Indiana

We went to Indiana a couple of weeks ago to visit Brent's family and to go to the wedding of a college buddy of Brent's in Louisville, Kentucky (about an hour and a half from Brent's hometown of Greensburg, IN). We decided to drive the approx. 15 hours with both boys STRAIGHT through! Crazy, I know. We rented a minivan so we could fit comfortably with the kids and all our gear and we ended up really liking that minivan (never thought that would happen). :) Jack was awesome and stayed entertained with his books and his mini dvd player. Joe, however, HATED the long stretches in the car seat. Everytime we stopped to stretch and change diapers he screamed and cried when put back in his car seat. He figured it out quick. Once we finally got to Indiana we had such a wonderful visit. We stayed at Brent's family home with his parents (Bill and Sally aka Boppo and Great Momma) and got to see much of his family and friends including Auntie Samantha, Uncle Bryan & Auntie Jenny, Uncle Will, Auntie Jenny Anne, Uncle Bill & Aunt Ginny, Bill & Lynda Smith and their daughter Anne. The Smiths are the oldest and closest friends of Brent's parents and they along with their kids Chris, his wife Caroline and Anne come over every Christmas Eve to have a special Christmas get together. We took Jack over to see the goats at Uncle Bryan and Auntie Jenny's house and he got to feed them. He also thoroughly enjoyed chasing one of the many farm kitties around. Uncle Will was staying at the farm for a spell while working on one of his big movie projects - Brent's brother Will works on computer graphic scenes for most of the Hollywood movies you've seen. I know I'm not describing his job accurately but nonetheless, we are proud of him. Uncle Bryan and Auntie Jenny are expecting a baby in April, only one day off from Joe's original due date of April 17th! How cool is that?! Auntie Jenny looks BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Auntie Jenny Anne and her husband Mike just got a horse which we did not get to see this time around but next time I know Jack will want to ride that horse. Auntie Manta (i.e. Samantha) graciously drove in from Indianapolis (45 minute drive) upon her very recent return from a work trip to Hawaii just to see us. She got to play a lot with Jack which he LOVED! Auntie Manta is very good at pretend play and keeps up a very good dialogue with Jack. A few days into our visit we left for Louisville, KY for Brent's friend's wedding. Boppo and Great Momma came with us to watch the kids so Brent and I could have sort of a date night - actually two since we went to the rehearsal dinner the night before. They got a hotel room adjoining ours and it worked out beautifully. We stayed at the historic Seelbach Hilton in downtown Louisville which apparently is where they filmed the Great Gatsby. Boppo sort of took over with Jack and Great Momma got a lot of special bonding time with Joe. It worked out so well and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. While in Louisville, we of course had to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and got the kids tshirts (no bats yet). We also went to Kids Science Museum which wasn't very impressive but we still had loads of fun being together. This was a trip we have never taken - we always go to Indiana during Christmas and the 4th of July but we've never gone during the Fall. We had such a great visit as you will see from the photos. I took so many more than this and it was hard to narrow it down. We can't wait to go back for Christmas!

Great Momma and Joe

Jack "The Thinker"

Joe hammin' it up as usual

Auntie Manta playing with JackThe Robbins' Family Farm - a painting The Family Farm - Hoosier Homestead Farm (Brent's Grandfather Hunter Robbins was born in a bedroom upstairs in the house on this farm) Wildflower The Hog Barns John Deere

Uncle Will working with his massive computer screens! Uncle Will's Hummer

Daddy, Jack and Uncle Bryan feeding the goats

Daddy and Jack feeding the goats some more

Joe and Mommy with the corn fields in the background

Mommy, Joe, Jack and Daddy on the porch at the affectionately known "Big House"

The Robbins' Family Farm Home (aka "The Big House") - a painting

The road to Brent's house on North County Road

More North County Road

The old barn next to Brent's family home - it's about to be torn down for an as of yet unknown structure

The Louisville Slugger Museum - Louisville, KY

Boppo and Great Momma playing with Joe at the Louisville Children's Science MuseumGreat Momma and Jack exploring at the Science Museum Joe and Boppo chillin' out with the lava lamps :)

Jack and Boppo exploring some more at the Science Museum

Mommy and Daddy on their date night out to Mike and Allison's Wedding - Louisville, KY

Jack and Joe helping Mommy blow out her Birthday candles

The infamous Tower Tree in downtown Greensburg, IN - the tree grows out of the top of the Greensburg Courthouse (hence Greensburg's nickname Tree City)