Beach Day

We hadn't gotten to the beach yet this season, and decided one weekend in August to head out. We opted for an evening get-away, packed dinner, and tried a new to us beach off of Lake Michigan. Adam had the thought to try Warren Dunes in Michigan, so off we went. With an arrival of 5:30, the beach was still pretty packed, but we luckily found a parking spot in the first row. The majority of people started to pack up and leave, which allowed us to find a great little spot to spread out. The kids had instantly spotted the giant dunes that people were climbing and rolling down, so Adam took them to try it out. They were in sandy heaven and came back with sand in their ears. I enjoyed sitting in a chair reading my book while they explored the beach. Unfortunately the temps dropped and I was freezing, so I didn't even get into the water and sat wrapped up in a towel.

But Adam and the kids could not stay out of the water and sand!

The sunset was amazing and you could just barely see Chicago way off in the distance.

And of course we had to get a beach selfie!

We eventually packed up and headed out. As we were leaving we noticed a great little ice cream and fudge shop directly across from the entrance, so we headed on over. Since I was the only one that was not soaking wet and had shoes on, I headed in and picked up cones for all. The places was small and quaint, but had everything you would want in a shop like that. On top of that the ice cream was fantastic and a great price.

It was now 3 hours past bedtime, and these kids couldn't help but pass out in the car on the way back home. It was the best time, and we can't wait to go back next year!

Blueberry Festival 2015

It was Labor Day weekend and that meant it was time for the Blueberry Festival again!!! This year we did things a little differently because we had a family wedding in the Indy area during the weekend as well. So we condensed our Blueberry visit to just Monday and that worked fantastically. We had made the promise to the kids that they could get the ride wristbands this year. I found that if I bought them in advance I could save $5/each. So my best friend and I bought them earlier in the week. First thing Monday morning, we headed down for the parade. This has become tradition since L was just a few months old, the kids and I have yet to miss one.

I just had to add this now/then. The pic on the left is from 2009 and the pic on the right is from this year.

Our old friend.

This guy was really cool.

After the parade we headed back to Adam's parent's house for lunch. It was suppose to be a super hot and humid day, so we thought we would wait a bit after lunch before going back. Well it sort of backfired. The temps were so crazy that it never really got any cooler. So back to the park we went for the kids to ride all the rides. They normally only get to ride on 3-4 rides each year, but now with the wristbands and being taller, they could go on almost anything they wanted. First up, the bigger kid roller coaster. They loved this so much they went on it about 4 times!

And of course a ride down the giant slide a few times!

They were very excited to go on this "big kid" ride.

And this was one of the last rides they went on. They were a bit nervous, but because this never went upside down, they braved it. D screamed the entire time, but they both loved it!

They both said this was the best year ever!

Past Blueberry Festival Fun

Indy Children's Museum

We have wanted to make it here for a few years now, and it just wasn't in the budget. This year we made sure we could squeeze it in. I had asked Adam if he had been interested in going, and he of course wanted to go seeing as that neither of us had been since we were kids. The only time we had to fit this in was the last Saturday before school started, which was perfect. Indy was about a 2 1/2 hour drive made easier by the fact that a new addition to the highway takes us there in a straight shot. No, really, we stayed on one road the whole way down!

When we arrived just after opening, there was still plenty of room in their parking garage just across the street. They even had a skyway walk to head from the garage to the museum. Fantastic!!!!

This cool guy was standing proudly in the ramp area in the parking garage heading to the skyway.

Once inside, the kids were very excited to see that the dinos were indeed on the inside as well.

I had paid for our tickets online and printed them out at home, so getting in was a breeze! I highly recommend doing this! As we walked in, Adam noticed a sign saying that Optimus Prime would be arriving in just 10 min. So we headed up to the second floor and spotted a great place to see it all happen. While there, the kids were able to each get a free kids id card thanks to the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.

We headed right upstairs to the science and water section on my new sister-in-law's suggestion. The kids really liked this underwater screening section. Look how cute those shoes sticking out are!

There were tons of fun photo ops!

A little past 1 we all realized we were starving, so we broke for lunch. Afterwards, L really wanted to see the dinosphere and since we were already on that level, we headed for it. This was such a neat exhibit. There were sounds galore here, both dinos and weather.

And of course there was a dino dig! And this wasn't just a brush the dust off sort of thing. The kids had to use tools to really chip the dirt and rocks away.

An underwater mystery

And the terracotta army was represented there! D had fun putting this one back together.

This bathroom line is taking forever!!

I loved this spot. It was right underneath the Chihuly exhibit, and allowed you to look up at all the glass and light. There was a bench for you to lean back on and while it slowly rotated, it allowed you to see different views.

We stayed until they closed at 5, making this a 6 1/2 hour visit, and the cool thing was that we didn't even get to see everything! Well worth the money and the time.  We will definitely be back.

Fun Summer Programs at the library

I have been meaning to post this for some time now, but I wanted to make sure all our fun was covered! We LOVE our library here, they are always full of fun free programs for kids of all ages. It really feels nice and welcoming when as soon as you step into the children's dept everyone knows you and the kids.

This year's summer reading program theme was superheroes. It started with sign up and a fun photo set up in the activity room!

We got to see Ronald McDonald again at the library! This guy is awesome and always gets the kids going.

They even had a family friendly Doctor Who party!!!

And one of our last events for the summer was an egg drop. The kids were given tons of different materials and had to build a craft to drop a semi hard boiled egg down 2 flights of stairs.

They didn't break!!!

Summer Camps for all

The kids have both been very very busy this summer! Our school corporation has hosted a bunch of free summer camps for both kids and they were very excited about it. It started the first full week of break with L going to Culture Camp-Berlin at 8:00am Monday-Friday. There he learned about German history, culture, music, food, and language. It ended with an open house where there was dancing at a disco, pretzels, and showing off the Berlin wall.

The 2nd full week of break, D had visual arts camp at the high school at 8:00am. The entire week was spent learning all about different types of art, meeting an artist, and going on another field trip to the Snite Museum. She was in heaven and even more special was the fact she got to spend the morning of her birthday there. On Friday there was an open house for us to come in and see everything they worked on. I was very impressed with the amount of quality work they produced!

The 3rd full week of break, we were back at the high school at (you guessed it) 8am for swim lessons for both kids. (Can you see the theme)  They have wanted to take lessons for a few years, we just didn't have the time or the money to do them. This year surprisingly we had both. They also had watched friends at these swim lessons the week prior and that was a big motivator for them. They both have friends also taking lessons at the same time, just in different levels. These lessons ran 1 week (Mon-Fri) on, one week off due to the 4th, and then 1 week on again. I have noticed a giant difference in their abilities already!

This past week was our last week of school summer camps! We ended with L taking a week long art camp just like D did last month. Sadly after the 3 day, he didn't feel it was the right fit for him. A person in charge made him feel like a grudge was being held against him and he just wasn't having fun. So we told him he didn't need to keep going, but that we would pick up any art work he had done on the last day. This piece was my favorite by far! It was a clay mask that he had made all by himself, and for a boy who thinks his art is no good, this proved him wrong!