April-June 2019

Apparently I'm updating the blog quarterly now. Oh well. You get the pictures either way! Here they come!!!

Spring Break. We decided to stay local and keep it cheap. Bowling fit the ticket beautifully.

 We visited an indoor playground because it was pretty chilly that first week of April! The kids liked it, but didn't like all the bratty little toddlers running around. It was a great chance to show grace, and be a good example. The car picnic afterward helped a bit!

 Downtown adventures! We visited City Market, which has been around for over 150 years! We walked up and down the stalls to get a feel for what they had before picking our goodies: pretzel dogs, macarons, doughnuts, a gyros (the kids loved it), and some drinks.

 Then we headed off to the Sailors & Soldiers Monument. Ryan took the (330!) stairs, Bella and I opted for the elevator.

 And down the street was the War Memorial. It was amazing and these pictures just don't do it justice.

A piece of the Twin Towers

A bit of Indiana limestone from the facade of the Pentagon.

 And one day was Climb Time Indy. The kids LOVE going here.

 But all our running around tired poor Kitty out. She fell asleep in my lap and I let her. It's been sooo long since she did this!

 Bella and I went camping with AHG. It was our last camping trip together and although it started off overcast and chilly, it ended up being a beautiful day. We enjoyed every minute of it!

Getting ready for our day hike.

Making a human chain to cross the river

Enjoying the bluebells

Pringles duck mouth never fails to kill...

Climbing down into the valley

Visiting the water fall

Bella and some others enjoying the up-close

And a nap in the sun after our four hour hike!

Five different meals being cooked. The four on the edges were in cast iron pots. They had coals beneath and on top. It smelled amazing!

Finished chicken pot pie for the campers. This was a hit!

Meanwhile, this was OUR dinner: honey dijon pork, a salad, butternut squash soup with cream and pepitas, and fruit salad. Our camp chef was amazing!

We had a flag retiring ceremony. I'd never seen one before and it was touching! We retired an American flag, Christian flag, and flag of Indiana.

 And while the kids are at school and I get a nap, Sasha is always there. I swear she hears me unfold the blanket from wherever she is in the house! She comes over and waits for me to get settled, then hops up near my legs. A quick check out the window for would-be assassins, and then she settles down.

 We tried Top Golf in April for a family fun night. It's a driving range extraordinaire. The provide the clubs and GPS-enabled balls. You whack at 'em, and it shows you where they land on the screen in your bay. They have a full menu and TVs to watch while you wait your turn! We all had an amazing time!

 And then it was Easter! The kids did their usual egg decorating, as well as some Sasha decorating!

Indoor hunt because it was raining.

So.much.sugar!

 Ryan turned double digits! Can't believe that one. We had a party at home with family, and then I brought him Chick Fil A for lunch. The picture on the right is his first as a ten year old!

This kid. Always looking to serve. 😍

Ryan asked several times to cut the grass with the new mower. He did half the yard! It's a lot of work, but he did great.

Bella learns how to start a fire with flint and steel. 

 I'm not sure what we celebrated, but it involved Blizzards! Who cares! Blizzards!

The SnapChat filter that stopped me in my tracks. Bella in about 5 years. I'm not ready!

 But then she goes and does something like this and I'm like, "Yeah, that's REALLY my girl!"

 Mother's Day! Joshua and the kids made me waffles and bacon (Bella made the blueberries into a heart on my waffle) and gave me Godiva truffles, which I made last the whole month of May.

 Meet Helen! A couple at church was nice enough to just GIVE us their ball python! Bella had been saving for one because they're $50-$175!! Bella LOVES "Helen the Danger Noodle" as is her official name.

 This is me. Slowly adjusting to Helen. And kinda freaking out a bit that I'm holding a python.

 One of the joys of my new job is being home for the kiddos this year. Which means I got to go on a field trip with Ryan in April, and Bella in May. We got a beautiful day to visit Victory Field and watch the Indians win!

Bella + cotton candy = true love.

 And my other side job is watching this adorable little guy, Hudson. I get him one day a week randomly and it's fun to snuggle him and then hand him back over. The kids are in love with him and Bella dotes on him like a little mother hen.

 Bella's final band concert! She made SO MUCH progress this year!

 And final AHG ceremony! She decided to take a year off from AHG so she could do clubs and karate in the fall.

 And then it was time for Ryan to complete 4th grade! 😭We were all on hand for the big day.

The principal and Ryan's teacher, Mrs. Joseph.

Parade through the halls as the WHOLE SCHOOL cheers. 

Ryan and his best friend Andy. They have big plans to be race car drivers when they grow up.

Ryan and Mrs. Joseph. He loved her and having worked with her last year, I know she's an amazing teacher.

 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Bella's last day at the Intermediate School and Ryan's last day at Washington Woods. What in the world?! How are they getting ready for 7th and 5th grade already?

 End of the year book burnin'! I love this tradition. Except Ryan didn't want to burn his books - he wanted to work on them over the summer. (Update: he's been out of school for a month and hasn't touched them. It's likely he can't even find them in his room!)

He did burn his handwriting book though. The ONE book he could stand to work on! Ha!

Bella's just a tad patriotic for Memorial Day.

 SOUTH CAROLINA!!! We decided on this in January and spent months planning and saving. It was an amazing trip and we made so many wonderful memories that I hope the kids remember for the rest of their lives. Here are just some highlights:

Heading out for the two-day trip to get there. We rented a Buick Enclave which was super sweet!

Bella's view from the back seat.

So.much.sky!!!

My face as Joshua and the kids sang "Country Road" even though we weren't driving through West Viriginia. 

Mountains!!

And so, you know, you just drive THROUGH them.

This was our hotel lobby in Asheville, NC. Bella took this because it was "the fanciest" hotel she'd ever been in. Poor kid has no idea what a fancy hotel actually looks like!

Of course we had to get a hotel with an indoor pool...

But you can swim under this wall and be in the OUTDOOR pool. The kids' minds were blown!

Such a welcome sight!

Some day he will be grown and gone, but for now, he's a little guy who still brings his Thomas blanket on trips and falls asleep in the back seat.

 We rented a cabin in the town of Mount Pleasant. This was our home away from home and was perfect for our stay.

This was our backyard! Those gorgeous oaks are everywhere.

This was the view from the swings in the backyard. 

The magnolias were in bloom and they smelled heavenly.

 First stop: Charleston proper! It was HOT! And windy along the water, but so, so beautiful.

SoCar selfie!

This is called Rainbow Row and is a famous Charleston sight.

We ate lunch here. It was divine!

We wandered graveyards.

This stone had a death date of 1749!!

The sun was hitting the cross on this church and lighting it up so beautifully!

Cobblestone streets!

 This was the kids' first view of the ocean. I wish you could hear Bella's giggles and squeals the whole way there!

And BAM! Endless ocean. They were amazed and delighted and giddy.

First dip in the Atlantic!

And....exhale....

One of the many jellyfish we found on the beach.

 Our first full day in town we took a harbor tour. It was amazing. The port of Charleston is so full of history and beauty!

The Ravenel Bridge. Eight traffic lanes and spans 13,200 feet!

Taking off. 

Riding with the dolphins!

Fort Sumter.

Sunning it up!

Captain Bella.

 We spent the afternoon walking around Charleston again because there's just.so.much.to.see.

We spent some time at a Kapla store and Bella built this!

Ice cream sandwiches at Peace Pies. 

The biggest ice cream sandwich I've ever seen!

Soooo good on a hot South Carolina day.

 In the afternoons we'd hit the beach. It was less crowded, and the sun wasn't a strong. I spent a lot of time sitting in my chair watching these three.

 Sunday was church and when we pulled into the parking lot, we realized that this little guy had hitched a ride with us!

 We also went to Charles Towne Landing and soaked up the history of the early days of South Carolina. The first settlers arrived in 1690!

This was the "front door" to the colony along the river.

Captain Bella again.

Ryan hoists the anchor.

This gorgeous plantation was on the property through this hall of oaks.

And this tree was gigantic!

You know you're in South Carolina when...

 Another afternoon at the beach. The kids were like fish and couldn't get enough!

Bella tries oysters for the first time. She was okay with them. She ordered a hamburger, but she tried fried shrimp. After that meal, she ordered it every.single.meal.

 Patriot's Point is a naval museum. It includes an aircraft carrier (USS Yorktown), a destroyer, and a submarine. There was also a Vietnam memorial area, but we were too tired to visit that part! I had told the kids about the carrier, we had seen it on our boat tour, but there's no way to prepare yourself for just how massive it really is!

Carrier selfie!

View from one of the decks.

View of the sub.

One the flight deck.

Captain Bella!

Captain Ryan!

She took this. I love her look of determination.

Panoramic shot of the point.

Submarine selfie!

Tiny TINY doorway. Bella has a rather unattractive video of me making my way through one of these.

The destroyer. We walked along the deck, but were too hot and tired to do any more exploring.

 The pineapple is a symbol of southern hospitality and is featured all over the place in Charleston. This was a fountain along the shore and we let the kids play in it for a bit.

 Evening at the beach! After dinner, we went back to find crabs. Mission accomplished!

Sullivan's Island light house.

 Everyone says you HAVE to visit the Angel Oak. So we did. And it was massive, and beautiful, and free (yay), but that was it. There were a lot of signs about not touching/sitting on/leaning against/looking at/breathing near the Angel Oak. But a 400 year old tree IS something to behold!

 This was our destination - the Charleston Tea Plantation which is the ONLY tea plantation is the US! We learned a ton about tea and drank a LOT of the free samples! Did you know these tea bushes are in the camellia family? They know the season is over when the camellias bloom in the fall.

Our tour bus ride around the plantation. Ryan has a whole plan for us to take over the plantation and run it.

 We spent one day in Hilton Head visiting Joshua's friend and his family. Then we took a mini side trip to Georgia!

This is a main drag in Savannah. We also drove past some squares, including the one where they filmed Forrest Gump (which we went home and showed the kids). 

If you're looking for rhinestone men's shoes, Savannah is the place to go!

Here's a fountain that Bella photographed.

We walked through this hotel lobby in Savannah so Bella had to take pictures. Suddenly, our hotel in Asheville didn't look so grand!

This was at a skechy gas station we stopped at in Savannah because we HAD to get gas. Bella and I laughed at their selection of "Natural Foods"!

 The next day we went the opposite direction and headed north to Myrtle Beach. It's definitely more commercial than the Charleston area and is clearly a popular beach destination for families. Since it poured the minute we got settled on the beach, we opted to visit the aquarium instead.

Sea dragons!

Touching a horse shoe crab.

Our overly dramatic kids.

 The cool part about this aquarium is the tube you walk through. Suddenly you're surrounded by fish of all kinds, and you can see them all around you. It's something I remember from MY trip to Charleston from 18 years ago!

Cue the Jaws music...

I mean, how cool is this?!

His face...

And hers...

 

I got to touch a jellyfish! Besides the ones I kept feeling when we were in the ocean...*shivers*

 Our main destination was "Pirate's Voyage" at Myrtle Beach. It's a Dolly Parton company so similar to Dolly's Stampede, but with pirates instead of horses. It's a dinner theater with so.much.food and an amazing - absolutely breathtaking show! I mean, two pirate ships have a battle right in front of you!

This was the view from our seats.

Gettin' ready to get our grub on. Bella wore her pirate shirt.

Cheering on our side.

The exciting battle scene with FIRE! The WATER was on FIRE! (I know, it was the chemical they put ON the water, but the effect was still cool.)

 Our time was winding down. One of our "bucket list" items was kayaking. We finally got into our double kayaks and, after a few run-ins with docks and shoreline, got the hang of it. We paddled along the river and along an estuary. We were hoping to spot some dolphins, but luck was not on our side that day. It was still a great experience.

Lunch afterwards! Bella was a fan, needless to say.

We walked along the waterway.

And spotted some crabs!

 Our next to last night in Charleston.

One last trip to the beach...

A picture of the custom house...

And dessert for dinner! So.much.sugar.

Honestly. Does it get any better?

It's not a great shot, but this was the crescent moon over a palmetto, which is the state flag!

Charleston at night!

This little guy was on our driveway. 

Ryan wore himself out on our last day.

While Bella and Joshua created this epic sand castle!

And after 11 hours in the car...back home again!

 The kids spent a week at camp, and then our summer started! We started the library summer reading program...

 The kids and I visited Top Golf again...

 Ryan got braces...

 He taught Fred to play poker...

 We went to see Aladdin (four thumbs up)...

 We learned a new game called Ticket to Ride which is SO fun...

 Bella gets to stay in her jammies and have frozen corn for breakfast...

 We visited Sam Ash...

 And this Asian Market! SO MANY things we didn't know, but we bought a bunch of things and tried them. We didn't like any of them, but points to my kiddos for trying new -and foreign - things!

You know, just a bucket of live frogs in the Asian market!

Til next time!!!!