Last year we went to Indiana to visit our besties, the Adams. We had so much fun last year that we decided to go again for our 12 year wedding anniversary. These awesome people are the reasons for our visit to Indiana:
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| Aunt Lindsay |
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| Uncle Brandt |
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| Hailey |
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| Brianna |
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| Brandon and Sammy |
Day 1: Triathlon & Ruth's Chris
Your Dad and Uncle Brandt signed up to do a triathlon together. It was one of the hottest days in Indiana, and the triathlon started at 4 in the afternoon, but they pushed through it.
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| Waiting in line for their turn to swim |
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| Daddy doing the breaststroke |
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| Brandt freestyling |
The next event was the bicycle ride. Unfortunately, Dad got a flat tire after the first lap and had to ditch his bike. He was a champ and still finished the event even with the setback.
The last event was the running, where Dad ran a 5K. As I stated before, it was a hot day, and I was sweating just watching.
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| This is one of my favorite pictures. Brandt getting ready to slap Dad's butt for a job well done. |
After the triathlon, we went home, took a shower, and headed out for our anniversary dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Lindsay and I had never been there, but everyone has told me how delicious the steak is. I was so hungry and ready to sink my teeth into a juicy steak.
Day 2: Indy 500
Can you believe we did all that in just one day? The next day was our actual anniversary, and we went to the Indy 500, courtesy of Brandt and Lindsay. They bought us the tickets for our birthdays. Hailey was kind enough to babysit you and Charlie while your dad and I went to the race. I'm sure you had a great time playing with all the kids while we were gone.
Brandt also knows about the back roads, and he was able to get us a free parking space that was only about two miles from the stadium. (He said it was only a mile, but it was definitely more like two.) It didn't matter though because we got to walk with all of the other people going to the racetrack, and we were all pumped!
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| The boys had to carry the coolers all the way from the car to the stadium. I was glad to be a girl that day. |
These were the nice covered seats we had. Thanks Brandt for picking good seats! I don't think I could've stayed for the whole race if we were in the direct sunlight.
At the gate, they gave us these free sunglasses to wear in honor of a driver, Dan Wheldon, who died this year. They looked really silly, but it was a free souvenier.
This is what the stands looked like. Almost the entire stadium was filled with people. I felt sorry for all those saps sitting out in the sun.
Something funny that happened at the beginning of the race was the ridiculous number of songs they made us stand for. They started with "America the Beautiful," which was nice, and I proceeded to sit down. Then they told us to stand for another song, which I think was "Proud to be an American." Then we stood for the Indiana Anthem. And finally, we stood for the National Anthem sung my Martina McBride. There may have even been another song we stood for that I cannot remember. They all started to blend together after the first song.
They also said a prayer before the race. I guess I am used to the standard LDS prayer where they would ask to bless the safety of the drivers and the crew, etc., but this was completely unexpected. I felt like I was in a scene from Taladega Nights. The preacher kept praying for "The awesome, powerful engines" and then he would shout to the crowd, "Can I get an AMEN!?" The crowd would all shout, "AMEN." Some people were actually touched by this. The four of us were looking at each other and giggling uncomfortably from the irreverence of the prayer. Needless to say, it was awkward.
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| After the race, we went down to the track and took our picture. |
We walked back to the car and stopped at a tamale place that Guy Fiery named as one of the best places to get tamales. I personally liked the carne asada tacos better than the tamales, but they were delicioso as well.
Day 3: Breakfast & Splash Pad
Monday morning started with, as written on the itinerary, "The Crappy Ward Breakfast" with Brandt and Lindsay's ward. The breakfast was appropriately named. You were quite unhappy that morning, so Dad stayed home with you to let you work through your tantrum. Since it was Memorial Day, the ward decided to have a presentation in honor of our armed forces. The idea was nice, but there were several flaws. The breakfast/program began at 9am. We arrived at 9:15, and the program had already begun. The food was all cooked and sitting out on the tables during the 1 hour presentation. By the time it was done, all of the food was cold, and the children were restless. (Honestly, I was a pretty restless too. I couldn't hear anything they were saying, so I couldn't even enjoy the program.) The highlight of the breakfast was that Lindsay snagged me a scrumptious, homemade pastry stuffed with apple filling. It was totally worth the wait.
After the breakfast, we headed over to the splash pad, and the kids played in the water. I was sad that you missed it because I know you would have enjoyed it, but you were taking a much needed nap at that time.
Days 4 & 5: Chicago
Chicago!!! We rented a car and drove out to Chicago, which is about 3 hours away from Indianapolis. We stayed at the Hilton, and it was beautiful. It had a baby grande at the top of the staircase with a live pianist to greet us.
They also had a life-size version of one of my cow parade cows "Lucky Cow" out in the front lobby.
They had a skybox at the top of the tower where you could look out at the city. I am terrified of heights, and it took a lot of courage for me to step onto the skybox and also allow you and Charlie to. You were not afraid at all.
Since we were in Chicago, we stopped for some deep dish pizza. It was yummy, but I think I am more of a NY pizza kind of girl.
When we were in the pizza place, you just wanted to be outside walking around. You kept saying, "Outside, outside!" It was also past your bedtime, so after I finished my pizza I took you and Charlie back to the hotel and put you to bed. The adults stayed up and played cards and then went to bed.
The next morning we went to see the sights of Chicago.
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| Buckingham Fountain |
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| Side Note: This is the same fountain shown at the beginning of a show called "Married with Children." It was very popular when I was in high school. |
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| Hailey is an amazing artist. Maybe she'll go to school there someday. |
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| I know it's silly, but this was one of my favorite parts of Chicago. |
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| You could've stayed at this fountain all day. |
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| The Bean - I love the view of the city reflecting off of it. |
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| Which one is the real Lindsay? |
The next part of our trip was soooo cool! The Adams told us that we were going to a Cubs game, but what they didn't tell us was that the Cubs were playing against the Padres!!! As soon as I found out, I was kind of bummed that I hadn't brought any of my Padres gear. Then, they surprised us again by telling us that they had called your Nana and arranged for her to send us some Padres gear to wear at the game. It was so cool to be routing for the Padres at Wrigley Field. I thought that people would get really angry, but they were pretty nice about it.
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| The Adams routing for the Cubs |
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| Go Padres! |
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| You eventually took a nap on Daddy's lap. You were worn out from charming all the people around us. |
Brandt also told us that we had to have a Chicago hot dog at the ballpark. Well, I never object to a hot dog at the ballpark. (That's usually the only place I will eat them.) As he was going to pick up the dogs for us, I asked him to make sure mine had mustard and relish. He laughed and said, "No. You'll see." This is what he brought back:
The picture doesn't do the relish justice. It is a bright green color, so bright in fact that I think they add food coloring to it to make it greener. It was yummy and full of flavor.
On our way home we stopped by Navy Pier, but just to use the restroom. Maybe next time we go we can spend more time there.
Days 6 to 10: Around the House & Children's Museum
The rest of the visit was spent hanging around the house in addition to a visit to the Children's Museum. I hope someday we can get a Children's Museum in Yuma.
Daddy spent a lot of time playing the Wii.
We played cornhole (bean bag toss) outside.
Your Dad played with you while we were playing cornhole.
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| Sammy let you borrow her scooter. |
Your favorite thing to do was to jump on the trampoline. You loved to take one of the kids fingers and drag them outside saying, "jumping."
It was nice having your Daddy off of work to snuggle with too.
Our trip to the Children's Museum was just as fun as it was last year. You got to do more stuff though since you could walk around this time. Charlie liked it too. They had a Hot Wheels exhibit and a Legos Exhibit that wasn't there last year.
We all had so much fun at the Adams' house. Although we miss them terribly, it is nice to have an excuse to go and visit other places and have fun in a big city. They really went out of their way to make sure we had an amazing time while we were there. I hope some day you are as lucky as I am to have such great friends.
Love,
Mom
We're the lucky ones. We miss you!!!!
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