Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

I know I look like a total tourist, but I love taking pictures of signs around Indianapolis, lately on Massachusetts Avenue, my new favorite place in Indy. I discovered it last Saturday, and I've been there four times since then. And maybe ate three a couple cupcakes this week.

Several years ago this trail was put into the city so you can bike or walk through the city as you learn about its history. If I lived here, I would definitely have to get a bike.

You can rent these bikes to ride through the city. As I was taking this picture I was reading about renting them, and they are really cheap. Might have to try it one Sunday when Daniel has the brats.

Love, love, love this place. It's a used book store. I've been with the kids a couple times, and that's a complete mess, but today I got to go alone. It was nice...I didn't have to chase a toddler around, peeling chess pieces out of his chubby hands.

I've been reading about how cool and hip this neighborhood is, so we went one morning. I must have gone to the non-hip section. I wasn't impressed. Definitely be going back to see what I'm missing.

I'm not going to fit through the door of this place if I don't stop going. The kids and I have eaten sampled Strawberry Shortcake, Dreamsicle, Razzmatazz, and chocolate (called Happy Birthday to Me).

I finally went into this little treasure today. It's a million chocolate truffles behind glass that they actually expect you to choose from. We won't tell Daniel that I spent a ridiculous amount of money on four truffles and ate them all myself.

And a little video to get you through the day. This is Ann Dancing, a sculpture on Massachusetts Ave. Avery and Ann have become good friends and love to dance together.

Exploring Indy and beyond

We are about halfway through our Midwest journey, and I am in full-on tourist mode. I want to cram as much as I can into these next few weeks. That means we can't go downtown to the candy store everyday...bummer. Saturday I took the kids to Massachusetts Avenue which is this hip, trendy neighborhood in downtown Indy. We walked down to this bookstore called Indy Reads Books, a cute little used bookstore. We bought a ton of $1 kids books. On the way back we saw a free firefighter museum, so we took a little peek. It was pretty neat.

We were showing support for our team on Saturday. Poor Avery was channeling Cindy Brady with her too short dress. Unless she was standing completely still, you could see her bloomers. Oops.

I kept seeing these on the street, and luckily this one was right by the van so I could get a picture. It's called Handlebar Indy, and people sit on those stools and pedal through town while drinking. Does not sound appealing...I'd throw up by the end.

Sunday was a beautiful day, and Daniel was off so we got out. We headed to Butler University. I wanted to see Hinkle Fieldhouse. The last scene of Hoosiers was filmed there. We couldn't get inside, but we walked around a little.

 

 

Then we headed over to the Indianapolis Museum of Art which has this really cool 100-Acre Park. I saw an ad in a magazine that they were having Art in the Park. When we got there, there was this huge sculpture that the kids had fun playing on.

 

 

On our way to the art project we saw tons of these hammocks. Avery had fun on them. Colt was a little spastic on them. I don't do hammocks...they make me sick.

 

 

We finally found the art in this cool glass building in the middle of the woods. They were making megaphones. Daniel was not impressed.

 

 

 

On our way out we saw these big white rocks. We were about to pass them by when Daniel realized what they were. Then we had to stop and play.

 

It's a big skeleton!

 

 

 







We topped our morning off with lunch at the Hard Rock Café then went home to rest and watch some football. Yay Colts!

Today the kids and I went to Bloomington. This is where Indiana University is but more importantly it is the setting of my favorite Karen Kingsbury books. It is a cute little college town with lots to do. We had pizza and ice cream and walked around. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a good time.

 

Pinterest is my new travel buddy, and I found this cute little place on it. Avery wanted M&Ms, so I got her and Colt vanilla with M&Ms and I got Grasshopper ice cream. It was super yummy.

 

 

We've had a fun past few days, and I can't wait to check more things off my Indiana bucket list!

Simply...Extraordinary

Last Saturday my family had something big to celebrate...Memaw's 90th birthday! My mom had the great idea of giving her a surprise party. Luckily the kids and I were able to be there to celebrate this amazing milestone.

Memaw is not only the best grandmother, she is the best mother, great-grandmother, sister, friend, and wife. She is the most generous and selfless person I know. She has such a sweet nature, but is also hilarious. I got to see some of her wedding pictures from 1949 and she was a knock out! I love to ask her questions about her childhood and married life. She has some great stories. I could only hope to live a life as full as hers is.

 We had the surprise party at my mom's church. It was a sit down lunch and my brother-in-law Billy smoked a butt. He sure smokes a good butt. My job was cupcakes, and I used my friend's cricut to make these toppers. I also made a banner, but I didn't get a picture...boo. Mom went to get Memaw, and boy was she surprised. I think her exact words were, "I'm going to kill somebody." Before lunch got started I had the honor of saying a few words about my special grandmother. Memaw started crying before I even started, so, of course, I started crying. I ugly cried through the whole thing. Then her sweet friend Mr. Wayne said the nicest blessing over the food. Then we ate til we couldn't eat anymore.

Memaw blowing out her candles.

 

 

 

Memaw's only living sibling (she was one of nine), Alice, was able to visit from Memphis. It had been several years since they had seen each other, and this was such a sweet reunion. We had fun catching up, and I don't know how many hours they spent just talking over the weekend.

 

 

 

Colty found the cocoons, and grabbed one for each hand. I think he just licked the powdered sugar off. Mr. Wayne thought this was hilarious, but not enough so that he would take him off my hands.

 

 

Remember how I said I got to look at Memaw and Graddaddy's wedding pictures? I couldn't help myself. I have to share this picture of my beautiful grandmother in 1949 when she was 25 years old.

 

 

Unfortunately, the skinny gene didn't pass on to my generation.

 

 

 

Memaw and Granddaddy went to Memphis on their honeymoon and stayed at the Peabody Hotel. Memaw said it was before they had the ducks. They stayed two nights, and they paid...wait for it...$8 a night! Too funny! They also made a phone call for ten cents.

 

 

 

This is what I made for Memaw's gift. I found this great map of Mississippi at a gas station in Tennessee or Kentucky. It has the tiny towns she was born and grew up in, Four Mile and Isola. I put a heart on Greenville where she and Granddaddy lived and raised their family. I put pearls on other cities in MS important to her.

 

What a wonderful weekend celebrating a wonderful life that is still going strong at 90! Memaw has been such a blessing to me, and I couldn't ask for a better grandmother. 









Meme comes to visit

Last Wednesday my mom flew into Indianapolis. She was nervous about flying by herself, and I was nervous about finding the airport and picking her up, but we both did it! We took her downtown to see the city, and of course to visit Rocket Fizz. We had fun walking around showing Meme the sights.

We had to let the kids get out some energy at the stairs of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Can't believe I got Colt to sit still.

Avery and me at the state capitol. We looked like such tourists trying to get this picture. Lucas Oil Stadium is only a few blocks down from here. I love how close everything is.

On Thursday I made the kids get up early for the first time in months. But it was for a good reason...we were going to Chicago for the day! As we were nearing the city it started pouring. My mom and I were calling people to look at the radar. It looked like we would have a few dry hours to explore. We started at Navy Pier, but it was a bust. It was under construction and there wasn't anything to do. So we found a parking garage in the Loop and just stayed in that area. We ate pizza at Giordano's in the Loop. This is the second time I've been there, and it is amazing deep dish pizza. I highly recommend it.

 

Luckily, fries were on the menu.

 

I did some researching on Pinterest before we came, and I found Magnolia Bakery. They are based out of New York, and I know I've heard of it from some TV show sometime. Good decision....it was so yummy. We got a couple cupcakes and my mom and I split some banana pudding.

 

 

 

 

After all that food, we needed to let the kids run off some energy. We went to Millennium Park and found the bean sculpture. The kids were amazed by it. As were all the other tourists. I watched a teenager take selfies in front of the bean for a good fifteen minutes.

 



 

 

 

 

The weather held off pretty good while we were there. When we got to Chicago we bought a couple of umbrellas and I found out quickly why it's called the Windy City.

 

 





We did some souvenir shopping and were all tired, so we decided to head home. We didn't do everything on our list, but we still had a blast.

 

 

On Friday my mom was a trooper and made the trek from Indianapolis to Birmingham with me and the kids. It was a challenge, but we made it! Now for a fun week in Birmingham getting to catch up with friends and celebrating LOTS of birthdays!