Trip, Part 2

So we left the heat of Texas for the slightly-lesser heat of Indiana. We went to Lafayette first, after eating dinner with Danny in Indy and getting to see his office. One day I'll finally get Annelise into his apartment so she can make a mess...

We had a lot of fun in Lafayette, we got to see some of the Walsko family on Saturday to help celebrate Sandy's birthday and did lots of fun things. One day we went to the water park at Columbian Park, Annelise had an absolute blast! I would have been happy spending the whole day in the lazy river, but Annelise liked to walk around in the kiddie pool with her Daddy and Grandma. We only stayed a couple of hours, but that was long enough to tire the kiddo out, she slept through our lunch AT ARNI'S!!! OMG, that is delicious pizza!! Arni's is what Totino's Party Pizzas wish they were, with a thin, crispy crust and tiny pieces of pepperoni and just enough sauce. How have I known John for almost 7 years and this is the first time he's taken me to Arni's??

We went back to Columbian Park a few days later to go to the small zoo (the baby goats were SO cute) and play on the playground. Annelise loves being outside and was in heaven playing on the playground with Daddy. She also got to swim in a kiddie pool at Grandma's house, the kid loves the water.

I think my favorite part about our trip to Lafayette (besides the pizza, because it was amazing) was that Annelise became very comfortable around Sandy's dog, Molly. Annelise doesn't spend a lot of time around animals and gets scared around very energetic dogs, but Molly was on Benadryl after an ant attack and was very calm. She was perfectly happy to just sit around and let Annelise stare at her and now whenever Annelise sees a 'woof woof' she calls it Molly Moo.

The three of us rented a car for our time in Indy, which worked out really well because we had a lot of luggage. We stayed with the Brewers again, it's always so much fun in that house! Annelise loved playing with her older cousins and I'm pretty sure she made Austin's day when she called him Teddy Bear.

While we were in Indy, Dan took us and Claire to the Indianapolis Children's Museum because he loves me the mostest and is the best father-in-law ever. HELLO, there was a BARBIE exhibit there!! We had a lot of fun in the museum as a whole and I was very impressed byt how interactive it is and how every exhibit appealed to all ages of children. Annelise really liked the dinosaur exhibit, I liked the Barbie exhibit, and Claire loved the Rock Stars Cars & Guitars exhibit. I'm not sure what John liked the most, but I know we all had a blast. We even bought Annelise a toy dinosaur when we left and Dan got her a dinosaur puzzle that she loves.

The next day we went to the Indianapolis zoo, which was pretty darn cool. Annelise had fun looking at all of the animals and talking people into holding her and I had a strawberry lemon chill for the first time in forever, I love those things. By the end of the day, though, we were all pretty tired.

On Saturday we went to the neighborhood Independence Day celebration, complete with a kiddie parade and three-legged races and such. Claire pulled Annelise in the wagon and she looked so cute in her red, white and blue outfit. That evening we went to a block party in Northeastern Indy because Dan new the guys in the band and had a lot of fun. That neighboorhood throws a really nice party, complete with the most delicious pulled-pork sandwiches North of the Mason-Dixon.

On the actual Fourth of July, we went to the pool that the Brewers are members of and of course Annelise had lots of fun. She had a blast playing in the water and picking up Starburst that they threw in the pool (pretty much the only candy that won't instantly dissolve when you throw it in water). She was sad that I wouldn't let her eat any of the candy, but she got over it. We played for a while in the big pool, splashing and blowing bubbles and making new friends, and then went back to the house for a nap. That night we went into Zionsville for the amazing fireworks, capping off a wonderful Fourth.

We left for Japan the next day, which was probably John's favorite day of the whole trip. Not because he was ready to go home but because Annelise said 'airplane' for the first time that day. Now she can spot an airplane before anyone else (I think she has super-amazing hearing and can just hear them before I can) and says 'airplane' all the time. Her favorite book is an airplane book and she loves playing with the mini Thunderbird jet that we bought her at the air show.

So that ends our latest trip to the States. Next up, John and I will climb Mt Fuji at the end of the week and I'm planning a trip to Korea in September!