Bug Fest 2010

Ryan takes the girls to Bug Fest at Southeastway Park every year. I went for the first time last year. And, Uncle Moose, Aunt Kari, Eli & Isaac joined us this year. It was a really hot day, but we still had lots of fun. First up, bed bugs...

Below are the crazy kids letting a tarantula crawl on them

Ryan let it crawl on him too - he doesn't look very tough in this picture

I don't know what I love more, the look of fear on Aunt Kari's face, or the look of concern on Lainey's face in the background

Here's a better view of what those crazy people let crawl on them

Now, for a more civilized activity... eating crickets

Or, if you prefer, cricket suckers - YUM!

Indiana State Fair

We went to the State Fair back in August and had lots of fun. The girls got to ride ponies

And cross a rope bridge

Overall, it wasn't too crowded and we had a really fun time.

Alyssa's Pitching Debut

First Days of School

Here's Alyssa waiting for the bus on her first day of the 2nd grade. She waited for 40 minutes, but the bus never came. It didn't seem to bother her any - here she is all smiles. By the way, we got the bus situation all straightened out, and she's been riding it every day since.

Here's Lainey on her first day of pre-K:

She wasn't shy at all, and walked right into school like a pro.

The Zoo with the Beaumonts

The girls and I hadn't been to the zoo in a while, so we were excited to see the cheetahs and spend some quality time with Aunt Tracy & the Beaumont kids.

Unfortunately, this is the best pic I got of Kylie - she wanted to see the cheetahs so bad she wouldn't stay still long enough for me to take a picture!

Lauren better watch out, she's in danger of losing her spot as Lainey's favorite cousin to Ethan :)

Alyssa & Ethan were calling "here kitty, kitty" to get the cheetahs to look at us in this picture:

Chicago

The girls and I had a girls weekend and went to Chicago a couple weeks ago. First stop was Uncle Brett & Aunt Shawna's house. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. It was hard to get a good picture of the four of them together - but I thought this one turned out pretty well.

The next stop was Aunt Beth's. We went to a fun museum (once we finally went to the right one), a fun movie in the park (one we finally went to the right park), and one of the best breakfasts I've ever had - bread pudding french toast = yum!!!

Yes, the highlight of the museum for the girls was posing next to fake cow poo

Their daddy would be proud - riding a John Deere:

I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh. I'm here to amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?

Thanks to everyone for their hospitality - we had a great trip!

Swim Lessons

The girls both took swim lessons at the High School this summer. On the last day they got the chance to jump off the diving board. I can't believe Lainey jumped off 3 times - and loved it! She's already asking me when she can jump off the diving board again.

Alyssa looked like a pro jumping off. I'm just surprised she didn't do any giant cannonballs!