A Weekend Adventure

To continue our annual month-long celebration of McKinley's birthday, we headed to French Lick for the weekend. We all had a total blast at the city's water park and hotel Big Splash Adventure. Well, a blast except for the rash of flies that seemed to be at every eatery in the city. Yuck.

We swam, we slid (okay, well, I didn't...not a good idea to go peeling down a giant 3 story slide while pregnant...), we played in the outdoor pool and went around on the lazy river 3,413 times. Honest. It was awesome. We broke only to find fly-free food or to sleep, visit the historic resorts of West Baden and French Lick, or to hit the nearby train museum.

We had one little incident where some teens were literally making waves in the lazy river and got it going so hard that they knocked McKinley right off his raft. He was fine, but I was hot. When I was done with those little stinkers they left! I remember being "young" like that, but I would like to think I didn't act like that. Aside from that brief mishap the trip was super fun. And we even made a stop a "McKinley's Market" in Oaktown...which is where my Grandfather (Clarence McKinley Crecelius, McKinley's namesake) was born! A great little escape on a long weekend. I think the photos say it all!

Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!

Lynn

Vacay to the 'Lou

We just got home last night from our fun trip with the Semmler Family to St. Louis. It was a whirlwind tour of the city (kind of literally, thanks to OnStar...) and most of it we got to see through the eyes of two almost-three-year-olds! In three short days we visited Grant's Farm, The St. Louis Zoo, The Arch, The Magic House Children's Museum, had a fun-in-the-pool night, dinner al fresco with McKinley announcing that he'd poopied on the potty and lots of other wonderful memories. I especially love the memories of Rick curbing their car not once, but TWICE with all of us inside. I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. In his defense, the curbs DID appear flat...kind of.
Our hotel stay was great, the kids were wonderful (and utterly adorable, especially when getting their faces painted...so cute) and the city did not disappoint. We love St. Louis and have visited often over the course of our years together, this trip was definitely more focused on McKinley & Savannah but so worth it! I think at some point, each of us got to step back in time a bit to relax and remember what it was like to be a child. We even got to get our hands in on all the fun!

What a great trip and wonderful time with such good friends! Can't wait to do it again!
Lynn

Little Getaways and Big Milestones

Just got back from those monthly trips to Indy that we've been doing for over a year now. We're close to being done...two more months and Cary's juror days are o.v.e.r.

This time, while Cary worked McKinley and Mommy played! We had so much fun in the pool at the hotel - the first day that is all we did all day long! McKinley loves to be in the water, so we swam and kicked on his little aligator kick board, then he jumped into my arms from the side of the pool - he loved it. Every few minutes we would watch a big airplane coming in for a landing - seriously a close up view. McKinley was obsessed. He's say, 'Here comes, Mommy!!!' when we'd hear the engine roar.

The best part of THAT day happened while we watched for one of these planes to come in. McKinley and I were counting down until we'd see another plane when out of no where he started counting to 10...on his own...unprompted by me. I nearly swallowed the pool. Yuck, but worth it.

On our last day it rained...and rained...and rained. So, we packed up where Cary dropped us off at Chase Tower to eat at the Bistro -it was VERY cool and McKinley really enjoyed watching all the buses. There were a LOT of buses.

Later we headed off for the Children's Museum where we stood in lines all day long. Never have I seen this place so flipping packed! The construction is done and it's unreal. The convenience is outstanding, I'm seriously impressed. Doctors offices should be run like this. Oh wait...my Mom's is! lol

Anyway, we rounded the corner and McKinley let out this loud giggle - he knew exactly where he was. Unfortunately, once again we had to wait in line to go into the playscape, but when we did McKinley went into action. He was everywhere, but he did spent a lot of time at this giant wooden box that has doors (surprise --- doors!) and gobs of foam blocks to shove inside. So that's what he did...in and out with the blocks. Until this precious Brittish Boy came up to McKinley and took a block. The Dad was not happy and immediately insisted he return the block. I told him it was okay and that McKinley was just throwing them. The young boy came right up to me and said *insert cute, thick Brittish accent* "Excuuuse me, might I play with your son's blooocks as well? We'd like to put them on the traaaaain."
I melted.

At that moment if there'd been a block on the ceiling I would have gotten it for this sweet, polite child with the darling accent.

He kept it up too...he interacted with McKinley, crawling in and out of the giant box, swapping blooocks and telling me stories of his train loading adventures. He's say, 'Ohhh! This would fit lovely on the traaaain.' I was mezmerized. This sweet family, oh, they were so polite and had the best accents! I wanted to invite them to dinner with my family but thought it perhaps a bit stalker-ish.

I'll never forget that little Brittish boy and his blooocks. Cute.

So, on with the play! McKinley, who had been equally as entranced with the Brittish boy, eventually moved on to other great places; the water table (where he only wanted to dunk his hands and then go hit the button on the hand dryer), the sand table (where he thought it might be fun to jam his rake into the sand and then stick it in his mouth real fast - ugh), the lawnmower (where I served as guardian of the public's feet - you are all very welcome), coloring (where we made rubbings of a carousel horse) and loads of sliding, climbing, scooting and rolling.

I finally persueded McKinley away from the playscape - reluctantly, of course - to come with me to see those pretty horsies again. I even promised an elevator ride - so much for trying to fit in extra walking, my kid LOVES the elevator, especially those big, bright buttons.

We got up to the carousel and my heart sank...we had to pick up Cary soon and the LINE was FIFTEEN minutes long. I didn't care, we have to do this, it's OUR tradition! So, I got a token and prayed the line would move quickly...and it did! We were on there in no time! McKinley picked out his own horse this time, I strapped him in and off we went! He was even bold enough to gently push my protective arm away as if to say, "I got it Mom. I'm a big boy now." Little did he know, my arm was still there, grazing his back. hee hee hee

We had a great time on this trip, those Children's Museum visits are so much fun. Can't say enough about it!

Good times!

Lynn

The outdoorsey type

I can't believe I'm just now posting this...our super-fun trip was almost two weeks ago! But seeing as how we have been crazy busy, well...I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

On Sunday (Sept. 21st), Cary and I grabbed the boy and a bunch of stuff (jogging stroller, cooler, sneakers, sunscreen & bug spray) and headed out to McCormick's Creek State Park about 45 minutes from home. This RARE picture of the three of us, not taken self-portrait style shows a 'glowy' Mommy & Daddy with a sleepy baby boy in a sling. This was at the END of the day, incase you couldn't guess. hahaha Good times!

On the way, we stopped at a great farmstand and got some Indiana peaches and some GORGEOUS green tomatoes - guess what we had for dinner? McKinley's favorite was the little tiny banana the owner gave him, 'just because he was a good boy'. He sunk his chompers into that little bitty banana and it was gone in a flash!

At the big park, we had a lovely picnic lunch ala nearby Subway (didn't want to pack sammies and have them get soggy on the ride), enjoyed an invigorating swing on the sweet little 'old school' play ground (yes, that includes Mommy & Daddy) and even took on a long hike.

We ended the day with a jaunt down to the Park's Falls, which aren't Niagra or anything, but they're pretty nice for the Hoosier State - uh...they were a tad dry. It had been a while since we'd had a good rain.

By the time we were finished we were all exhausted - McKinley especially, he had so many things to see and learn!

It was a nice way to spend the final Sunday of the Summer.

Just to update...

McKinley is having a fabulous time in Wee Read every week. He's quite the ham and the socialite. Last week ALL KINDS of girls were FLOCKING to him. Flocking, I tell you! Daddy was so proud! Must have been the singing. My son is already serenading the ladies. Oh lordy.

I'm still in Physical Therapy for 'the neck' from 'the wreck'. I'm seeing some results but still in a fair amount of pain. Here's hoping that goes away someday.

Cary's keeping up with all of our comings and goings like a champ. He's happy to see the fall weather and not melt into a puddle anymore. Maybe he can get in some more great autumn golf!

Lynn

Yahoo for date night!

Cary and I ventured to Indy last Saturday to see one of our favorite musicians, John Mayer. Mom and I each bought a ticket for Cary's Father's Day present, so it was a win-win situation for us. I got a date with my hubby and Mom got a date with her precious Grandson!

Cary and I have been John Mayer fans almost as long as we've been Dave Matthews Band fans...well, I guess that's probably not true. We've been fans of DMB since we were in high school, John Mayer would still have been in high school too, he's the same age as we are, which makes him all the more cooler in my book. Anyway, whatever...point is, we love him. I'm absolutely obsessed with his 3rd studio album - every song is just awesome!!! My iPod is full of his stuff and I can never pick which song I want to hear. I fondly remember the day that Cary surprised me with a really cool new cell phone...this is LONG before we were even engaged! He also surprised me by picking the ringtone..."Your Body is a Wonderland", JM's first hit. I caught a lot of flack for that at work...I think my co-workers thought I had a pretty big ego, but I don't. I'm just a John fan!

So, that being said, can we just talk about how great the concert was?! OMG. We had the best seats, we were SO CLOSE! Not close enough to catch one of his guitar picks, or get an autograph (as he so graciously did at the very end...how COOL is he?), but we were very content. He sang almost everything we wanted to hear, he jammed with his band in that bluesy way of his, talked to the audience and even bragged about seeing Indianapolis' fireworks - oh...and making his own, in his hotel room I might add. Cary swears that's a reference to his very famous girlfriend, another favorite of ours.

Speaking of JM's girlfriend, humor me here. Never in my life have I ever uttered the words, "I just got to see Jennifer Aniston's boyfriend" until Saturday night. How cool is that? I know, I know, I'm a dork...and a long time FRIENDS fan.

So, get this: cameras are now allowed in concerts. Guess they finally gave it up. They all know we sneak 'em in every time, especially now that everyone has a camera on their cell phones. Gone are the days where I stuck my little crappy camera in my pants/shorts/shirt praying that no one would strip search me and stick a knife in my film, as was the big, scary rumor back in the day. I was always the kamikaze of our group, stating that I was taking it in anyway! lol This was also WAAAAAAY back when we always bought lawn seats only, please. So you know you couldn't even tell who was on stage in my pictures because what high schooler actually had ZOOM on their crappy cameras in the mid to late 90's? FUNNY!

This time it was simply posted, 'No Professional Cameras'. Well, great! However, that left me seriously out of luck. We lovingly use my Dad's camera from his dabbling in professional photography, so there was NO way I was going to get in with that hum-dinger. The only thing I have is another goofy self-portrait, taken in the car of me and Cary to share.

Oh - KUDOS to the genius engineer who finally figured out a completely foolproof way to get people the heck outta the Music Center. We waited THREE MINUTES, as opposed to the THREE HOURS we have previously waited to get out onto the interstate. Awesome job, Noblesville.

What a great night!!!

Little Getaways

Well, I'm happy to report that the Vernon Family has survived TWO weekend getaways! The second weekend we did it without help!

Two weeks ago Cary and I made our annual trek to Noblesville to see Dave Matthews Band in concert. This is a very special trip that we have shared together since we began dating in 1999, this year was no exception, we knew despite recently giving birth that it was important to us to attend as usual. Thankfully, Mom offered to come with us and stay with McKinley while we lived it up at Deer Creek (I just can't call it Verizon Wireless Music Center-it loses the personal touch). We booked a beautiful hotel suite and headed off!

The evening was great, the concert was one of our top 5, for sure and Nonna (Italian for Grandmother) and McKinley had a wonderful evening of bonding. We even did a little shopping the following day while in Indianapolis-at Babies R Us, of course!

That went so well that Cary and I decided to take full advantage of the 3-day Labor Day weekend and got outta Dodge. We stayed in Columbus for the weekend and shopped our heads off at Edinburgh Outlets (one of our favorite destinations!). We were both a little apprehensive about going overnight, in a hotel by ourselves, but our little monkey was an angel. Well...almost an angel. He did decide to try to stay awake until almost 3a.m., God forbid he miss anything! He'd fall asleep and then wake himself back up and repeat the process until he gave up-THEN he slept like a little, tiny log. It was funny.

I'm so glad that we took the opportunity and got away for a weekend. This new parenting stuff is a 24/7 job! LOL, duh...we knew that. Cary and I are so used to spontaneously going on an adventure and we don't want to lose that quality in our relationship, I'm so proud that we actually did the whole overnight thing already! Not to even mention the crazy shopping!!!! We cleaned out Carter's!!!

Oh, yeah...and now Cary's THIRTY!!!! Have I mentioned that? Just teasing, I just cannot believe we are there already. Here is a pic of Daddy and McKinley on Daddy's special day!

Until next time...

Lynn