but we still found loads and loads of shells and sand dollars.  What a great inexpensive souvenir.  And upon our return back to the condo, we were greeted with the smell of cheesy chicken in the crock pot and a nice warm meal.  As David and Madelyn both said, "It was the best day ever!"

Florida or Bust

We took a bit of an extended fall break for a much needed, long-anticipated family vacation.  Wednesday after picking the kids up for school we headed to Florida.  Panama City Beach to be exact.  We drove until Athens, Alabama before getting a hotel and bedding down for the night. 

Glad to be out of the car!!

Then up and at 'em early the next morning.  We did a little more site seeing on Thursday.  We ate lunch at a good 'ol hometown place called "It Don't Matter" Family Restaurant.  It was located in a beautiful part of Alabama off of a two lane highway. 

As we had entered into Alabama, we began to see lots of cotton fields ripe for harvest.  What a beautiful landscape for the fall!!

The kids picking some cotton.

"I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."  John 4:35

We also saw a helicopter training field and about 10-15 helicopters.  Some were flying in and out of the field, some were hovering.  What an amazing site!  Also on our drive, we saw a real-life Tabernacle.  Unfortunately, they were not giving tours at the time, but we were able to see the outside tent and also the altar.  Very neat.  Finally, near evening we made it to the beach. 

The view from our 14th floor condo.

The kitchen and dining room from the balcony.

After getting our things in, we headed down to the beach to dip our toes in the water and enjoy our first sunset.

Mesmerized by the beauty.

Ready to play in the sand.

A little unsure, but sticking her toes in for the first time...

It's been a long time since these toes have been in the warm sand.  I can tell you they are much anticipating the next few days of rest and relaxation!!

After sunset, we ordered some pizza for delivery and got some rest.  A big day planned tomorrow.  Stay tuned for more vacation escapades!!

A sure sign of Fall

Autumn is upon us, which means a trip to Anderson's Orchard for some apples.  There are orchards that are closer to use, but the u-pick is the draw.  It's all about the experience.  David is like a monkey in the trees.  The boy has no fear! 

Madelyn was a little more cautious than her brother and had a few times where she got stuck and had to be helped down, but she picked quite a few apples too.

Molly did a lot of her apple picking from the ground, but also wondered why she couldn't climb too.

She also did a lot of taste testing.

 

One more start of fall down in the books.  I see a lot of apple desserts in our future!

A Dairy Good Time!

Nothing beats a good Day-cation.  Today's destination: Fair Oaks Farms. 

I have been wanting to go here for years.  It is right off of interstate 65 between Chicago and Indy.  We had driven past it several times, and it just looked so fun!  Believe me, we were not disappointed!  We experienced a 4-D movie all about life on the farm.  We then walked through a forest, a corn field in the harvesting process, and an old time dairy farm.  So fun! 

How appropriate we rode in a bus painted like a dairy cow!

Next we took a bus tour out to the dairy barns.  We saw the HUGE milking carousel.  This resembled a very large merry go round.  There were 72 cows able to be milked at one time.  The cow walks into a stall and someone below cleans the teets then the electric milker is attached.  They are milked as the whole carousel moves in a circle.  It never stops moving, but when the cow returns to the beginning she backs out of her stall and is ushered back to her place in the barn.  It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen.  Fair Oaks is one of the largest dairy farms in the United States.  40 tanker trucks pick up daily producing 250,000 gallons of milk.  Not bad for a day's work.

 

We stopped into the cafe to refuel.  We had a grilled cheese sandwich with cheese made on site.  We also had fresh ice cream.  I had the butter pecan and it was the BEST ice cream I've eaten in a long time.  So creamy.

Molly enjoyed some ice cream too.

The kids then had some play time outside.  There was so much to do!!  Their favorites were the electric tractor.

After playing outside for awhile, we headed into the birthing barn.  When we 1st arrived, 2 mommas were resting easy with babies by their side.  But before too long, a first time momma cow was escorted into the barn.  We had the privilege of watching her bring not one....but 2 babies into the Fair Oaks Family.  That's right!  Twins!

They were born about 20 minutes apart.  The 2nd twin had a little trouble.  She had to have some assistance in getting her out, and the farmer performed C.P.R (including mouth-to-mouth) to get the little calf to breathe.  The whole place cheered when the new little calf began to move and kick.  The mother then spent lots of time cleaning her little calves and encouraging them to get up and move.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the baby calves come into the world.  They befriended an older couple in their early 70's and the 4 of them really got into the whole process.  It was really a great experience!

We had a great day.  We took our time, did everything we wanted, some things even twice and stayed until almost closing.  We all decided that we want to go back and do it all again some time soon.  Day-cation a success!!

4th Festivities

We had a great 4th of July weekend.  We started out celebrating on the 3rd.  Daniel had been hired for a private party to do balloons and also to do a magic show.  Jamie and LeeAnn Berry are huge fans of Daniel's and have seen him perform several times.  They wanted him for their annual 4th of July party and invited his family as well, so the kids and I and also Daniel's Mom and Dad who were in town, tagged along.  They had several bounce houses and games for the kids, hamburgers, hot dogs, and tons of food.  We really didn't know anyone there, but were welcomed and had a great time.  After Daniel's show, we headed over to a local elementary school for a private fireworks show.  This show was better than some town fireworks!  Just amazing.  However, Molly was not impressed.

She spent the whole time watching the display frowning.  She never cried, she didn't fuss.  She just frowned.  I think she was wondering why in the world we were keeping her up past her bed time to watch things blow up in the sky.   :)

The next morning, we headed to the Brownsburg 4th of July parade.

It rained on us a little, but did not ruin the fun.  The kids got tons of candy!!  And despite being up late the night before, Molly was in a pretty good mood.

Especially when she realized candy was involved.

After the parade, Don, RuthAnn, Heidi, Dusty, Rachel and Aaron headed back to our house for a cook out.  Grill master Daniel made some awesome burgers and we sat outside in the back yard and enjoyed the day.  That night, we stayed around home and watched the fireworks in our community and played with sparklers and bottle rockets.  The girls and I also enjoyed watching the Macy's New York City fireworks display on TV.  Good times and great memories made!!

Home Sweet Home

Greeted at the door with a kiss from your wife, a squeal from the 1 year old and 4 feet bounding down the stairs yelling your name.  

There's nothing better!

Easter eggs and resurrection rolls

We spent our Good Friday night with some good family fun.  First up, dying Easter eggs.

Yes, we dye Easter eggs shirtless, because Mom doesn't want to try and get Easter egg dye out of our clothes.  And guess what?!  Good thing I do that too, because right now, Madelyn has a blue stain on her chest, and David has red stain on his shoulder of all places.  Then we made resurrection rolls. 

If you have never done this, I highly recommend it.  It was so much fun and the kids learned a lot too!  I got this idea and recipe from my friend and former neighbor Jen at 4tunate.net.
Check it out to get the recipe and instructions.  What a sweet treat and a sweeter reminder of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.