Stoney Creek Farms

We headed to Stoney Creek Farms for our annual hay ride and trip to the pumpkin patch. Chad, Jessie and Anna joined us this year, which made it extra fun. Thankfully the weather was nice, low 60's when we arrived and low 70's when we left. Ella and Cole loved riding the ponies and all three of them liked the pumpkin train. The hayride was fun, as usual, although at eight months pregnant, I could definitely think of more comfortable things to do!

1st Day of School

Ella and Cole both are attending Geist Christian Church Weekday Ministries this year!!! We all couldn't be more excited!! Cole is in Ms Trisha's child's day out class. He was a little nervous, but with his new back-pack in tow, he was ok with it. His teacher said that he had one little melt down about 10 minutes after I dropped him off, but it was snack time, and that did the trick! He was pretty happy to see me when I went to pick him up...but you could tell he had a fun day.

Ella is in Ms Becky's, cheerful cheetahs, preschool class. A few of her friends from her CDO class last year are in her new class, and she couldn't have been more excited. She walked into class like an old pro and had to be asked multiple times to give her mom a hug before I left!! Her teacher said she did great and is quite a talker!! Funny how she figured that out so quick!!!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY TO.....

DADDY!!

We are so happy to celebrate this day with you!!! We love you so much and are thankful everyday that we have you as a daddy!!!

A Trip to Florida!!

We were so thankful that we got the opportunity to go to Florida to visit the fam. Scott, my bro, was graduating from the Florida Police Academy. What a perfect excuse!!! It was again, hotter than snot, so we did very little other than run through neighbors sprinklers while we were on walks, hit the backyard pool, and one afternoon at the beach. Pretty good for a quick 4 day trip!!!

Hughes Wedding

We traveled to Wisconsin for Scott's cousin, Brad's, Wedding. It was supposed to be a 5 1/2 hour drive that turned into a 7 hour drive. Gotta love 65N and Chicago traffic on a Friday afternoon!! Thankfully, the kids did really well. We are again singing the praises of the DVD player!!!!! We were really hoping that being that far north would have given us some relief from the heat...but no such luck!!! HOT HOT HOT!!! We stayed at a golf resort, so the boys had fun playing a round, while the kids, nana, grandma Hughes, Aunt Sally and I enjoyed the park and then a dip in the pool. The wedding was held on the golf course, under 2 big weeping willows, next to a pond. It was beautiful. The bride and groom had lots of special, personalized touches. After the ceremony, I had to take the opportunity to take some pictures of the kids in the "wedding-best" on the course!

Holiday World

In keeping with a tradition we started last year, we planned another weekend trip with our friends from Butler, the Antcliffs. This year we decided to head to Holiday World to enjoy the water park and rides. The kids had a blast! Ella decided to follow suite with dare devil Miss Claudia and went on a ton of rides, and loved the octupus the best! She was still a little hesitant of the water slides, but loved the lazy river and wave pool. Cole had a great time playing in the wave pool as well as a "kiddie" area where he could ride all of the rides. Every one of them he would ride with his arms up in the air the entire time. It was hysterical! We stayed in adjoining hotel rooms and the girls, with Cole tagging along, played and played. They all got along so well!! Sadly, my camera hiatis lingered and this is the only picture I have of the whole weekend. Check facebook because, thank goodness, the Antcliffs were better at picture taking than I was! (on a side note, I am feeling pretty guilty about not having more pictures so expect many more to come!)

We enjoyed Holiday Worlds fireworks from our car in the parking lot, which was a great idea...we avoided the huge crowds and traffic getting out of the park...and Ella thought "they were so magical!" Super dramatic as always!! 

If anyone is looking for an easy something to do...it only took us about 3 hours and the place was really pretty nice. If you can get past the cliental of a mix between Indiana State Fair and Jerry Springer! It was clean, free drinks, sunscreen stations, and lots for little ones to do...its great!

Ella and Claudia in the stars and stripes! Cole was refusing to have his picture taken!!!