Indiana Vacation

We decided to hit Indiana this year for our summer vacation.  Both of Eric's parents were going to be there and it had been nearly four years since our last visit.  We had a ton of fun and I took lots of picture so I will break it up into a few entries.  Enjoy! 



 Our first full day was spent in Rushville with Eric's mom's family.  We spent time at his aunt and uncles home with his 95 year old grandma and his mom and Dave.  The kids had fun exploring the grounds and more fun came when we all went to their local 4H fair.

 Colton and Kinley enjoying the merry go round with Daddy.

Kinley wanted to get on everything, even rides that she wasn't big enough for.  Colton had a little more descretion about what he wanted to ride.

 

Both kids enjoyed riding the motorcycles and the cars.

"I must wave to all of my fans."

Two steering wheels?  Why not!

"I'll try it too."

This picture says a thousand words.  Just look at both of their expressions.  Priceless.

Kinley and Eric about to go down the "Super Slide."  Colton wanted nothing to do with this ride.

Kinley had so much fun, she had Eric take her a few more times.

Back on the bikes.  I was surprised by how many rides they had for smaller kids.

Grandma Barb in the background watching the kids.

 

 Kinley is in love with her grandpa's.  She will normally go to them right away when she see's them and loves to play with them. 

The next day we visited with Eric's dad, David and Deb. They were staying at their friends, the Erner's, home.  Colton and Grandpa playing catch.

 

Grandma Deb showing Kinley something.

Eric and I decided to slip away for a night and head to Chicago.  I had never been and we needed to hit up at least one baseball game.  Both sets of grandparents took their turn with the kids (see below) and we were lucky to spend some time together and see the Engels.

We got to Chicago with some time to spare before the game.  We decided to go on an architectural boat ride around Chicago.  Fascinating!

Eric, the poser, with the city of Chicago in the background.

 

 

We met up with one of Eric's college buddies and his wife, Brian and Nicole Engel.  They were kind enough to let us crash at their house for the night and take us out to the ball game.  Brian got great seats, 14th row!

 E and I enjoying the game.  The White Sox beat the Mets in the 9th inning.

While we were enjoying Chicago, the grandparents took the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo.

The kids had a blast as they got to see many of the animals that they love and had fun with all the grandparents.

The next day, before we got back, Grandpa and Grandma Schrage took the kids to the children's museum.  

Can you tell the our kids like the carousel?

Kinley thinking she can hatch the eggs.

June Randoms

I can't believe that July is almost over and I'm going back to work in a week!  Hopefully I can get the blog completely updated by then.  Here are some random pictures from June.  Enjoy!

 We have made a trip to our local Krispy Kreme more than once this summer.  The kids love to get a fresh, hot, free doughnut as well as watch the doughnuts being made.  Always a good time.  Colton has fun with the hats.

It has been a hot summer here in Vegas.  Eric and I constantly say how we are definitely getting our money out of our pool this summer.  We swim with the kids probably 5 days a week and sometimes twice in a day! Kinley is attempting to get Eric wet with the water gun.

 Two cuties waiting to get in the pool.

Kinley enjoying swimming with Daddy.

Colton loves to take all of the books out of our book shelf that is in our room.  This night he put them in a row and walked back and forth.

I too enjoy the pool when I can.

Kinley showing off her kicking skills.

 Both kids chowing down after a day of swimming twice.  One thing is for sure, both kids have quite the appetite after swimming.

 

Just a great picture of Colton and Eric.

We went to a bowling benefit for our friend Eddie Garcia.  Eddie has gone through some horrible ordeals this last year with losing both hands and legs to a flesh eating bacteria.  I am amazed at his positive attitude and outlook on life.  This guy won't let anything stop him from doing what he wants.  He even threw a ball down the lane.  He's quite the inspiration.

Kinley watching where her ball went with Eric.

Colton enjoyed coloring his Cars book while waiting to bowl.

The Shark Reef

As educators in Clark County, several companies around Vegas give us discounts.  We decided to take the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay up on their offer of free admission for the entire family, yup free!  It would normally have cost us almost $40 to go, so this was a great deal.  The kids are also really into any type of animal and enjoyed their time there.  Enjoy!

Kinley checking out some colorful fish.

Colton loved the turtles.

Checking out more fish and some sharks.

Colton pointing out all of the small sharks that were above us.

Time to pet the sting rays.

Kinely's turn.

Both kids were stopped in their tracks watching the bigger sharks swim by.

Colton enjoyed pointing out all of the fish for Kinley.

After they were told that they could pick anything they wanted from the store, I find it funny that they both picked turtles.  Too cute.

Colton's 4th Birthday!

I know, I know, this post is only about two months late.  All I can say is that we have definitely been enjoying our summer and I just haven't thought much about the blog or even been on the computer much.  Enjoy!

Colton's birthday fell on a Monday and he wasn't going to daycare so we celebrated it the Friday before at Miss Kelly's.  His shirt says, "Birthday's Rock."

Colton picked out Elmo cupcakes and I brought them lunch.

The kiddos at Miss Kelly's celebrating with Colton.

Prep work for the big "Train" party.  I ordered a lot of stuff off Etsy.

We rented a train car in Boulder City.  We had the entire dinner car all to ourselves.  It was a pretty cool experience for everyone, especially the kids who had never been on a train before.

We had small ham/turkey and cheese sandwiches or train peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with all the extras.

We also had a table set up with train tracks for the kids to play on.  This turned out to be a big hit as we took two 45 minute train rides.

A parent from my school is a pastry chef on the strip and made these awesome cake pops that looked like mini ice cream cones in Thomas the Train colors.

Colton and Nolan hanging out on the train.

Lillian, Nolan and Colton playing with the train tracks.

Kinley hanging out in her cute Thomas the Train pillow dress.

Colton's cake made by Smith's.  It was very yummy and pretty cute.

Another shot of the delicious cake pops.

Goody bags filled with fun Thomas toys and gear. (Again, lots of stuff from Etsy including the adorable party bags.)

Each kid got to pick out a train hat and bandana to complete their ride.

This sign was up to welcome everyone on the train from the train depot.

In between the train rides, everyone got off and explored the depot a little more before getting back on the train for one final ride, where cake and ice cream were served.  We found Wile E Coyote just hanging out.

We also toured the rest of the train as well....pretty cool.

Can you see the excitement on Colton's face.

Blowing out the candles.

This kid cleared his plate in no time. 

Kinley enjoying the cake as well (like I said, it was really good.)

Colton enjoyed opening his presents. 

Colton was a very happy birthday boy!  It's hard to see, but his shirt has the number four on it as well as his name and Thomas train.

 

For Colton's actually birthday, on Monday, we decorated his room with streamers and balloons. 

Balloons that he had a lot of fun playing with.

Grandpa and Grandma Schrage were here to celebrate with him.  We all went to his favorite place of the moment, "Chuck E Cheese" that night.

After we got home, it was time to open presents.

Colton has really grown up this last year.  He is such a great big brother to Kinley...she is very lucky to have him as her brother.  Colton now weights 44 pounds (50-75%) and is 46 inches (over 95%).  Colton is a great sleeper (still) and will be entering preschool this fall before heading to Kindergarten at my school.  He knows all his letters, numbers to 20 and too many sight words to count.  Colton is pretty shy, but his actor side comes out in him when he's watching a movie that he's seen before.  Many have seen this side of him and think that we should get him involved in acting classes.  His facial expressions and movements are nearly on spot most of the time. It really is a site to see. Colton is also a really good dancer, keeping his movements in tune to the music.  He will begin soccer this fall, which he is excited about.  We are very proud of Colton and the boy that he is becoming.