Bucket List 7/30-8/5

Spray park! We headed out after Quiet Time one afternoon.

Ryan loved controlling the water.

Watery fun.

Yep. We were the only ones there. And yep. A storm brewed up in the formerly sunny skies. Thunder sent us home.

Pirate Day! We read about how to talk like a pirate...

Drank "Shark Bite" drinks (blue Kool-Aid with cherry syrup (blood) in the bottom)-rather hard to see here.

Here they are with their tools building their ship.

And the crew!

Bella checks the map...(I love that her hook hand is hanging off the ship).

LAND HO!

Bella found the pirate booty-a box of jewelry, coins and chocolate!

They had to walk the plank.

Bella cheers Ryan on.

State Fair!!! The man in the cow apron is our governor. I tried to get the kids to go over and get a free milkshake from him, but they were too scared.

I was all set for the kids to feed the goats, but they didn't have it this year. Bella didn't care-she was around ANIMALS!

Officially called "Little Hands on the Farm", Bella calls this "following the chicken feet." It was a favorite of hers last year, and it was the first thing we did this year. And the last. Yep. Did it twice.

So what do they do? The kids get hats, aprons, and little baskets. They have to gather eggs, get food for the cows and pigs on the farm, and plant seeds to harvest later.

And of course the ride tractors!

And of course Bella chose the pink one.

At the end they turn in their crops, get a "dollar" which they can trade for milk, string cheese, apple sauce, or other healthy goodies.

This is the cutest cow I have EVER seen!

I knew the minute Bella saw the pony rides that she'd want one. She loved it.

Ryan wasn't so sure about Teddy the Pony, but I couldn't let him miss the chance and I walked along side him.

Pettin' calves.

Had I let her, Bella would have laid down in the straw with the calves!

They both rode the tiny roller coaster. Their faces tell you how they felt; Bella was ecstatic, Ryan wasn't so sure. He ended up enjoying it, but not enough to go a second time with Bella.

He enjoyed the race cars.

And I enjoyed fried dough! Yummy.

This will be true sooner than I care to imagine...

We spent part of this gorgeous day downtown.

That's the statue in the middle of town-on the circle (hence our nickname Circle City).

We ate at the base of the statue. We brought a picnic, so this knocked out two of our items in one fell swoop!

And Bella had a blast feeding her sandwich crust to the birds.

We self-toured the capitol building which, surprisingly, both kids really liked.

Here's the view from inside, looking up at the dome. Bella enjoyed it so much that she asked to back the next day!

Bella starts school in just over a week-how did the summer go so fast? I've mellowed on the Bucket List-there's no way we could have accomplished everything on there. But we did a ton of new things and made some great memories. There's always next summer...

Summer Bucket List 7/16-7/29

A horrible picture, but this is their glowstick bath. They loved it!

The Monon Water Park. We picked a perfect day to go!

Bella did the water slide a million times while Ryan checked out the wading pool.

Archaeologist Ryan! I froze little toys in several layers of ice. Their job was to free the treats!

Bella gets started with a fork to chop the ice.

Kazoo Concert at My Toy Garden. The kids loved that there was a kazoo solo part with every song.

And then I introduced them to Silly String. No, I'm not that kind of mom where I make my kids wear a helmet: we had just hopped off our bikes on the ride home from the toy store.

They had fun! Although the Dollar Tree silly string isn't very good.

Still, they managed to get me covered!

Farmer's Market! We chose a cool morning to go. Here we are splitting a giant lemonade. I won't even tell you how much it cost, but it was yummy!

We got sunflowers for me and Bella to share.

We sat in the shade eating breakfast. You can see Bella already chomping on her croissant! Ryan chose a gigantic chocolate croissant, but traded with me for my cranberry-orange scone. Fine with me!

At the fountain by City Hall.

Today's activity: bubble prints. The premise? You blow colored bubbles on water and they pop, making this really cool design.

The reality? It didn't work. Like, at all.

But then Ryan discovered that he could blow colored bubbles right in the cup with his straw, and that made everything all right.

Here's Bella with her favorite color. I left shortly after this to make lunch. By the time they were done, both the deck and my son were multi-colored!

Happy Hour at Steak N Shake! Half-price milkshakes. Bella's waiting for her mint-cookies-and-cream shake.

I'm slurping on a turtle milkshake (no turtles were harmed in the making of the milkshake).

Ryan, Chief Fry Chef, awaits his cookies-and-cream shake.

And we turned half of my closet into an office. Yay! Now back to our previously scheduled broadcast.

I had planned dinner on the deck until I thought about the fact that ours faces west, so we'd be getting the full sun. So we made it breakfast on the deck.

Toilet paper roll racers! Bella covering every.square.inch of hers with glitter.

A picture Ryan took of our bingo markers and Connect Four pieces while I was working on his car.

Almost done! He added blue glitter later.

Twice a week or more, we have pancakes for breakfast. Bella wanted snowman pancakes like we had at Christmas. So, here's her snowman pancake. In July. When it's 98 degrees outside. I guess she's thinking cool thoughts!

I chose to just sprinkle coconut and chocolate chips on to make an "Almond Joy" pancake. Yummy!

Touch a Truck! It's an event where all sorts of vehicles are on display for kids to climb in, honk the horn, and pretend they're driving. Obviously we'd just left the fire engine!

The kids climb into a HumVee.

Thank God for the Snow Cone Truck! We cooled off in the shade of the loader bucket.

One of Ryan's favorite books is called "What If I Could Drive A Loader?" and I've read it a zillion times. He was thrilled to actually be in a loader!

In the burger van, ready to sling some hash.

Ryan was in line for the race car while Bella hopped on the Rotary Club's bike.

I wanted this picture...

To compare to this one from July of 2009!

The Hooligan behind bars of the Carmel police cruiser.

Doesn't she just look pitiful?!

Snapperz! Always a fun night.

Ryan's first time bowling (Bella had done it the year she turned three).

A weekend to converge in Effingham, IL from TN, MO, IL and of course IN. The pool was a popular spot!

Mom, Andrew, and Aunt Sheila conga line behind Bella.

Ryan and Maga hamming it up for the camera.

Aunt Sheila was the honorary Papa Carl as she handed out quarters for the kids to play the claw game.

The cousins have a diving competition. Here Faith is spinning in mid-air before going in.

And the judges give their scores!

Aunt Shirley, Aunt Sheila, and Mom.

Sisters and grandkids. We're missing nine others!

Sisters and daughters. After all these years, Mom and I still manage to wear matching clothes!

The cousins. Bella and Ryan were ecstatic to hang out with them and Bella cried when it was time to leave. It's been so long since we've been together that I had never even met my cousin Sophie, far left, and she's two!

The kids head to the cross in Effingham. Yes, children, always head toward the cross.

Looking up from the base.

Bella spent most of her time picking wildflowers and handing them out to her great-aunts, and even a total stranger!

Bella and Ryan conducting services in the chapel. It was hilarious (and good, sound doctrine! haha).