Summer Fun with the Saleiks!

Last week we had the pleasure of having 3 of Reese and Ryan's cousins stay with us for a few days. The Saleiks--Riley (almost 9!), Quinn (6), and Owen (2 1/2) came on Tuesday...just in time to join us for the Fishers Summer Concert!

The Motley Crew
Here I was trying to take a nice picture, and the two little ones wouldn't stop doing silly faces. It was too funny!

Since it was SO HOT all week, we took advantage of visiting the various sprinkler parks around town. On Wednesday we went to Dr. James Dillon Park in Noblesville, or "Dizzy Dillon Park" as Riley called it. It seems like every thing at that park spins around and makes you dizzy. :)

All of the kids loved the big spiderweb.

Reese, Riley, and Quinn loved this swing.

On Thursday we visited Billericay Park in Fishers, but I forgot my camera. They had fun splashing in the water with Reese and Ryan's other cousins, Grace and Clare. That afternoon we filled up the pool in our backyard and let them cool off some more. It was about all we could do outside!

By Friday it was time for them to head home. Their mom, Amy, and I planned on meeting halfway off of I-69. We were running ahead of schedule--until we got stopped due to a bad accident only a mile from our exit! Many cars were turning around in the median, but I was too scared to do that with 5 kids in the car--plus I was driving my mom and dad's new minivan. Knowing my luck, we'd be the ones to get stuck in the ditch, so I just stayed put in my lane. They eventually closed down the southbound lane as two lifeline helicopters had to land on the interstate. :(

We just kept waiting it out, thinking it would clear up any minute. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, we started moving. Thankfully the kids were wonderful. About an hour into our wait, I found half a bag of Skittles and divided them among the kids. They each got 4. :) Then I found one package of Smarties, so they each got 3. Shortly after that, I figured out how to work the DVD player, so life was good!

So even though this wasn't the way we wanted to end our trip, we still loved having our favorite northern cousins stay with us for a few days! We can't wait until next summer when we can do this all again...minus the stuck-in-traffic part. :)

Carly's Bouncin' Birthday Party!

Last Wednesday one of Reese's BFF's celebrated her 5th birthday at Bounce Planet. This was my first time at one of the indoor bounce places (yes, I've been so deprived!), and I would have to say I was rather impressed...and a little envious since we didn't have things like that when I was little. :)

The birthday girl!I caught them in a rare moment...sitting down!
Even Jen had to try out the slides with Jack and Carly. :)
We tried to get all of the kids lined up for a group shot. I thought for sure the person at the top would topple over, triggering a domino effect. Thank goodness that didn't happen!
Happy 5th Birthday, Carly!

Son Rock Kids Camp

This week we all went to camp...Son Rock Kids Camp, that is! That was the theme of Vacation Bible School this year at Grace Community Church where our good friends, the Powells and the Willetts, attend. Last year I volunteered there because it was the only VBS around that would take a child Ryan's age. We all loved it so much that I volunteered to help again this year so the kids could go again. :)

This year I was a shepherd for kids going into 2nd grade this fall. I thought that was very appropriate since that will be my new teaching position this fall as well. It was kind of a trial run for me to get an idea of what that age group is like. I must say--I really enjoyed the kids a lot!

Reese was with her good friend, Carly, in the Kindergarten class. She even had her same shepherd from last year--Miss Beth--whom we loved!! Another one of her good friends, Ella, was in the 4's class right across the hall. We picked her up on Friday and brought her with us that day.

Reese, Ryan, and Ella in front of the dock. (Unfortunately I zoomed in too much so you can't see the cute canoe and dock they created. They really go "overboard" with their decorations each year!")

Lots of love!

My favorite part each day is when we would all go to Worship together. I was lucky that even though I was in 2nd grade, I still had the same worship time as Reese and Ryan. Sometimes I'd sneak over to say "hi" and then give them a quick hug. One time I was taking one of my campers to the restroom and heard someone shout, "Mom!" across the auditorium. I looked over and saw Ryan standing up, waving frantically. It was too cute!

That's my girl--loving songs with hand motions! :)

Oops! She caught me taking pictures of her. :)
I loved this picture of Ryan with his hands in his pockets. :)

Friday night we went back for a cute little program. Here is the worship team with the 3rd-5th graders:
They then had the little kids come up and sing a few songs:

They also announced that they had raised about $4,000 this week for the kids in Guatemala. It was great to see our kids get excited about taking in money each day or gently used shoes to share with kids less fortunate than themselves. We can't wait to go back next year!

More Fun at Turkey Run!

This past weekend we headed to Turkey Run State Park. When Joel and I visited this park in March, we were certain that our kids would LOVE hiking here. We went to church on Saturday night so we could get up and go Sunday morning.

If you think Ryan had to go to the bathroom now, just wait until we got to the waterfall. :)

Once we crossed over the suspension bridge, it felt about 10 degrees cooler. As we walked through the "canyon," it seemed muggy and misty. It was almost eerie!

Reese was our fearless leader as usual!

The highlight of the trip was climbing the waterfall. I think the kids were shocked that we were letting them do something where they could get wet and/or dirty!

The water was freezing cold, but they didn't mind! I was a wimp and climbed up higher on the rocks to stay out of the water. I had brought flip-flops with me to wear in the water, but they would've been way too slippery for the mossy rocks.
Here you can tell how foggy it was.

I was walking along a ledge above the kids when I took this picture. Reese actually said, "This is the best place I've ever been!!" (I'm sure she was only referring to state parks because I'm almost 100% sure this couldn't top Disney!)

This little cove is called the Punch Bowl.

This is towards the end of our water trail. After this we did the not-so-fun part with lots of stairs. But the kids did a great job!

Ryan was a mess--his hands and legs were covered in mud. But that's a sign that he had fun!Reese is smiling, but she was in a lot of pain. Poor girl--she ended up with a really bad blister from hiking in her wet water shoes. :(

It was way past lunchtime--almost 1:30 p.m.--so we headed back to our car for a nice picnic lunch. We were going to go swimming at the outdoor pool but were able to talk the kids into heading home. We were all beat! I think it was a good decision considering both kids fell asleep within ten minutes of leaving the park. Whoo-hoo! All in all I would say it was another fun family excursion!

Happy Anniversary to You...and You...and You!

On Joel's side of the family, the three couples each celebrate anniversaries within two weeks of each other. So last year we got a babysitter for the kids and went out for a nice dinner at Cork 'n Cleaver in Fort Wayne. We decided it was so much fun that we should do it again this year!

The happy couples. :)
It was Doug and Marsha's actual anniversary that day (June 6th), and they were nice enough to let us join them for dinner. Not only that, but they paid. Thanks a lot!!

Amy and Brad celebrated their anniversary a week later on June 13th.
Our anniversary is today (June 16th).
One of my favorite things at Cork 'n Cleaver (besides the awesome salad bar!) is the Mud Pie each couple had for dessert. It is just heavenly...the mocha-flavored ice cream set on a chocolate cookie crust, then covered in a thick layer of hot fudge and garnished with whipped cream and almonds...YUMMY!!!!

Since it's kind of hard to top that night, we planned on going to the outdoor Dave 'n Rae concert tonight in Fishers and getting Mark Pi's Chinese take out. The concert has been rained out, but we'll still get our Chinese food and have ice cream later on...though it's no Mud Pie! ;)

Our Visit to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo

As many of you know, Joel and I love to do little road trips and explore new places. Of course we also love to return to places we've visited many times before, one being the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. I have vague memories of this zo0 from when I was little. Since my family is from northwest of Ft. Wayne, we would visit every now and then. I mainly remember "driving" a Jeep on a track through the African Veldt. The Jeep ride has come and gone but one thing is certain: It is still my favorite zoo.

This past weekend we visited the zoo with Doug and Marsha. It was actually the grand opening of the new African Veldt, a $9+ million renovation that included replacing the Jeep ride with something called the Sky Safari, where you are seated in something like a ski lift and get an aerial view of the African Veldt. You can also walk along the perimeter of the Veldt to see the animals up close and personal.

Checking out the zebras and wildebeests.

This area reminded me of Disney World. There was actually a site that looked like people had been camping near an African village.

Here is a picture of my happy and not-so-happy campers. :)

Ryan loved the cot and the mosquito netting!

In the "village," the whole family got into making music.

There is a great big platform where you can help feed the giraffes. If you know me, you know I was not up there feeding the animals. But I didn't mind snapping pictures of other people doing it! This picture said it all to me:

Girl, they do not pay you enough. :)

This leopard was very active, as were most of the animals we saw.

All Reese had been talking about was riding a pony. So Reese rode a pony named Sandy and Ryan rode a pony named Candy.

Ryan said during his ride, "Can we buy Candy?"

Joel's favorite part is the Rainforest exhibit, where they have two great big Orangutans.
They are just too fun to watch!

This animal loved playing with its tail. I'm sure that never gets old!

The kids always love this tree house just for kids. We always act like we're going to leave them there. They never really seem to care, now that I think about it... :)

This is a really sweet picture because it actually looks like my kids are having fun together. Though I also love it because it looks like Reese has a choke hold on the Komodo dragon. Nice, Reese.

We had to skip the Australian Adventure on this trip because it was time to head back for lunch. But first we stopped by the Indiana Family Farm to put these kids to work. Hey--we don't actually feed them for free. :)

Both kids loved brushing the goats' fur.

This area always seems so picturesque--just like what I picture an Indiana farm to look like.

After our visit on Saturday, I wasn't surprised to hear that the zoo has been named one of the top ten zoos by Parents Magazine. It really is a perfect zoo to visit with kids. For one, there is TONS of shade--that is a big bonus to me in the summer time. Also, there is a lot to see at a kid's level. This doesn't matter much anymore, but I have always been frustrated when you have a kid in a stroller and they cannot see anything because a wood fence is obstructing his/her view.

So if you're looking for a good getaway this summer, I would definitely recommend the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo. And if you have any good family-friendly recommendations, please feel free to let us know. We're always looking for new places to explore!

Great Greats!

We had a fun-filled weekend in Ft. Wayne and have a lot to blog about over the next couple of days. But first I wanted to post this picture from Friday night. We stopped in Decatur to visit Great-Grandma Sheets and take her out for dinner. In return, she baked her delicious apple crisp dessert for us. (A very good trade, in my opinion!)

We also got to visit with Great-Grandma Worthington today, though unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. The kids loved playing with all of her bears and entertaining us with their somersaults and flips. We had such a nice visit with both great-grandmas and hope to see them again very soon!