Yesterday was my special trip to the Monon Railroad Museum with Poppa! We headed up to Monon in the Big Ole Truck and sang and talked to Poppa all the way there! He was pretty quiet so it left if up to me to fill the quiet. Mission accomplished!

When we got there, we looked at two trains and walked on the tracks. Then we went to lunch in a restaurant that had FOUR model trains running all over the place! It was so cool! Poppa said they had the best salad bar he’d ever had. I thought the cheese cubes were pretty tasty! We took a toodle over to a caboose to have a look at and then we got our picture taken by the nice man there. He even let me wear a conductor’s hat! I had such a fun day with Poppa and I am still talking about that conductor’s hat! Thank you, Poppa, for such a fun time!

When I got home from my train adventure, it was off to Aunt Carrie’s to get costumes on for some Lafayette Trick or Treating. We started at the mall. It was awesome collecting all that candy until the line slowed to a crawl and I was pooping out after such a big day. We decided to throw the towel in about half way through and head to Uncle TC and Aunt Renee’s house to see them AND Mema and Pepa. We had to be super quiet with our Trick or Treats because Baby Mitchell was taking a nap. His pumpkin butt was straight up in his bed. He was zonked. We hung out for a bit before heading to our last stop for the night. When we arrived at Gigi and Poppa’s house, everyone was already there including Mada! We chowed down on some pizza and checked out more treats! It was a VERY busy but fun day!

Thank you to everyone for all the treats! Happy Halloween to All!

Train Trip

We meandered out of bed after Daddy started waking us by rustling through the bags, and we snacked on some Pop Tarts and watched Disney until it was time to suit up and hit the water parks for Day 2 of our adventure. First stop was the Wild Waterdome, where we were introduced to the country’s largest wave pool! Every time you heard the mammoth trumpet, it was time for the waves to start crashing towards us. Una was super brave and wanted to be way out in the middle of the action, but those waves were strong and knocked me down, so I hung out up by the shoreline a little. Momma even got in on the action with Morgan one time, and Daddy and Morgan made a run at it a different time. Instead, I made use of the kids area with slides, fountains, and sprayers and cheered them on from a distance. Daddy and Morgan hit the Dueling Mammoths, too (a big ol’ raft water slide) before we moved on over to yet another park!

At the Klondike Kavern, we saw another huge central play area with a 750 gallon bucket that dumps ever few minutes. It was surrounded by a big Lazy River and had hot tubs and more super-fast big person slides on either side. Throughout the afternoon, we switched it up back and forth…I would hang out with Momma and play while Morgan and Daddy ran around. Then, I would play water basketball with Daddy while Mommy and Morgan made for the big purple slide. We met up a few times at the table for snacks and at the big hot tub that started inside but had a place where you could move right out to the outside and still stay warm! Morgan and Daddy kept their streak of water slides going with the Hurricane. The website’s description pretty much sums it up by explaining how it “plummets 58 feet before dropping thrill-seekers into a funnel where they spin around and then splash into a landing pool below. Fog machines, strobe lights and sound effects add to the thrills of this amazing ride.” Morgan said it was like falling off a waterfall in to a huge barrel, where you slosh way up the side, slide back down, and slide back up the other side back and forth. Yikes!

We noticed that we never stopped to really have lunch, so our bellies told us it was time to move on. We got dressed and hopped in to make our way over to Downtown Wisconsin Dells. On the way, we saw Moosejaw and decided that it was the place for us. I didn’t eat moose, but I did have chicken and got a cool pair of antlers!

With our bellies full and new energy to burn, we made it the rest of the way downtown, parked, and strolled around the shops and attractions of the Dells. We were sure to hit the famous Glockenspiel, but our favorite stop was the Goody Goody Gum Drop Candy Store where we got sour straws, Mommy got a truffle, and Daddy ended up with some half-pound monstrosity of chocolate, pecans, caramel, marshmallow, and who knows what else. With calories to burn, we toured the River Walk, strolled along, and stopped for a few photo ops.

Finally, it was time to head back and call it a night, but not before touring all up and down the whole Wilderness Territory hotel (no joke…over a mile down to two different lobbies…this place is massive). Now we’re all snuggled in and dreaming about souvenirs. Good night!

Wisconsin Dells – Day 2

Whew, Saturday was a HUGE day. We were up and rolling to Lafayette in time for some errands and lunch before heading to our first big stop…Exploration Acres! This place had all sorts of great things for kids to do. We played in the big straw pile, rode on the trikes and bikes, crawled through the straw maze, and pumped like crazy to race little rubber duckies. The highlights, though, were the miles and miles of corn maze and the pumpkin patch. We zipped through the Eagle and Canoe mazes and punched our cards at all of the stations we found, but wore out from all of the zigging and zagging. The hay ride took us over to the pumpkin patch where we scooped up the biggest orange gourds we could pack in to the wagon.

After Exploration Acres, we all made our way over to Mema and Pepa’s house for our annual Fall Party. And, of course, we were entertained by all sorts of great activities like a pumpkin hunt and a pinata bashing. Then, we had a crazy time jumping in a massive pile of leaves! Pepa had them stacked up way taller than us and as big around as a car, and we didn’t waste any time jumping in and splashing around. Pepa stirred it up more with a big ol’ leaf blower…he was spraying leaves everywhere! Finally, we even got to eat our dinner in a tent way out in the yard and checked out our loot as we stuffed our heads with hot dogs and snacks.

Morgan and I were cashed out about 10 minutes after starting our journey home, but we had a bunch of fun with the whole family. Thanks very much to everyone for hanging out and we’re already looking forward to doing it again next year!

Fall Party

Wow, looking back, I realize that we did a lot this weekend!  Here is the recap:

Friday – Gigi and Poppa stopped by first thing in the morning and dropped off delicious Gibby’s Donuts on their way through town.  They were heading out for a vacation of surf & sun while it was cold and wet back here at home.  In between bites, we wished them a safe journey and hoped they have fun on their trip.  Then, Morgan and I went to school like usual and had pretty good days, but we were in for a treat.  We were headed out to the movies that night to see Legend of the Guardians…but not at Pavilion Cinemas, at the Drive In!  We headed north to Mel’s Back To The Fifties in Mechanicsburg and parked right up front, popped the back hatch, and busted out the snacks.  It was about a half hour before the movie started, so Morgan and I didn’t really “get” what was happening until the sun had fully set and they fired up the retro “Let’s All Go To The Lobby” cartoon.  Then we figured it out…we were watching a movie, but we were outside!  We tuned our car radio to the right station and settled in for some dramatic Owl-style action.  With bellies full of popcorn and candy, Morgan and I crashed about 1/2 way in to the show.  I went fully out as I snuggled up to warm Daddy, but Morgan held out to the very end.  What a fun experience…I’m sure we’ll be back soon!

Saturday – After our late movie night, we rolled out of bed a little later than usual.  But, no rest for the weary…we packed in and headed West to C’ville and landed at Mommy’s school for her to work.  Daddy had a few jobs to do with her computer and her new Smart Board while Morgan and I built a huge spider web out of yarn out in the hallway.  Then, we went with Daddy to get lunch and drinks for everyone and brought it back to eat while we watched Diary Of A Wimpy Kid on the big Smart Board.  After lunch, Daddy, Morgan, and I hopped down to the gym to kill a few hours playing with trampolines, balls, Frisbees, and all sorts of PE equipment while Mommy worked more and more in her room.  We’ve all been feeling a little under the weather with sickies and sniffles lately, so when we headed back to Lebanon we all just crashed and had a lazy evening.  I watched movies in the basement with Daddy while Morgan crafted and Mommy snored.

Sunday – Up and rolling again…after Daddy exercised, we jumped in the car and Headed south to Indy.  Mommy had a Kohl’s coupon that was burning a hole in her pocket, so that was our first stop.  Then, we went over to Joe’s Crab Shack (our new favorite joint) for lunch and swung through the Fashion Mall on the way back out.  They just opened a North Face store there and Morgan was brave enough to try out the rock climbing wall they set up in the parking lot.  They strapped her in and she was off…all the way to the top!  I was so proud of her that I gave her a high five when she made it back to solid ground!  Mommy met up with us down at the Apple Store where we were discovering all sorts of new iPad games that we want Daddy to buy.  A few more stores as we made our way back across the mall, then home just in time for the Colts game.  Go blue!

10-3 Weekend

Happy birthday to Aunt Carrie!