Indiana State Fair 2014

We had so much fun at the state fair last year that we decided to take the kids again this year. 

 Our first stop was the beef tent.  We brought food for Tommy but we wanted to try to eat at the fair.  GREAT idea.  (Where's the sarcasm font?) We checked the buns, the chips, we asked how the dog was cooked.  They said it was all-beef.  He took one bite and freaked out.  He knew immediately.  He puked in the street.  We covered it with napkins and left.  Such a bummer.  We still can't figure out what was in the hot dog that would make him puke.  Argh, frustrating.

 Charlotte enjoyed her part of Tommy's lunch.  String cheese! Yum!

Our lunch consisted of more than just deep fried oreos but this was definitely the best part.

 Charlotte practiced her fair queen wave all day!!!

I am serious! ALL DAY! She waved at everyone.  It was too cute.

 Tommy rode pretty much every single possible ride he could.

 He loved that slide!

 He loved the spinning dragons too!

 Here's Charlotte's version of a ride.

 Oh wait, she did get a to ride a ride: The carousel!

 She also got to visit the lactation station.  Great idea to have but they are NOT private.  I could see everyone walking by and they could see me.  Awkward!

 Tommy enjoyed the John Deere Tractors of course.

 He accidentally turned on the hazards.  Whoops! He was pretty excited about that.

 Charlotte took a mini nap while this was all happening.

 This turned out pretty cute. Tommy and Daddy on the farm.  E-I-E-I-O!

 Tommy got a new yellow John Deere. (Did you know they made those?)

 Charlotte was still sleeping during the Glass Barn visit so she missed the photo opportunity.

 Then we visited the Midway where there was one kids rides among all the other crazy rides.

 Then we went BACK to kiddie land to use the rest of our tickets.  Took a trip on the ferris wheel.
(Yes his sticker says "I rode a pony".)

Tommy and mommy on the bumblebees selfie!

 This was like the 5th time he went down this slide I think.  He loved it!

 Another carousel ride! Use those tickets! :-)

 While we were riding rides, my mom and dad took Charlotte to the drafting horses show in the Coliseum.  We came in the at the end of it.  It was pretty entertaining.  All the ladies were wearing sequins gowns and they played pretty much every song from Oklahoma.  Those horses are amazing!

 We ate dinner at Chili's after we left the fair.  It was a good thing.  After the incident with Tommy puking in the street, we weren't going to take anymore chances.  Plus I got my deep fried oreos so I was happy.
I held my phone up for Charlotte to see herself and she took several selfies.  #chilisselfie

We had a great time at the Indiana State Fair.  Can't wait to take the kiddos back next year!

Charlotte's 11 Months Old!

Well this is a tough one.  Only one more month until the big 1st birthday.  I can't believe it's nearly here. 

 So Charlotte is eleven months old.  We have a serious look this month.  It's been a rough week for the whole family. Andrew was traveling.  Kids weren't sleeping well.  Tantrums, meltdowns, cough/sore throat/runny noses, pure and utter exhaustion.  But Charlotte was still a doll babe, always smiling and happy even at 2 in the morning! She just didn't feel like sleeping at that time of night for two hours!

She certainly is a lot of fun.  She doesn't sit still for a second. All the pictures above were taken within about 30 seconds.  This is her birthday present.  We got it a bit early because she loves to climb on it.  That's not the only thing she likes to climb on.  She also likes to take Tommy's wooden chair, push it over to the island, climb up on top of it, and grab things off the counter.  It is absolutely terrifying.  She's at least a foot off the floor standing on a super unsteady chair.  It takes her 2 seconds to do that too.  She's unstoppable! 

 She's also quite goofy.  Look at that face.  She loves to stand in the tub.  What a stinker!

 She will eat pretty much anything you set in front of her.  Anything except asparagus.  She hid the asparagus at the bottom of the pic if you look closely.  Then smiled adorably when she got caught. :-) Tommy wouldn't eat it either though.  He called it "Despair-a-gus."

 She has six teeth now that help her eat yummy food like Chick-fil-a.

 She is starting to take steps.  She fell at school though (bumped her head) and has been quite hesitant lately to take any steps. :( Hopefully she'll get up and at 'em again soon!

 Boy, does this girl love to eat!

Did any of it end up in her mouth?

Let's see, what did we not cover? Oh yeah, she is starting to imitate!

This is Charlotte imitating Grandpa.  She will pick up on something you are doing and then she will keep imitating you over and over.  It's, of course, absolutely adorable. 

Happy Eleven Months, Charlotte! Next month is the big one!  

Sweet Corn Season!

I look forward to this part of summer all year long! 

 My dad's sweet corn is ready! The kiddos loved it!

 Who wouldn't though, really?

 Classic Charlotte, sitting with her foot on the tray and her middle finger up. :)

 Classic Tommy, showing off his the strength of his teeth! :)

Happy Sweet Corn Season!

More Brother and Sister Love

I don't even know what to say except that I just adore these two little pumpkin eaters.  :) 

 I love how he reads her books!!

I love their bath time together.  

I love how they discover things together.  

Now he takes her for a drive!!

He does a really good job of keeping her safe and she LOVES going along for the ride! 

(This is my channel so all the videos will play in succession. Enjoy! Hopefully you don't get stuck in a youtube spiral, like I do.)

Girls Weekend in Louisville #OCGsDoLouis

So it's been two years in the making (we got together with kids last time) but we finally got together for a Girls Weekend.  We talk about it all the time but this time, we finally did it.  We were all connected by I-65 so I suggested meeting in Louisville since it was somewhat centrally located for people who live in Lafayette, Indy, Nashville and Birmingham.  Poor Krissi had to drive the farthest but she was willing and ready to party.  

 The Indiana girls drove down together and waited at a brewery for the southerners to get there.  The brewery was dark and we were getting a tiny bit tired.  THEN the southerners told us that when Birmingham picked up Nashville, they started chatting and ended up heading toward St. Louis for about an hour.  WHOOPS.  Indy and I thought we probably wouldn't go out since they were going to get there so late.  But then...

 Then we went to Fourth Street Live! We had one drink and it was ON like donkey kong.  I have no idea what they put in those drinks but we were jacked up and ready to go!

 Birmingham and Nashville got there and we dragged them back down to 4th Street Live! Group Pic! (Be prepared for tons of group pics and drink pics. You were warned!)

 First drink pic! Cheers to the years we've been friends! About 20+ years now I think!

 We went to a dance club and Krissi got pulled on stage to open a gift.  They gave her a pregnancy test and condoms.  What? Uhh, bar humor?

 Another group pic! (I told ya!)

 Meeghan wins the award for getting approached by the youngest guy.  I think he was like 23.  WHAT? You have 3 kids?? Smell ya later! Haha!

 Group pic.  This was closing in on 3 am.

 THREE A. M.  I haven't been up that late in a LONG time (unless you count getting back up with a newborn).

 But then we went for pizza at Spinelli's.  We had to wait something like an hour for flipping pizza.  We met some AWESOME Australians that made the time go fast.  They were shipping off to Boston in the morning or else we would have hung out with them some more.

 So what do you do while you're waiting for pizza with two Aussies at 4 in the morning? The Robot, of course.

 Ugh, the next morning... we slept in (hooray!), got massages (sweet!), and then went for brunch (awesome!). We ate at Wild Eggs which was amazingly delicious.  Almost Magically Delicious.  :) Seriously.  Find one and eat there.  So good.

 Then we went to the pool.  The pool overlooked the Ohio River.  Such an awesome pool!

 Except the building and sign could use a coat of paint but otherwise, not bad.

 Pool drink pic! :)

 Then the pool got FRATTY.  Frattier than this, if you can believe it.

 Hey, is that another group pic??? I can't believe it.

Awww, Indy and Nashville! Cuties!

That night we decided to hit the Highlands Bars for dinner. While we were waiting for a cab, we decided to put our trust into the doorman to take our picture.  We were not especially impressed with his skills but throw an instagram filter and it's not so bad.

 That night we went out for wine and sushi.  What is this? Is that a wine drink pic? No way.

 SUSHI! Yum! We went to Sapporo on Bardstown Road for dinner. The Highland Bars looked super fun but we didn't stay there too long.  I did get some thrift shop gifts for the kiddos.  (I am not going to pass up a t-shirt for Tommy with a tiger riding a bicycle, that's for sure!)

That night we decided to stay at the hotel and drink for a bit because one of our friends who couldn't make it... That would be Albuquerque... put a $50 credit on our hotel room so we could get some drinks.  Cue the chorus-- Weeee Loooooovvvveeee Yooouuuu Brrriiiittttannnnyyy!!! :) :) :)

While we were there, Fandom Fest was going on.  It's essentially Louisville's Comic Con. We met some interesting characters!! I ain't afraid of no ghost!

We met a famous person too! This is Julio from The Walking Dead. He apologized for smelling like weed. Ha! He said he's on the next season. Although this wiki page seems to think that he's gone. Just in case, watch for him! He's in this group pic so you never know! 

We got our picture taken with this nice young lady.  I wish I would have gotten a close up of her face.  So disgusting.

Then Bill Paxton from Aliens let us borrow his guns to pose for a picture with her too.

Krissi really enjoyed the gun show.  I think it's going to be her next big purchase!

Hey, look at that! We met Hank Williams Jr!  Ok not really.  But he was very entertaining.  

His buddy, Keith Urban, did not enjoy us calling him that.  Maybe his shirt was too tight. :-) 

We got a group picture with the "celebrities" Hank Williams Jr, Keith Urban and Danny McBride. Danny McBride thought he looked like someone from Metallica but we chose to stick with Danny McBride.  Not sure who the girl in the back is.

After hotel bar drinks, we walked around laughing at stuff.  Like shoe shining stations!

And bike racks that are shaped like dragons!!

And stores called "The Love Boutique"! We had an awesome time our second night.  We stayed out until 2 even though we wanted to go to bed much earlier.  We also ended up at Spinelli's for pizza again.  Yikes.

The next day we visited the Slugger Museum to pick up some souvenirs (or weapons, pretty much) for our children.  Last group pic I promise!

We had an amazing time last weekend.  It was seriously so great to get away just us girls for the first time in forever! I'm so glad we have maintained our friendship this well for this long.  We always pick right back up where we left off.  OCGs forever!!
See you next year! Brittany, you better be there! ;)