Indianapolis, IN

July 3rd was my cousin, Whitney's, wedding in Indianapolis, IN. Instead of driving there that Sunday we decided to make it a mini-vacation and leave Thursday (to go to MI and drop Ty's sister, LaCross, off because she had been staying with us for that whole week) and stay until Monday. We had so much fun and her wedding/reception was beautiful! We snuck in a trip to the zoo with my Dad, step-mom, sisters, brother, and sister-in-law before the wedding. It was a hot day, but we had a great time. We also did lots of swimming and spending time with family!! My kids love staying in hotels and actually do pretty well sleeping in them which makes vacations a bit more enjoyable!

LaCross came to visit! (she had just had surgery on her foot the week before!)

Washing an elephant!

Emmersyn eating a pear--whole. It was in a bag under her feet. Somehow she kicked it up to her hands and started chowing down. I didn't notice until it was half eaten.
L with Aunt Britton and Uncle Kolby

The whole gang!

St. Louis, MO

Ty had business in St. Louis, MO in June and we were able to work it out for the rest of us to tag along. It was a very short trip, 2 days in fact. It may have been short but we were able to pack a lot into those two days. We went to the St. Louis Zoo, went swimming, out for ice cream, and shopping at the mall the first day.

The second day Ty had to work the entire day so that left the kids and I in a hotel for 10 hours without a car. I wasn't too concerned as they had a big pool and we were within walking distance from the mall. Our plan was to stay in the hotel room watching cartoons and playing until 12 when we had to check out. At noon, I was going to walk to the mall, eat lunch and shop, then come back and swim until Ty got back from his meeting at 5. Well, that plan went down the drain when we woke up to it raining ALL. DAY. LONG. We couldn't walk to the mall because it was storming and it turned out that their pool was part inside and part outside. Since it was storming and part of the pool was outdoors and it was the same body of water as the indoor pool, that was shut down all day. That left me and 3 CRABBY, tired kids in a hotel lobby for 5 and a half hours with NOTHING to do. Ty had taken all of our luggage (aka. toys) with him and we had nothing to do. Lets just say this was by far the most stressful and frustrating day probably of my entire life!! The kids were as good as can be expected but we were all bored and really tired...the first day was so much fun, but I'm not sure it was worth it. We'll see if we ever go on another business trip again!

Emmersyn enjoyed swimming so much that she fell asleep in the water!

At the St. Louis Zoo

Binder Park Zoo

A summer is just not complete without at least one trip to the zoo. Kind of on a whim the other weekend Ty and I decided to take the kids. Riley was so excited to see the giraffes and elephants (we couldn't get through to her that there were NO elephants at this zoo). They have a "new" feature to their experience where they bring animals on the stage, talk about them and show off their "tricks". It will be a nice addition to the whole experience once they get the hang of things and the animals learn the ropes! We had a blast, always do at Binder.

We decided once we got there that the clouds looked dark and since we didn't want to miss Wild Africa we'd hop on the train and go there first. Riley could hardly stand it she was so excited to see and feed the giraffes. We got up there, bought some giraffe crackers and went to feed them. The second she saw them she was terrified! Literally terrified, crying and saying no and telling them to keep their "tongue away"! However, after about 5-6 minutes I coaxed her into at least feeding one. That was it, but she did it! Once we left she wanted to go back. Go figure...

We got through the entire zoo, except the petting zoo because it started to rain. No biggie since I'm sure we'll be going back again soon...

Sitting in anticipation about to enter the zoo.

Scoping out the vultures.

On the train to Wild Africa.

The Zoo Keepers showing off the animals. (This was the fox--which Riley said was her "most favorite animal")

Driving the jeep.

Feeding the giraffe!

Lincoln liked this little guy. When we put Riley up there to sit on him she screamed in fright and about jumped back into Ty's arms.

The Zoo with Friends!

So I'm way behind in posts, but last weekend we went to the Binder Park Zoo with our great friends, Nich, Jennie and Hailey. Nich got us tickets through his work (THANKS!!) so we made an evening of it. The girls had so much fun, riding in the wagon, walking and holding hands and petting the animals in the petting zoo. Then they came over for the rest of the night and we watched a movie (and when I say "we", I mean Ty and Nich). Jennie and I chatted and made the Amish Bread because she wanted a starter. Here are a few pictures of our fun-filled afternoon:

Riley and Hailey in their wagon! (It didn't last very long...)

Ri, Hailey, Ty and Nich petting the stinky goats.

Priceless.

Taking a ride on the cow.

Lincoln was so content strapped into his car seat in the stroller.

Group Shot.