Indianapolis visit!!

We decided to make the trek up to Indianapolis with the kids at the end of February since we hadn't seen Grandpa in over 2 years (he hadn't even met Braxton yet!) and we haven't seen Grandma since last spring!! It was quite a long drive for the kids, but overall, they did fabulous. I just had to come to terms with the fact that they were going to need to watch about 8 hours of straight videos and just get over it :) Reilly talked about the upcoming trip to "M-b-an-a-powis" for the weeks leading up, since we had it marked on her calendar so she could count down the days. We cut the trip in half on the way up and stayed the night in Lexington, KY and then continued to Indy on Saturday morning. Of course, in Grandma-like-fashion, lunch was ready when we got there and homemade spaghetti sauce was on the stove for dinner. Yum. Grandpa got a kick out of the kids and just kept smiling and laughing with them. Reilly immediately started to tackle the "pole" (which I CANNOT believe I didn't get a picture of!?!?!).....the support beam that has been the source of much entertainment for all 16+ grandchildren that have been in Grandma and Grandpa's lives. Shawn remembers trying to climb the pole when he was a little guy! Reilly loved it when Shawn lifted her all the way to the top of it so she could touch the ceiling, but that wasn't enough for her....she must have tried 142 times to climb it herself :)

Sunday morning we woke up and headed straight to the famous Indianapolis Children's Museum, stopping to pick up Grandma on the way! This isn't just a regular museum....it's 5 stories high with exhibits, interactive areas, a planetarium, a food court, an enormous store, and soooo much more!! We have really been so excited about taking the kids there because we knew they would love it!! There is just so much to do and see that there was no way our aged children would last long enough to see it all, so we had to pick and choose....but we experienced lots and had a blast! It was so fun to have Grandma there with us!

Reilly and Braxton trying out a real Indy car...

Braxton would have stayed at the water tables all day if we let him!

One of the featured exhibits was a Dora and Diego area...pretty cute, but way too crowded!

There was this whole "barbie-land" area, and while we're not in to barbies, Reilly had a BLAST on the pretend runway! There was a dressing room with all kinds of clothes and then a real runway with music, lights, and cameras set up on stands where other children could pretend to be photographers! I couldn't get over Reilly's expressions! She was totally into it!

In the dinosaur area.....momma Reilly protecting her baby eggs.

After a good nap, we headed back over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a full turkey dinner that Grandma insisted on!! This is the kitchen table in their house that Shawn has tons of memories from sitting around and "gathering" together with the fam daily when he was younger.

Grandpa (aka, Gene Hackman from the movie "Enemy of the State"!!!!) and Reilly

Monday morning we decided to let the kids enjoy some pool time, and once again, Grandma joined us!! She teaches water aerobics (yes, at 80 years of age!) so she told Reilly she would come show her a thing or two in the pool!!! Braxton loved the water:)

So sweet :) Grandma and Grandpa both told us how special it was for us to come visit and how much it meant to them. The kids definitely brought some joy and laughter into their day and it was so great to give them a chance to be with yet more of their great-grandparents!!