Although finances were tight this summer, we found a way to manage enough funding for a trip to Indiana as soon as my ESY (Extended School Year for those keeping score) ended on August 12. We left promptly on Saturday, August 13th, for the Hoosier State to visit some of Colleen's family and our friends. It's usually a busy week for us as we typically try to get as many people fit into a rather tight window throughout the week on top of making sure the children are tended to and that we make some stops along the way that we or one of us typically enjoy. We did pretty good this year, and got away without spending loads of cash, which was nice.
Trip to the E.R.
Although it was a relatively frugal trip for us, it wasn't without some excitement. Day 2, less than 12 hours after our arrival at Col's cousin Kelly's house, Christopher, wound up from being in a car off-and-on for 10+ hours the day before, was freakishly hyper....jumping around, doing flips, jumping on the couch, and off the couch, et. al. We tried to keep him settled, but it was a challenge. So I went upstairs to run him some bath water and give him a bath before taking him somewhere to run it off. While I was upstairs, however, one of Christopher's jumping adventures turned into a trip to the E.R. as he learned that jumping from a couch to a coffee table is not conducive to "fun times." Three hours and three stitches later, we returned to Kelly's house with a defeated and somewhat deflated little boy. Don't worry though, his reality check was only effective for about 2-hours....then Yahoo-Serious was rejuvenated and back to form.
Trip to the Potowatomi Zoo
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| Christopher with Joanna checking out the Bengal Tiger |
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| Christopher posing in the cut-out the only way he knows how....being a goof. |
Our trip to the Potowatomi Zoo was a lot less dramatic in many ways. We met up with Colleen's cousins and their children for the adventure. It was pretty fun, but Christopher was a hot mess during a lot of it due to his being very tired. Otherwise, he loved watching the animals (the Bengal scared him a bit) and feeding the ducks (although he wanted nothing to do with feeding the goats in the petting zoo part..."They're stinky, Daddy."). Matthew spent the day chillin' out in his stroller. He, unfortunately didn't give us a lot of photo ops during this trip, but I did manage to get a decent one of him in his stroller. Col's cousin's kids were very, very helpful throughout this adventure and the entire trip for that matter.
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| I have no clue what he was checking out here, but whatever it was, it must have been astronomical! |
We saw lots of different animals. We saw Flamingos, Alligators, River Otters, Kangaroos and Wallabys, Chimps, Wildebeasts, Ducks, Koi Fish, a Bengal Tiger and a White Tiger, and a really, really big lion that had a large sign on the cage that read, "WATCH OUT FOR SPRAYING LIONS". Thankfully, he was comfortable with his territory when we were there. His spraying zoo patrons apparently made the South Bend Tribune!
At the Berrien County 4-H Fair in Berrien Springs, MI
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| Matthew is apparently ready to go...chillin' out in the passenger seat of the car happy as a clam just before we left for MI |
Shipshewana and Feeding the Ducks at ND
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| Christopher looking at some goldfish outside the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewana, IN (aka, Amish country). We were waiting for a table and he needed to get outside and walk before he got us kicked out! (kidding, of course). We'd just finished shopping and were ending our day-trip with a tasty meal. |
Without question we made our annual trips to Shipshewana, IN for a little day-trip shopping. It is Indiana's Amish country, so there's a lot of "country-decor" and awesome food. I spent a bit of cash in the music store there (pretty cool one actually...lots of unorthodox instruments that they leave out so you can play) and a toy store. I don't mind the trip because that's where I typically hang out. Christopher spent most of the day with Colleen while I was with Matthew. I tried to get pictures, but he wasn't cooperative or in the mood for such silliness. He just wanted to nap. That picture of Christopher is the only picture that came out from that leg.
Notre Dame is next to Godliness in my in-laws' lives. Every year we go to the campus, check out the bookstore, and do something else...go to the Grotto, simply go for a walk, or....
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| Christoper outside the Hamme's Bookstore in South Bend, IN. |
...feed the ducks and geese by Notre Dame Lake. Christopher was very funny...holding his bread out and prompting the water fowl calling sheepishly, "here, buddy......here, buddy..." It was very cute until a Canadian Goose approached and totally kaboshed the whole thing (they're mean not-so-little critters). Matthew didn't care about any of it!
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| didn't give two shits about the ducks or geese |
Some Random Pics
Aside from the stitches on day 1 and some minor fits and scheduling conflicts, the trip overall was very fun. We got to go to Col's other cousin's lake house, which was cool because a lot of people came over and we got to see everyone at once. We got to meet up with some friends of ours on 2 separate occasions, which was nice. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet up with everyone, but that's how it goes sometimes.
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