Month of June Part 3: Indiana Vacation!!

Now for the second part of our summer vacation!  We visited Joseph's parents in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Unfortunately the weather was rainy the entire time we were there.  However, that gave us a lot of down time to kick back, relax, sleep in (I know...can you believe it??!), and hang out with Joseph's parents at their house.

After our delayed flight, and then the flight itself, we
were all pretty hungry by the time we touched down.
We stopped by a Cracker Barrel on the way back
to Joseph's parents' house, and I was in hog heaven!!
I got my favorite dish which is the Old Timer's Breakfast
and got my first fix of biscuits and gravy for the trip.

I looooove biscuits and gravy and they don't really serve
this dish in any restaurant near where we live.  So, whenever we
go back to Indiana, I make sure that I get my fill of it.
Mmmmmmm!

The next morning (which was the only sunny day while we were there), we took the boys to the Colombian Park Zoo.  I, surprisingly, had never been to it while I lived in Indiana with my family and was pleasantly surprised at how well kept the facilities were!  It was a lovely zoo that was the perfect size for these kiddos and their attention span.

The boys checking out some animals.

Alex, William, and Joseph checking out the adorable
wallabies.

Alex and William climbing into a tube that was
part of the sea otter's habitat.

Alex gazing at a gigantic tortoise.

The boys taking a rest on a tortoise statue.

Tractor time!

William, with Linda and Elias, petting a goat.

Alex loved the baby goats.

Joseph went to get some goat feed from the dispenser,
and as soon as he went near it and put in his money,
he was swarmed by goats!

I was watching from afar (because I've had my fill
of animal petting zoos and wanted to let everyone
else have their fun), and I felt a little nudge at my leg.
I looked down and saw this little fella!  So cute!!

William said that this llama was very dirty (because
he was covered in wood chips) and needed to take a bath.

HA!  What a funny kid!

Alex and the llama having a staring competition.

Linda, Elias, Joseph, Alex, and William on a
giant caterpillar outside of the butterfly garden.

My turn to join in!  Of course, the boys fought over who got to
hold Mommy's hand, so here was the compromise.

Our little lemurs enjoyed their time at the Columbian
Park Zoo.

Now it's time for a train ride!!  The zoo featured an adorable
train that went around the park area and had beautiful
views of the pond.

Afterwards, the boys played on the playground for a little bit.  William loves to pick flowers and put them in my hair.

The little guy loves me, what can I say?  I'll wear my
hair like this just for him.  :-)

Since it was hot and humid, we stopped by Frozen Custard to give the boys their first taste of frozen custard!

William and Alex enjoying some chocolate frozen
custard.

They approved.

Joseph and I shared a Butterfinger blizzard.

Linda and Elias enjoyed the black cherry frozen custard.

Before we went back to the playground to play some more,
I made sure to get myself a "fruit drink."  A small
one of these nearly put me into a diabetic coma!
It was sooooooo sweet.

Joseph pushing William on the playground equipment.

Joseph helping William to train for the next
American Ninja Warrior.

That afternoon while William was taking a nap, I decided to pop Alex into the car and go for a little joy ride.

Our first stop was Dog 'n Suds!!  Even though
we had already had lunch and an ice cream treat,
I was still craving Dog 'n Suds root beer.

Alex's mind was blown when the waitress brought
the drinks to the car and put the tray on our window.

"Whhhhaaaaaatttt??!!!??!!"

(PS - Check out what Alex is holding!!  It's one of Joseph's
old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures!  It was pretty
neat to see what was tucked away for so long in our old rooms at our parents'
houses.)

Alex looooved his first taste of Dog 'n Suds root beer.

Our next stop was the Tippecanoe Mall.

They had a place in the center of the mall
where kids could get strapped in and jump super high in the air.

Alex had a blast!

Yeeee haw!  Look at him go!

He had so much fun!

After the man readjusted Alex's bungee cords, he
went even higher!

That evening, we enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner at Parkside Seafood House.

Alex, Joseph, Linda, Elias, and William, ready to dig in!

Whenever we visit Indiana, we have to stock up on our Purdue swag.  We got the kiddos some Purdue clothing, bought baby girl's Purdue take home outfit, and I got my first Tervis tumbler!

Purdue, of course!  :-)

That morning, we had originally planned to meet my friends Stacey and Sarah with their kiddos at the Indianapolis Zoo.  Unfortunately, it was pretty rainy, so we met them at the Children's Museum instead.  The kids had such a great time running around the museum together.  It was so sweet to watch all of them play around and it was lovely to catch up with my college friends Stacey and Sarah.

Alex being a Ninja Turtle.

William didn't quite understand how to put his head in.

Since we got there around 11:30, we decided to do lunch first before we went into the actual museum.

Alex and my friend Stacey's son, Cooper.  They're
around the same age and got along so well during this
trip.  It was very endearing.

Alex and Coop chit chatting with my friend Stacey
having lunch.

They were high fiving each other!  So precious.

Then, they held hands and ran around the museum together.

Stacey, leading all of the boys through the exhibits.

Alexandersaurus and Coopersaurus Rex!

William, doing his best dinosaur, "ROAR!" as well.

My friend Sarah brought her darling sons Carter and Grant to the museum.

Here's William, attempting to give baby Grant a high five.
As you can see, Grant was not amused.  :-p

The kiddos being paleontologists.

Alex and Cooper were seriously so cute together!

Next up was the Transformers exhibit.

Alex and William thought the Transformers were so cool!

Sarah with her darling baby, Grant.

It takes about an hour to get from the Children's Museum back to Joseph's parents' house, so we had to bid our friends adieu.  (Plus, we wanted to stop by Donaldson's Chocolate Shop and pick up a few boxes to bring back with us.)

Friends since Junior year of college!!
Stacey and her son Cooper
Me with Alex and William
Sarah and her sons Grant and Carter

Love these ladies SO much!!  It was so great
to see them again, catch up, and have our
kiddos play together.  Thanks for making the trek
to make this play date happen, Stace and Sarah!!

The next afternoon, we took the boys to the Elite Air Trampoline Park in Lafayette to bounce around with my friend Erin and her son Grant.  It was so great that we could see some friends while we were back in Indiana.

Joseph, William, and Alex, bouncing around.

Alex and Grant, sliding down the trampoline hill.

Alex and Grant shooting hoops.

Grant and William having a shoot off (not really, lol!).

Bouncing sure takes a lot out of you!  The boys had
to take a water break.

Grant and William giving each other a high five.
So adorable!

Who needs trampolines when you have a ramp to run up and down?

The boys were pooped after all of that running and
bouncing around.  Thanks for making the schlep
to Lafayette, Erin and Grant!!  It's always so great to see you guys!

Cutie patooties

We had a wonderful trip that was full of quality family fun, rest, and relaxation.  It was also really great to see some friends while we were here, and to show the boys around Purdue.
These two vacations were really great for the kids (and us, of course) because they really love their extended family and love spending time with them.  They had such great fun with both sets of grandparents and their aunt.  It was very heart warming to see our boys goof around with everybody that mean so much to us.  Great memories were made on this trip and we can't wait to make many more.
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki