I Spy Bickels!

We recently participated in the filming of the vlog "Doing Indy" in their profile of the Rhythm Discovery Center downtown.  Check it out and play "spot the Bickels"!  It's fun!


Click the link below or go to youtube.com and search for "rhythm discovery center".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buWH0fqmcWw

Wait, what color is it?

I have to get back into the blogging habit!  I try to use this blog as a family diary too and it seems we won't have anything to remember about this wild and crazy summer, except a few pictures!

So, what have we been doing?  Well, tons!  The summary:

• Kickball.  Henry's first foray into organized sports was humorous, to say the least.  Most of the games were spent with the coach and high school helpers yelling for Henry to go here or there.  He didn't understand teams moving from kicking to the outfield.  He didn't understand base running.  He kept trying to kick the ball two or three times when it was rolled to him.  At one point he just went up to a high school helper and said, "I just don't know where I'm supposed to be."
• Down and Dirty Camp.  William had a filthy good time at day camp at Eagle Creek Park.  He came home with something gross either on his clothes, in his shoes, or as a "project" they had done.  Henry also attended a shorter/cleaner version of camp.  Henry did come home with a mud mustache one day.  But William took the cake for gross bags of muddy clothes that came home most days.  And drying sneakers in the sun only works if it doesn't rain overnight.  Just a tip.
• Best Henry quote.  I found something sticky on the floor in the kitchen.  I yelled out, "Who left this sticky mess and didn't clean it or tell me they needed help cleaning it?"  Henry replied, "It wasn't me...wait, what color is it?"
• Best Jack quote (not for the delicate or girly among you).  We took Henry into the bathroom at a store and he wasn't able to go.  I told him he just wasn't ready to go yet.  Jack said, "Henry, you should try using your penis."  
• Best William quote.  Every time I ponder out loud what we should have for lunch/dinner/snack he answers, "chocolate cake."  He is so my child.
• Unintentional corn.  As Luke says, "How Hoosier are we?  We grow corn without even trying!"  Yes, we have a stalk of corn growing on the side of our deck.  Our best guess is that a squirrel transported a kernel of the squirrel corn we leave out for them.  So, we actually have a fully formed stalk of corn with an ear growing on it.  I'll harvest it in the fall and feed it to the squirrel.  After all, he planted it.
• Driving highs and lows.  The summer started with me bumping my friend's garage door when I was coming to pick up Henry from a play date.  Note to self:  Do not try to hand something to kid in the backseat when you haven't put the car in park.  That was a costly mistake, as we had to replace the entire garage door.  Did you know a mini-van bumper is the same height as a garage door joint between the first and second panels?  And you can't replace just a couple panels on a 15 year old discontinued door?  That's just helpful info for everyone.  On the plus side, my kids are troopers when it comes to long car trips.  We had a few rough patches, but they traveled to Mulberry, Michigan, Baltimore, and Cape Cod with few complaints or incidents.
• Michigan Adventures.  On our annual Michigan trip we went to Michigan Adventure's theme park.  William proved quite the dare devil!  We had no idea the kid feels the need for speed.  He was game to go on all the roller coasters and water slides his older cousins did.  Luckily Luke took him on these things.  If it was up to me, he'd be riding the carousel all day.
• Cape Cod creepy crawlies.  On our Cape Cod trip we did a lot of fun stuff, but I think the boys enjoyed an afternoon at the beach with my cousin Owen the most.  They spent the time digging up and catching crabs and snails.  Yuck.  
• Sophisticated taste.  William and Jack discovered the high life and ate a lobster, cooked to perfection by my Grandpa.  Jack also ate crabs in Baltimore.  Henry sustained himself almost entirely on hot dogs the entire summer.  I took every chance on our east coast trip to eat as much seafood as possible.
• How do you do this all day?  This is the theme of those who are lucky enough to spend a few hours with all my boys at once.  I think all of my cousins/aunts/uncles/nieces/in-laws asked me this at least once this summer.  I have to say, the real question is how do I NOT do it, now that they are in school.  I am so used to the pace and noise of my children, I'm having a heck of a time slowing down.
• Sweltering State Fair.  Oppressive heat has been a trend all summer too.  It has actually kept us inside much more than I would have wanted this summer.  But nothing keeps me from the Indiana State Fair.  Heck, I brought Jack when he was a month old!  But our visit this year was abbreviated because of the heat.  With heat indexes in the triple digits and humidity that made it hard to catch your breath, we skipped some of our traditional stops and made the most of indoor exhibits!
• Children's Museum, Zoo, Monkey Joe's, beaches, parks, Chuck E. Cheese, Tom Chapin Concert, library summer programs, swimming lessons, lunches at the high school, play dates, Chicago anniversary trip, water balloons, slip and slide, fireworks, sparklers, and on and on and on.  We truly had a wonderful summer filled with lots of activities, trips, and memories.  It was great to visit with so much family this summer as well.  I think we jammed as much as we possibly could into this one.  So, I'm calling it.  Game over.  Back to real life.

Summer & Back to School

Well, I've ignored the blog all summer, but it is back to business, as today is the first day of school for William and Henry.  And yes, I've been crying all morning.  Who had the big idea of letting our kids grow up?  It is an awful plan!  I'll get to stories later, but I wanted to post some more pictures from birthdays this summer and the official first day of school pictures (the last three above).  Henry was very proud of his backpack, so it had to be photographed too.  And Jack needed to have a picture taken in his new monkey sweatshirt (thanks Grandma & Grandpa!).  My little men just aren't so little anymore!