Indianapolis - Cincy/State Museum/Travel to Michigan

Currently, I'm sitting in Hope, MI on my laptop looking out over the lake on a beautiful, sunny morning.  We made it safely to Bryce's parents house near Midland yesterday evening.  I thought I'd blog real quick about the rest of our adventures while in Indiana because I know we'll be just as busy here.

On Thursday, I headed down to Cincinnati to visit my friend Katy and her two great kids, Ruby and Ray.  Evan and Caitlin did great on the drive down.  We arrived just before lunch.  Evan was a little shy but once he saw all the toys, he was won over.  And Ray was super sweet to him, sharing very well.  (Ray is just over 3 and Ruby is about 3 months younger than Evan).  We had some lunch, played, and then walked over to the nearby park.  What a great little park... they enjoyed the playscape and then the best part was the creek.  Evan LOVED playing in the water.  He was just laughing the whole time. I've got a video of him and Ray playing in the water.  He got very wet and dirty but had a blast.

Video of them playing in the creek

Evan on the playground

After the park, we walked a little further for some ice cream.  Delicious!  Thanks for the treat Katy.  The best  part was Ruby - Katy is way braver than I am as she got her a cone... I think Ruby got more ice cream on her than she ate, but it was cute.  After we got back to the house, it was time to head back to Indy.  We had a great time, and it was really good for me to see how two older kids get along and how you manage them.

Ruby and her ice cream

Ray and Caitlin

Katy and Caitlin

On Friday, my mom, brother, the kids, and I headed to the Indiana State Museum.  We had a good time here as well.  We saw lots of animals, race cars, and other things related to Indiana history.  We also had lunch at the LS Ayres Tea Room - this is a replication of the tea room they had in downtown Indy when I was a little girl.  We loved going here for breakfast with Santa and other occasions.  It was neat to see.

Evan and Oma at the tea room

Evan checking out the animals

 

The mammoth!

Evan showing us the animals and their sounds

On Saturday, we started our drive up to Michigan.  We stopped in Grosse Pointe to see my friend Sarah from college... just briefly which was a shame but any amount of time is worth it!  They are spending 2 months in Spain this summer - how jealous am I?  After that, we went up to Sterling Heights to see the Wolfs.  They recently returned from South Africa where Joel was working for GM.  We haven't seen them in about 2 years or their little boy Graham who is just over 2.  We enjoyed catching up, having dinner, and watching the boys play.  Then we had to leave for Bryce's parents house (about 2 hours away). And that's where we are now!

Sarah, Caitlin, and I

Evan and Graham playing on the stairs with Joel and Bryce

Candice and Caitlin

The Wolf Family

The Stacer Family

Bryce and Joel doing what they love - playing games