Sweet Corn!!!

If you know me, than you know how much I LOVE corn on the cob!!! 

I don't know if I blogged about us picking raspberries or not, but last week Bo and I took the kids to go pick raspberries at a local farm and we bought some fresh sweet corn there too. 

It was our first corn on the cob of the summer, and it was a hit!!  The kids gobbled it up.  Poor Carter has a REALLY loose front tooth, so he kind of ate it from the side of his mouth.  He was funny too, because he would lick all the butter off first. "Mom, it's the best part!"  I hear ya, kid.   Derrick couldn't quite figure out how to hold it and still get a good bite, so he came up with laying it down on his plate, gripping it on both ends, and then chomping on it against the plate.  He was so funny to watch.  Megan was dainty.  She only ate about half of hers because she didn't like getting her fingers too messy.  It was a successful item for dinner and has been requested again.  Now to find the time to head over to the farmers market.  I only buy corn fresh. I'm kinda snobby that way.  Farm girl, what can I say?

 

Lunch Bunch

Every Summer the surrounding towns host an even called Lunch Bunch.  It's free lunches for kids.  They also get free books. We like to go to the one in Danville because they also give out charms to the kids when they run laps around the park.  Carter has run MILES thanks to this program.  He is kind of burnt out of it now, but he loved it most of the time.   Megs wasn't too big of a fan of the running, but she sure loves the books.

So yeah, I took this picture to capture what we do every Tuesday in the summer.  Here's a pic of all my friends and their kids, with Megs standing up (back to me) in the middle.  I know I'll miss this next summer.

 

My Birthday Lunch

Every time I move, I cry my head off because I'm so sad to leave my amazing friends.  And then I move to a new place and make more amazing friends!  I'm so lucky.  So very lucky.

I have a REALLY good group of friends here, and honestly, the thought of possibly leaving them in a year already has me tearing up. 

Anyways, these wonderful friends of mine took me out to lunch for my birthday!  Thoughtful, wasn't it?  It made me feel so loved and special.  We enjoyed yummy food, great and hilarious conversations, and even had pie at the end!  I really love this group of girls.  They make my time here enjoyable.  They are what I love most about Indiana.  Here's to having another birthday!!

 

L to R:  Sarah Martin, Lindsay Dockter, Alli Louthain, Megan Armstrong, Amy Knowlton, Yours Truly, Lindsay Adams, Andrea Wachob, and Erika Pike.
Man I love those girls!

The Hendricks County Fair

If I find out something is free, you'd better believe my friends and I will be there!  hahaha.  It's true though....

So I had received a flyer from some Purdue University FFA club or whatever saying that they were going to put on these kids classes during the fair.  The classes were an hour long, and varied from day to day.  AND they were free. :) Not to mention that our county fair and parking is free too. Um, hello, who would pass this up?!

 I signed my kids up, and got my friends to sign theirs up too, for the Wednesday one because they were doing a Dairy lesson.  Basically they had a story read to them, they got milkshakes (the real reason I chose that class--lets be honest), they colored their own (free) sippy cups, and then they got to go see a calf.  Hey, it was an hour at the fair that I didn't have to be in control of.  You'd do it too. 

The kids loved the class, and still use their cups.  After the class we took the kids to the different barns to see the animals.  Derrick was in heaven.  HEAVEN.  It was funny because his arm was just skinny enough to reach into practically any cage, and he made sure he tested every cage so that he could pet even those animals that were trying their hardest to stay out of reach. :)  Carter had a good time too.  Megs...she pretty much just stuck by my side. (although, come to think of it in retrospect, that night she did end up throwing up, so maybe she was just sick--huh).  Of course the fair happened during the hottest week we have had this whole summer, so the kids were dying when we were out of the barns.  Shoot--I was dying.  We stuck it out though, saw those animals, played on the free kids activities and got prizes, and even watched a little bit of a horse show.  All in all, it was a success.  And don't worry, I kept my kids hydrated.  We got free water.  hahahahhahahaaaaa. I'm funny, admit it.  I really did make sure they drank a lot though. 

One more point scored for a fun summer activity!

 

 

Camping at the Indiana Dunes and Simming in Lake Michigan!

So back in June my friend, Danika Humphreys, and I were comparing our bucket lists of things we wanted to do before leaving Indiana (they are 3rd year EM residents too), and we both realized that visiting the Indiana Dunes and Lake Michigan was on our lists.  She had already made campsite reservations for the second week in July, and once I realized Bo had those same days off too, a party was born!

We headed up to the Dunes on the 9th of July and came home on the 11th.  We were wanting to stay at the State Park Campgrounds, but we couldn't get any campsites next to each other.  Danika found this backwoods campsite instead, and I'm so glad we went there!  It wasn't as organized a place as the State ones are, but it was very private and we had lots of space to ourselves.

The kids were in heaven there! They absolutely loved the whole trip.  Camping was fun.  We traded off on breakfasts, did KFC the first night since we were late getting there, and did tin foil dinners the other night.  We played, chatted, ate, and relaxed.  The best part about where we were, were the fireflies!!  They were EVERYWHERE.  They were so fun.  The kids had a blast catching them and watching them light up.  I remember at one point going into my tent and seeing like ten of them.  Carter had "thoughtfully" caught some for our tent so we could have light at night. :)  Thankfully they were super easy to catch and get out.  The fireflies were so pretty.  In the dark-dark they looked like smatterings of lightning everywhere.  Yeah, the kids spent hours playing with them, and I mean hours.  Derrick and Parker had a blast playing in the puddles and throwing things in the puddles.  Megan and Layna pretty much played "house" in the tents.  Girls.  I love them.  Carter and Luke caught fireflies, examined other bugs, and caught more fireflies.  Heaven, that's what it was. 

So on the 10th was the day we went to the beach.  We stayed there for about 6 to 7 hours.  The kids played and played and played.  Carter and Luke spent most of their time in the water.  Megan and Layna played mostly in the sand, and Derrick enjoyed having me make sand castles just so that he could immediately stomp them out. We seriously did just that for like 2 hours.

I made sure I had those kids layered in sunblock, so no one, but me of course, got burned!  I felt like that alone made for a successful day at the beach! :)  We had so much fun, but I did remember just why I'm glad I don't live in Galveston anymore.  Man I hate sand. It gets EVERYWHERE.  The worst was eating.  I almost gagged every time I started chewing sand.  bleh.  Kids didn't seem to notice.  The joys of childhood. :)

LATE that afternoon we headed back to the campsite to start dinner and rinse off.  After a good rinse off, the kids went back to playing house, playing with puddles, and catching bugs.  The adults relaxed.  It was a great evening, UNTIL Derrick accidently brushed his leg against the side of the fire pit....that had a good fire burning in it.  Oh my baby.  He got burned bad.  Really bad.  I thank my lucky stars that at least he didn't fall in!!  I can only say what a wonderful blessing it was to have 2 Emergency doctors there camping with me!  I knew that they would know what to do.  Bo inspected while Dan went and got bandages and antibiotic ointment and tape from his car.  Danika even had Tylenol.  I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't prepared at all.  I didn't even think to pack that stuff!  We got Derrick drugged up, bandaged up, and then he just rested in my lap before going to sleep early.  I am so sad that this happened to my baby (MAN that kid is accident prone!!!!), but I'm glad that it happened AFTER our trip to the beach and not the day before!

So yeah, after more s'mores and Dutch Oven chocolate cake, we all headed to bed.  We were all beat from a day in the sun. 

The next day we slept, ate a yummy breakfast, and then packed up and headed for home.  We were tired.  But hey! We got another item checked off the bucket list, and it was an absolutely WONDERFUL trip.  The weather was perfect, the food yummy, and the company was the best.  We love the Humphreys and our kids are just perfect for and with each other. 

Yeah for fun family trips!

 

 

 

Swimming Fun!

This summer has been crazy.  The weather has been wonderful for outdoor activities, such as hiking and parks, but it hasn't been warm enough that much to really swim a lot.  Right now it's like 75 degrees.  Perfect, unless you have kids who beg constantly to go swimming.  On one of the days when the weather was actually in the 80's, I took the kids to join up with some friends at their pool for some fun swimming time.

The kids love swimming. Megs and Carter will jump right in, and Derrick eventually warms up to the water about an hour into it. :)

 

 

Carter was swimming with this group of friends, until ,of course, I pulled out the camera.

Fourth of July

Our Fourth of July was one busy day!!  Bo was gone working all day, and knowing that if I stayed home, we wouldn't do anything, I packed up my kids and headed over to Carmel, IN to visit our good friends, the Adams.

We went to a parade that morning that the kids enjoyed, headed back to their house for a quick lunch, and then took the whole gang to the theater to see Despicable Me 2. 

After that we played for an hour or two at the Adams' house, and then the kids and I headed home, had some pizza for dinner while we waited for Bo to get off work, and then we joined up with our good friends, the Humphreys, to go see some fireworks that were hosted by a member of our ward.  And when I say fireworks, I mean FIREWORKS.  We're talking a good solid 45 min. at least of non stop HUGE fireworks.  Our whole ward was pretty much there and it made for a good party. :) 

Here are some pictures of the night.  Carter and Luke were in heaven trying to catch fireflies.  Megs and her friend Layna had fun playing with the glow in the dark jewelry, and Derrick enjoyed the marshmallows.  Derrick handled the fireworks wonderfully, as long as Bo's hand was over his face.  Megan didn't fare quite so well.  She pretty much cried most of the time.  In her defense, it was loud and we were close enough that the ashes were literally falling on us.