What we've been doing with Grandma

Grandma arrived very late on October 3rd, just in time to watch General Conference with us the next day. The Saturday morning of General Conference, (October 4th), the girls and I did some baking. We made chocolate chip cookies; well, if you want to be technical, I made the cookies, and they snitched the cookie dough. Grandma snatched these photos of Amy trying to be sneaky, she pulled the chair up all by herself too.  Grandma reports that the first thing Adelynne said to her Saturday morning when she saw her was, "I'm three, I'm a big girl now.  I'm not a baby anymore!"    



Look closely, and you can see her stretching out on her tip-toes to get some dough.

This time Amy thought she'd use a little more style by stealing the cookie dough while wearing princess shoes

This was one of Adelynne's new favorite past times, playing and building with the dominoes.  When Grandma came, she brought goodies-of course-and some of the goodies were new headbands, which Adelynne is modeling for us in these pictures; thus, the lovely hairdo.  


This was a distraction from the cookie dough, and it worked. Adelynne enjoys pushing Amy in this doll stroller, and Amy likes to be pushed in it. The cat tail is Max trying to distract my mom from taking the picture.


This was Adelynne's General Conference activity. Well, at least for the first session of conference. Grandma's goodies also included lots and lots of stickers. Adelynne spent the entire two hour session putting stickers on paper. Amy did it for a while too, but she was soon bored with the project. Most of the stickers came in a pouch, and Adelynne had a hard time peeling the backs off of them, so I spent much of the time peeling the paper off of them. But it kept me alert and attentive, so all in all, it was a great way to watch and listen to conference.  They are sitting on Adelynne's new princess quilt that Grandma made for her big girl bed that she got for her birthday.  

These are some more shots of the tutu I made. It looks different because I adjusted the length. Amy also enjoyed playing dress-up while we were watching conference.

And the box. This box provided at least a good half an hour of entertainment for Amy while we watched conference. (And she was a good source of entertainment for us--as we listened). She was in and out of it, putting the refrigerator magnets in and out, and then it turned into a climbing toy, which was not a good idea. She was having so much fun until she fell off the top and landed directly on her head. I think she still has the bruise to show for it. (Although it is fading).




MONDAY October 6th
I finally caved and bought this tricycle that I saw at Sam's Club weeks ago. It is a parents dream bike for their toddler. The bike not only has a handle, THAT IS TALL ENOUGH FOR ME, but the handle also can steer the front tire! It also has a safety strap to go around the child, which doesn't fit Amy very well. But regardless, it was a great buy. It also folds up pretty well for storage. Amy loves it! Although most of the time she'd rather push it than ride on it, but oh well. And of course it contains all the entertainment needs for a child riding a bike: buttons that make all kinds of sounds and a Winnie the Pooh that bobs up and down while Tigger and Piglet ride around on a train. Christmas just came early for Amy.
On Tuesday we took a trip to the Purdue Agriculture farm and picked a few pumpkins.  We had a great time.  We got to ride on a tractor out to the pumpkin patch, and then we sat on the big pumpkins, picked the little pumpkins, and rode the tractor back to the car.  We also picked a few gourds.  It was a slightly breezy day, but perfect for being outside for autumn weather.  

Since it was our last week with Minnie I was trying to grab some photos of the two girls. I didn't take enough, so here's the one: Best Friends

For our last day with Minnie I decided we needed to really have some fun, so we went to good old Chuck E. Cheese. We had some pizza and soda and then the girls danced and played to their hearts content, or until they had mid-day melt-downs as a result of taking no naps. Mary joined us when she got off of work and also played with us. The girls had a great time. Amy loved the little clock ferris wheel, she rode it for a good 20 minutes and then still didn't want to get off. We bribed her with a ride in Chuck E.'s car, but she wasn't nearly as interested. When she got off of that she ran back to the clock, but there were other kids riding it. So she joined Minnie and Adelynne on the roller coaster ride. All three of the girls also enjoyed the playground area as well. Mary and I will have to plan a few play dates with Chuck E. later on.

OUR GETAWAY: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY OCTOBER 10-11TH

Friday night Dustin and I left Grandma to her fate: taking care of our little monsters until our return on Saturday. We went out to dinner to Red Lobster. I wanted to eat shrimp, and lots of it. We both did, and we enjoyed it. But I don't think we will return any time soon, they are too overpriced, and not the best quality. Then we went down to Indianapolis and checked into our hotel before heading out to a movie. We stayed in a nice room at the Country Inn and Suites. We went and saw American Carol-a political spin on A Christmas Carol. We had a few good laughs from it, and it was interesting to see the different actors involved in politically "conservative" film. It was pretty late, so we grabbed some ice cream at McDonald's for dessert. I know, I know, our first night was classy. But we had a great time being together and not worrying about the girls.

We stayed up late and slept in! If you consider 8am as sleeping in, (which you do if you have children). We ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed out at about 11am to the IMA: Indianapolis Museum of Art. It is a free art museum with some beautiful pieces. It was an adjustment for me to be in such an adult environment without chasing after little girls. At first I was just wanting to quickly browse through the art, but then I convinced my mind that I could take my time and read about the art. It took me about 15 minutes to really start enjoying myself. But I did, and I reconfirmed to myself that my favorite type of art is Neo-Impressionism. I love the ability to take something small and turn it into something more grand. I also like paintings that are of the Impressionist Style. I like the dreamy style of painting that makes life seem peaceful and simple. It gives me a sense of calmness and warmth. Here are a few of my favorites that I snapped at the museum. I couldn't use the flash so they are a little dark. If you want to know who painted them just click on the "view all images" link. I tagged the pictures so once you are in the link you can touch each picture and it will give you more details.

We left after about an hour because the museum just kept on going, and to be honest I was getting a little bored. There was just so much to see that I was feeling overwhelmed. And Dustin is getting an ego increase by bragging to everyone that I got bored before he did. One of my intentions of going to Indianapolis was to take a paddle boat down the Indianapolis canal. I had heard about it from a friend (thanks Becky), and ever since I wanted to go with Dustin. Indianapolis has a canal through the middle of the city, it was originally built to connect the White River to the Wabash River, but was never completed due to bankruptcy. So now there is just a pretty canal in the middle of the city. Before we did some paddling, we ate some lunch at a museum cafe, which was a good idea since we, (I mean I), had a pretty good work-out on the canal.

We decided to save five dollars and get the non-shaded paddle boat since it was a beautiful day and not too hot. We got in the boat and paddled off. As we were paddling along, enjoying the under-the-bridge art and the sunshine, we started noticing the when Dustin paddled faster than me, his foot paddles would skip and make this loud noise. Loud enough for people to turn and look at us. We thought it was a little odd, but we didn't think too much of it until later. We paddled down for at least one mile, and then we started back the way we came so that we could return the boat before our hour of renting was over. About half way back, I was sweating and my legs were hurting and I was thinking to myself that this paddle boat thing was pretty tough. I asked Dustin if his legs were hurting him and he said "no." So then I was thinking, "man, I'm a wimp!" So Dustin was trying to paddle more, but his paddles just kept skipping and making that loud noise. We ended up agreeing that his paddles actually were not working at all and I was doing all of the work. But just as we came around the corner to the paddle boat rental booth, our paddles fell out of the center of the boat and into the bottom of the boat. Dustin was trying to put them back into the center of the boat. Mine wouldn't go back in at all, and Dustin was struggling with his. Finally he just picked up his paddles and we both thought he could use them to paddle us to shore. So he grabbed the pole that the paddles are attached to and went to stick them in the water when the paddles just slipped off of the pole right into the canal. So there we were, stranded in the middle of the canal. We could see the row of boats, but not the booth. I was thinking of calling for help, but I didn't want to look stupid, so finally Dustin and I just used our hands to paddle us to the wall, and then Dustin used the wall to pull us to the sidewalk. We think the part of the boat that pushes the water to propel the boat when you are paddling just completely came off and dropped to the bottom of the canal, which in turn made our paddles fall out and left us stranded. We are still enjoying a good laugh from it all, and we got it all for free! (Thanks again Becky). ;-) It was a fun experience, and I would do it again, but next time Dustin and I will spend the extra five dollars and get the sparkly green paddle boat with the shade.

After paddling down the canal we decided to head home. You know, we have lived here for two years, and every time we drive home from Indianapolis, I have seen these big billboards that say "Donaldson's Chocolates." Every time I see them I think to myself that I should stop and get some. Well, Dustin and I finally stopped. It is just a little privately owned, small business full of delicious gourmet chocolates. We splurged and got plenty, and then of course we picked up a "thank-you" treat for Grandma, and little chocolate pumpkins for the girls. I'm just glad we finally stopped and went.

Spending time with Dustin was awesome. Dustin and I don't go on regular dates, and we haven't had a night away from the kids since August 2005. So this was a much needed break, and it really was wonderful. I feel more united as a husband and wife, and even more in love with Dustin. We will definitely take advantage of Grandma when she comes again!

Here's a couple of pictures of Amy that Dustin snagged on Monday morning. Amy is just full of personality and attitude and sometimes she expresses herself so well with her body language.


Dustin had Monday and Tuesday off for October break. On Monday, we all just relaxed and stayed at home for most of the day. But on Tuesday we all got up early and headed off to Chicago for a day of fun family time. We started by going to the Shedd Aquarium. Right away we saw tons of huge fresh water fish and all kinds of turtles and rays. We also saw poisonous blue frogs and yellow frogs. The blue and yellow frogs were beautifully vibrant in color, they almost looked unnatural. Amy loved running from tank to tank pointing at the fish and the turtles. After the first half an hour Adelynne was saying, "I want to see more animals." We had to explain that we weren't at the zoo, that we weren't going to see other types of animals, only those that live in the water. She really wanted to see dolphins, and I thought that we would see a few, but it turned out that the aquarium's ocean exhibit is under construction. That was a little disappointing for us all. Adelynne would have really enjoyed a dolphin and whale show. They did have a small coral reef exhibit, where it seemed that Adelynne made friends with a sting ray. He spent a lot of time just blinking at her. He even swam off at one point, but then returned to stare at her some more. We also got to see Nickel the sea turtle. She was struck by a motor boat at the back of her shell so she can only swim with her rear up and her head down. It was neat to see her swim. We even got to go to the Philippines* and see all of the ocean life they have on their shores. That was where we saw the "Nemo" fish, the lion fish, a giant sword fish-which frightened Adelynne, and a few reef sharks. They also had a small "camping" area for kids to play in, which the girls enjoyed as well. There were sea horses and iguanas, more turtles and a 75+ year old fish. We enjoyed our time there, but we didn't stay nearly as long as we expected. Part of the problem was that I thought that the Shedd Aquarium would be like the aquarium in Monterey, California, which is HUGE! But the Shedd was nice anyway, and I'm glad it wasn't as big.

After the aquarium we had a good old fashioned Chicago lunch at the hot dog stand. I even tried the Chicago style hot dog: a hot dog with mustard, onions, relish, dill pickle slice, tomatoes, and hot peppers. But I didn't get the hot peppers. My mom got one too but without the onions and hot peppers. The girls happily chowed down a hot dog with ketchup, and Dustin ate a polish dog with....are you ready for this?....ketchup.

When are hot dogs were gone, we took a scenic drive along the Chicago city-Michigan Lake route. We headed north to the Chicago LDS temple. Grandma watched the girls, while Dustin and I went to the temple. It was wonderful to be at the temple, and feel love and peace from Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that we were able to go and renew covenants with God and do the work for those who have left this earth. We didn't take any pictures while we were at the temple, but I really wish we had since it was the first time that Dustin and I have gone when the fountains were on. We've only been in the past when it is too cold to have the fountains running. It really was a wonderful way to end our day.

We are having a great time with Grandma here. The girls are loving her and getting to know her better, and it has been nice to have a little help to watch the girls too. We only have two days left with her, and the thought is daunting, but we'll make the most of what is left.