The Indy Zoo!

When we were in Indiana a few weeks ago, we met some friends for a day at the zoo! Christi and I were both pregnant at the same time, and we were both on the What to Expect message boards. (The same board because our babies were due in the same month). 

After January 2008, rolled around, we finally realized we both lived in Indiana, and after getting to know each other better, we decided to meet! G and D (Christi's son) were 4 months old at the time! It's hard to believe that they are now 4 years old!

I told G that she had met D before and that we had been to the zoo before, and that we had been to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis together too. After our first meet up, we continued to get together at least once or twice a year. I was sad that we may not get that possibility this year, but our trip to Indianapolis was a perfect time!

The kids warmed right back up to each other- G never meets a stranger, and D is just the happiest kid on the planet. (Seriously.)

 I think G might have gotten a little too friendly with D! We are going to have to watch this girl as she gets older!

 D wanted to ride the train around the zoo, and it was something that we never did on our previous trips. We let the kids sit together, and Christi and I sat behind them with MC.

 MC had her first pigtails on our zoo trip!

 We had to get the kids pictures by the elephant exhibit- this has been an annual picture taking spot for us!

And, we went to the dolphin show, which is always so much fun! Indianapolis has the best zoo, with it's dolphin show, and pet the shark exhibit! Although, we've never actually been able to pet one (we're a wee bit too scared!)

The kids sat down together while Christi ran out to the car to get D's swimsuit; it was so cute to see them pull out the map and try to find all the exhibits that we had visited!

 We got the kids changed and took them to the splash pad at the zoo; another one of my favorite activities there!

 MC hung out in her stroller while the big kids played in the water.

D was so much fun to watch while he was playing in the water. He would run over and smile and laugh and exclaim in excitement all the fun he was having. It was just the most fun thing to watch and see; he's an awesome kid!

After the splash pad, we got the kids changed again and headed over to the gardens.

 ^^^^^ See, I told you i'm going to have to watch this girl!

 I had to take this squirrel pic for my Alpha Gam girls out there!

The kids had fun exploring the gardens and walking around. I love that we were able to spend this day together!

Pool Time!

We arrived around noon on Monday to the hotel, and DJ had to head out to catch his golf game. I think the girls were ready to arrive and be out of the car! 

After getting our bags a little settled and MC's pack-in-play set up, we went to eat lunch at CFA. Then, we walked around one floor of the mall just to get some more energy out, and went back to the room to take naps. I told G that she didn't have to fall asleep, but that she had to at least lay down and pretend she was asleep, so MC would take her nap. Thankfully, all three of us took a much needed nap!

After our nap, was pool time! I was excited to get G in the pool again, because I'm really hoping that she'll be better at swimming by the end of summer. DJ is dying to get her on ski's!

 My mom purchased their pink swim suit cover ups at the end of summer last year at Target. We monogrammed their initials on them.

 Thankfully, the pool water was warm, and MC didn't mind being in the water at all!

G had fun swimming around, and I got MC out of her little boat a few times so she could splash the water. She pretended to eat it, and then would give me a little bite. It was too cute! We stayed about an hour in the pool, and then had pizza for dinner!

Road Trip! (& some tips)

I know I posted a few pictures from my iPhone last week of our road trip to Indiana, but I thought i'd post a few more and try to go into some more detail. 

I think I've learned pretty well on how to keep the girls entertained while we are traveling. We travel so often to visit family, that G does so well in the car anyway! But, i'll share a few of my tips.

~ Eat at your house, clean it up, and leave. You don't want to leave and then stop within an hour because you or your kids are hungry.
~ Pack a travel snack bag. I used lots of travel containers, and emptied out cereal boxes, brought fruit snacks, oranges, yogurt & breakfast bars. We also packed a cooler for drinks, and I had sippy cups already filled. Make sure that everything is within reach.
~ I let G choose toys for the trip. I wanted her to choose so she would be interested in them. She was allowed one bag. She chose a few books, potato head (all the pieces fit nicely inside), a small magna doodle, and a doll.
~ I also let her choose about 5 DVDs, and we recently purchased a new one that I saved for the trip.
~ I purchased a few goodies as surprises along the way. One was a tinker bell coloring book and another was gummy bears. Our hotel was near a mall, and I told G that she could pick out three types of candy the night before our trip back. At random intervals, I would give her the candy bag for a few minutes, and then take it away. That way, she didn't eat tons of candy at a time, and it continued to be a treat.
~ Make sure your kids potty at every stop. When filling up with gas, get them out of their car seats and let them walk. I made a game with G and had her take giant steps, march, anything to get her legs moving. We let MC crawl around in the back (watching her of course and being there so she couldn't fall out.)
~ MC hates the car, but we recently purchased her big-girl carseat and head rest DVD players, which I think really helped her. We also brought her favorite sleep toy, to provide comfort in the car. She had a paci clipped to her clothes and to her carseat, so she couldn't loose one!

 Thankfully, they'll sleep at least for one hour! Although, MC slept longer than that.

 Here are the girls playing in the back of the car while we are taking potty breaks and filling up with gas.

At some point in the trip, I realized it was Mother's day, and that we would be going through St. Louis. We happened to be in St. Louis for DJ's convention on my very first Mother's day, so I thought it would be neat to stop and take pictures.

Plus, it was good to stretch our legs again. At this point, we had traveled from Joplin to St. Louis without stopping, and I think we were all ready to get out of the car!

After this stop, we drove two more hours to Effingham, IL and spent the night. We should've stopped right past St. Louis to at least eat, but if that was our one mistake, then it wasn't a bad one! We ended up eating at Ruby Tuesday, and I do recommend it while traveling, or even with young kids. It's not a typical place we eat, but I can add on a salad bar, and share my meal with the girls, and the three of us still have plenty of eat. The girls enjoyed cucumbers, grapes, cheese, eggs, and mini pieces of ham.

I also don't make them go to bed as soon as we get to the hotel. After all, they've been cooped up in a car all day, so we either swim for a bit or just play in the room. This evening we face-timed with DJ's mom, and the girls didn't get in bed until around 10:30, but I also knew there would be more car time in the morning, where they could rest, and that we would be having naps once we go to our destination. I try to be flexible with the schedule during our travels, but also try to keep meal and snack times consistent. We can always catch up on sleep when we get home!