Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

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Our Halloween started off with a Bang!  Daddy made Bat Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.  
Pretty sure this is Little Sister/Brother's favorite breakfast...besides potatoes. 


Christopher went to school in his Batman shirt, and he was so excited when he got home and I had just finished the confusing belt for his costume.



He was also a little bit bummed that Emily wasn't there the moment he got off the bus. But she arrived, as Wonder Woman!  Her Mommy even came as Mrs. Incredible - Elastigirl even had a stretchy arms, all the way off camera....

The Super Friends: Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman.


Yes, Chris was Aquaman!  Sam was Green Lantern.  Sam may not have been the happiest Green Lantern, his ring and glove combo was giving him fits.  But Chris loved his Trident! (AKA Devil's Pitchfork)



The first house they Trick - or - Treated at.  It was still pretty light when we got started, we like an early start.  The kids were so polite, they did great at the houses around the neighborhood. 



 And there's something swell to be said about being able to just be a parent on the street, not having to walk up and down and up and down.  Mommy hasn't been 100% and gets tired easily, staying curbside is just easier. Emily made it around the first block with us, before heading back for other social visits, but we kept going.  About halfway around the neighborhood, the boys started to get tired.  And Sam was cold.  His little nose was starting to run.  



Luckily, Daddy was there to save the day, and keep pulling all the way around.  We made it about 3/4 around the neighborhood, which almost a 1 mile loop, before just heading home.  



It was a good workout.  Little Sister/Brother and I were DUN by the time we got home, I just sat on the porch for about 1/2 hour with Chris and handed out candy.  It was probably my favorite time of the evening, just enjoying the quiet, and the Cuteness with my sweetboy.  But it got too cold for us to stay outside, so we went in to warm up.  

Sam needed a little sugar when we got home, so he grabbed a green lollipop while he thawed out. All things green are his favorites.  Especially since he can't have Red 40.  He was hysterical Trick or Treating, one house gave out twizzlers, and he hollered excitedly, "Hooray!  Red 40 Candy! Thank You!"


When we got home, he showed Daddy his answer to the age old question, 'How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?'  Sam was the very close to the Three, because he's a chomper.  One of these days he's going to crack a tooth the way he chomps on lollipops. 


The boys and their Halloween Haul.  I was very glad to have some hot cocoa waiting for us when we got home, then we jammied up, and watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown together (even though we'd watched our own copy the night before).  The boys were funny, they were annoyed by the commercials.  We laughed, and told them about the old days, when Daddy and I were little and we couldn't just fast forward the commercials.  And every show wasn't on tape or DVD, we had to just Wait for that special one time a year when it was on regular tv.  
Oh yes, Uphill, both ways, in the snow.    

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Geen Yantern

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Sam's preschool Halloween Party was today.  It was also Black/Orange day, but Mommy completely spaced that until we got to school.  Didn't matter to Sam, he wanted to wear his costume to school.  He was emphatic. How can I resist?

He's an Awesome "Geen Yantern"! (Green Lantern)


Can you find the amazing Geen Yantern hiding in his classroom?  
(Note all the black and orange being worn, doh!)

Choosing Unwisely

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 *Warning - Gory Story to Follow*

Sunday night, my husband was crazy.   He had been working all weekend on a work project, and had stayed up late  working.  To take a "break" he decided to do a bit of cooking.  We're in this group, Freezer Cooking club, and once a month, we make 8 copies of the same meal, put them in freezer bags or metal tins, have a meeting and swap out.  We end up with 7 different meals, and some to give away to someone who might needing some easy meals.  Lately, since I've been feeling terribly, Eric has taken up the cooking and preparations.  Actually, on top of being a really great cook, he also Enjoys cooking.  Can't say I feel the same way.  So Eric has been doing most of the cooking for Freezer Cooking, then I get to go to the meetings, sit and chat with the gals, hang out, swap the food, and he gets to reap the benefits.  It's a great setup!

Anyway, Sunday night, he was tapping away on his computer, working until midnight, getting tired.  So in an effort to step away for a moment, he thought he'd take a break to do something easy.  This month's dish, was a pretty easy prep for us.  Some months it's extensive, other times it's easy, some months expensive, some months, not so much, but it all evens out in the end.

Imagine, a tired man, puttering around in the kitchen at midnight.  He has been sitting mostly in the dark, so the only light he turns on is the stove light.  He starts pulling out the stash of frozen chicken breasts, placing 4 in each metal tin, which he has lined up across the island.  But he comes to a pair that are frozen together, he only needs one of the two, every tin is full.  So he takes it over to the cutting boards, grabs the butcher knife, which my sister had told us and told us it was dull, and commences to slice....

Where was I?  Oh I'd  gone to bed long before.  Baby #3 exhausts me in the evenings.

Suddenly, I am awakened, Eric's shadow in the doorway, he says, "Hon, I have cut myself and I need your help."  For some reason we went back downstairs.  He was grossing me out by holding his hand in his mouth, such that there was blood all over his face and shirt, I grabbed a mit full of paper towels and slapped them on the oozing wound, located just at the base of this thumb, on the inside by the webbing.  I lifted them, and couldn't see the bottom of the wound.

You'd think I would be a kind, loving wife, but I don't think I stopped yelling at him once we got downstairs.  Yelling about the stupidity of cutting with a dull knife in the dark.  Putting an open wound in his mouth!  I could have started yelling about the amount of bacteria in chicken, blessedly frozen when he was dealing with his wound, but No, he has to go and thaw all that by sticking his filthy bleeding hand in his mouth.  No, I was not a sympathetic kind loving supportive wife.  I'm sorry for that.  But in a Crisis, I am all yelling. It used to be all Business.   But when it comes to my family, I am rarely calm.  At least, I don't burst into hysterical tears until After all is said and done.

Eric started to swoon, so I dragged him into the bathroom, thinking we'd rinse it.  But we never got that far.  He needed to sit on the toilet, but his face went green.  He was telling me what he'd done, trying to pry apart the chicken breasts with the dull knife.  Great Jehosephat!  He says oh so casually as I'm trying to look at the wound, still bleeding profusely, "And I think I got the bone. I felt it bounce." He starts to swoon again.  I make him lay down on the bathroom floor, and try to get him to hold it above his head before passing out.  But when I started to stand up, I felt like I was going to puke.  And pass out.  I had to sit on the bathroom floor too.

What a pair of pretty nothings. He was combining the only two things in the world that I apparently can't stomach when I'm pregnant: raw meat, and blood.   I crawled to my cell phone, and started calling my neighbors.  Someone was going to have to take Eric to the hospital, and it was Clear that neither of us were in any shape to drive.  After no answer, we called my Mother In Law, God Bless Her.  Miraculously, she woke up.  She told me later, Dad heard the phone ring.  That's a Miracle in and of itself, and woke her.  She came running to take Eric to the ER.

Meanwhile, while we waited for Mom, our swoons passed, and I got up and slowly went into the kitchen, Eric was very worried about the knife and the kids.  "Get the knife off the floor!" he kept telling me.  So I did.  Only I couldn't find it.   I saw blood, a lot of it, and started to gag.  I will have you know I found one chicken breast on the floor, and the other on the counter, and managed to throw them away before another nausea spell hit. Then I had to lay down on the kitchen floor.

That passed quickly, and we sat down at the kitchen table.  Eric stood up and was trying to cover the chicken one-handed, I'm like WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Sit down Maniac!  He didn't want to lose all the meat.  And he knew I wasn't in any place to deal with it.  I finally managed to convince him to sit, JUST in time for Mom to arrive.  12 minutes is a really long time sometimes.

She took him to the ER, leaving me home alone to sit and wait for word.  I knew better than to think that I'd be able to go to sleep.  I decided to clean up the blood.  That was Bad.  I mean, I'm glad I did it and all, but it took me half an hour, interspersed with sessions of gagging and needing to sit and rest, and not look.  It was Ugly.

He's not allowed to be that stupid ever again.  I couldn't handle it.  I used to be of a Strong constitution.  I worked in a hospital, for goodness sake.  I dealt with gross stuff.  I have dealt with more disgusting things coming out of my child than anyone should every have to deal with, and I was OK.  But not anymore.  Can't stomach raw meat (or apparently frozen) or Blood.  At. All.

Even writing this story has taken me a while, because thinking about it makes me gag.  I warned you of the grossness, it was so gross.

So I cleaned up and went to lay down.  I didn't have the strength to pour myself a ginger ale, my hands were too shaky, so I just took my 2 liter into the living room, and had a few sips to calm down.  And I made phone calls, to my sister (who blessedly was still up in TX) and to our friend Ashley, the neighbor who got my message and called back after we got a hold of Mom.  They talked me down.  So I watched some trashy tv, and waited for word from the ER.

Luckily, profuse bleeding in the middle of the night gets you seen real quick.  Eric got right in, got seen.  He told them he doesn't do well with blood, so they laid him down before taking a look.   They did an X-ray to make sure he didn't knick the bone.  He was Lucky he didn't get the tendon either.  Guess the knife did just Bounce off the bone.  Eww.  But he did have to get 4 stitches.  His first.  Later I learned, that not only was this the first time he'd gotten stitches, but he'd only ever inflicted them on others, sending his little brother Ryan to the ER twice.  Ah, Brothers.

But he didn't pass out, they gave him a sh'load of Novacaine shots to make sure he wasn't feeling a thing, so much that it didn't wear off until naptime the next day.  He did well.

He walked in the door at 3:30.  And I hugged him and went to bed, so relieved was I that he was now home safe and sound.

Crazy man stayed up just a little bit longer, and finished preparing the chicken for Freezer Cooking.

But don't worry friends, all the blood was on the other side of the kitchen, he was good and cleaned up before cooking.  We made sure that no bloody chicken or thumbs were made a part of this Duck Soup Chicken.

But it did get me thinking - last month, while he was cooking, I left the tub on and almost drowned the house.  This month, he nearly cuts off his thumb.  I hate to see what will happen next month.

In the mean time, he's just fine now.  

Just wanted to show you that Eric is doing well the next day!  
A little sore, but OK - One Thumbs Up! 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Getting in the Spirit - Boo!

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Yesterday, after church, Eric and I took the boys to the ZooBoo at the Zoo.  The boys picked out their costumes again from the bin, Chris wanted to be Superman again, and Sam chose Spiderman.


Spiderman tries to take down Superman. 


Mr. Ray! 


Takin' on the Jellies! 


Sweetboys get to pet the sharks.  Sma was able to actually pet one, but Chris was a little uncomfortable trying, but they were so cute watching too. 


Say Cheese!


Boys being boys in a hay maze.  I was very excited that Chris was a very good big brother, and took Sam right through the maze. 


When we got to the back of the zoo, the back 9, we call it, was where the Trick or Treating was to take place at 2.  We got there just a bit after, and there were no people giving anything out.  The boys were bummed, bored, and sat down to play tug of war with the festively decorative princess spider.  




The kids Trick or Treat at the Zoo...once we finally find a real person!  


Sam checks out the lions. 




When we got to the lions, the Lioness decided to clear her throat a little bit.  Really kind of scary to think she's just doing a little smack talking.  Hate to hear them go all out.


After the lions, the boys chat up with the baboons. 


The kudu had just had a baby, and my baby checks out their new baby. 


After Trick or Treating around the Back 9, the boys wanted to ride the train. 
You Betcha!  
They were doing a whole Wizard of Oz theme skit thing on the train ride, and as I'm singing along, it occurs to me, my boys have Never Seen the Wizard of Oz.  Tragic!  But when I got home I found we didn't have it on DVD, and I couldn't find it on netflix, I may have it on vhs somewhere, but those haven't been unpacked yet.  Oh well, the kids had a just plain great time on the ride anyway. 

The boys had a stop, where they could make a little project, sponsered by Lowe's, with tiny adorable hammers, and sweet plastic goggles, and even work aprons.  It was a boys haven.  So I sent mine in to 'bang and screw', only Sam was getting cold and tired, and it wasn't working for him.  So he and I sat down for a sweet break.  This was the FIRST and ONLY place we stopped at the zoo, that wasn't giving out Red 40 candy.  I thanked the lady profusely, because Finally Sam could dig right in to something, and I wouldn't have to worry.  She was so kind, she let me take a handful of lollipops, all dumdums, and let me sift through the for the green and blue ones.  I was so grateful.  And so was Sam! 


While Sam was taking a lollipop break, Chris finished his schoolhouse picture holder.  Super Cute, eh?  
And I don't just mean the project. ;) 


After the ZooBoo, I took the boys over to church for the Trunk-or-Treat.  Upon arrival, the kids were allowed to dig in and make some S'mores.  Only my kids are so crazy, they didn't want their marshmallows toasted, oh no...they like their marshmallows raw.  Straight up chewy sugar.  Yum-O. 



After a little sugary pick-me-up, the boys got down to Trunk-or-Treating.  


I felt bad, this was the first year we didn't participate, but honestly, I had been feeling so terrible, it was rather miraculous, I managed to them Costumed, and doing seasonal things at all.  I guess that's why we compiled it all into one weekend, because we were gone, and I felt terrible, we just didn't feel Festive until this weekend. 


Blessedly, my friends went above and beyond in decorating their trunks.  There were games, snacks, and prizes even!  Sam was really thrilled with Miss Lori's trunk, he won a lollipop (a non red 40 one). which made him very excited.  The only thing better is if it had been Green. 




The boys even got to play a little ball at one of the cars during the Trunk-or-Treat. 


After voting for our favorites, the kids got to play on the playground for a few minutes.  But I saw Sam crying, and one of his little friends was helping save the day.  We'd dropped Daddy off to start some yard work, so I suspected dinner would be a long way out.  I decided to stop off at Orange Leaf for Frozen Yogurt, something Chris always asks to do when we're on vacation.  Since it was the Last Night of his Fall Break, officially, I caved, and swung by on our way home church. 




Like they hadn't had enough sugar already, I was compelled to give them more?

I know, but Tis the Season!  Happy Halloween!

I can't resist celebrating every spare moment when we're on vacation, so how could I resist ice cream for what ended up being our dinner.  I couldn't.  And the boys and I were totally ok with that.


Wings and Things

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OK, so this is a Terrible picture.  But it was the only one I took.  


Because I was way too busy eating Buffalo Wings.  

We met Oma and Opa at Brozzini's in Greenwood for lunch.  They have the Best Buffalo Wings this side of Buffalo, even my Stepmom approves, and she knows buffalo wings, she's from Western NY.  But we go and order a bunch extra crispy.  I have been craving these since before we figured out we were expecting.  And even thinking about Brozzini's wings gets me to craving them!  We got to tell my Step-grandmother about Baby #3, and the boys got to finally wear their new Big Brother shirts.  Meb didn't get the awesomeness of Sam being finally able to wear a Big Brother shirt, but the rest of us, enjoyed it.  The kids were abounding with energy, happy and crazy.  It was a Wonderful day.  

Breaking Away

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Friday, the boys and I were feeling good enough to get out and play.  Time to make hay while the sun shines.  Our old MOPS friends were having a ginormous playdate, taking advantage of being home on Fall Break.  You'd think it would bonkers to invite all of us over, even with the extra bonus insanity of the big sibs, but really all the more crazy made all the more fun.  They wouldn't hold still for a mass photo.  


The closest I got was this picture of Christopher dressing up as Skeleton Pirate (really this pirate costume is rather scary) and the kids wanted him to chase them all around.  I thought he was overdoing it, but when he stopped, they would come back up and ask him to chase some more.  Crazycakes.  But we all had a wonderful time, and to spend time with these buddies we used to play with every other week when Chris was little, was actually wonderful for all three of us.   I miss my old MOPS group, but it's playdates like this that make me smile, make me remember our group is not gone, just changed a bit. 

While we were taking advantage of the boys being off on Fall Break, we decided to get Really Crazy.   


After we left E's house, we went and "Kidnapped" Daddy from work.  Technically it was his Lunch break, but it ended up being a bit longer than the regular lunch break because we popped over to the Children's Museum.  Eric won our family free tickets to the Haunted House, so we snagged him to go with us.  The boys pieces for their new Halloween costumes weren't ready yet, so we let them pick costumes from their bin.  Chris chose to be Superman, and Sam wanted to be Captain America.  



We took the kids through the Haunted House, and they did wonderfully!  I myself thought it was a bit too gory for my liking, some of the things I saw sent me swirling.  But the boys were great, Chris even went bravely though the moving tunnel.  The sight of that sent my stomach into my throat.  But all three of my Boyz went through willingly and bravely.  I was impressed.  And the crowds, well they sent out right out just as quickly.  


But not before the Cuteness says BOO! 


Chris and Sam got a big kick out of Bumblebee dressed to go Trick or Treating too!  

Sick and Wrong

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Aren't they cute?  Even running wild in the pharmacy.  I know.  

After taking Sam to preschool today, Chris and I just hung out and watched cartoons, contemplating life and wondering why Diego can drive?  But I needed to do something productive with my day, and I wanted to get all of us in for Flu shots.  The CVS Minute Clinic by us was offering them, and Eric had his at work, so I was basically just waiting for a convenient time when I had both boys. Bam!  Fall Break.  So after school I ran the boys over.  They were crazy.  Up and down, all over the crazy scale.  Christopher was absolutely terrified of getting a flu shot.  I tried to explain to him that this 5 seconds of pain was much better than being sick for a week, or having to go to the hospital for getting the flu.  But he was not buying it.  He had back to back to back timeouts while she was preparing our three shots, and I thought he'd be all right sitting on my lap getting it, after me, and Sam had received ours.  Sam was nervous, but didn't cry out at all.  He took it like a Champ.  Instead he had a full body autistic freak out when it was time to get his.   It was Ugly.  

So he was sitting in timeout again to calm down, and I was chatting with the gal who was cleaning up.  I asked her to look in the kids ears/nose/throats to see if they were healthy yet, because this coming weekend (Actually THIS Very Day!) was Kaylee's Birthday, and we wanted to go Celebrate.  So she took a look inside the boys.  First she find that Sam does indeed have a cold, lots of drainage, which I had suspected.  But she says, "his tonsils are HUGE!"  Huge?  Huge. She asks if he has had trouble sleeping?  Yup. Been in bed with me for a month.  She recommends waiting a week or so, to let the cold clear out, and getting him checked by his doc.  So no Sam to go see Kaylee, but I figured he was still a bit too snoochy to see her. 
So then she checks Chris, the healthy one...He has a fever, 99.3, low grade, but still. Say what? He's been the healthy one....for once!  She says he has a cold, not surprising, come to think of it he has been blowing out some funky stuff first thing in the morning.  He probably shouldn't have gotten the flu shot, but oh well, too late now.  

So none of us are going to be playing with Kaylee.   It's been a month.  Pook.  Aunt Cathy's getting a little twitchy, this being sick stuff is for the birds. 

Happy Anniversary!

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18 years ago, October 24th was a chill y fall evening. I was sitting on the steps of Ross Hall at Butler with a friend of mine, waiting on some friends to go to our mutual fraternity/sorority meeting, just chatting when he asked me out.  He asked me to go see Les Miserable for the Sunday Matinee the following weekend.  Of course I said Yes! 
He reached for my hand, and held it and we walked across campus together, transitioning easily from Friends to More. And we've been holding hands through life ever since. Happy Anniversary Eric Willman!

As a gift to myself, I went to the doctor.  I was so tired of feeling crummy , I called begging them to see me.  Wednesday was a good day for it, because both my OB and family doc would be in the same office at the same time.  I had been griping about the dizziness, chills, inability to breathe, exhaustion on fb, and some friends were worried I might have pneumonia.  Well, Kaylee's birthday is this weekend, and if I want to see a little girl, I needed to get healthy, Stat!  

I went to the doctor while Sam was in gymnastics, and takes one look at me and says to me, you're dizzy because you're not getting oxygen to your brain.  You sound awful. I do so adore his down to earth honesty.   He checked with my OB, and gave me a zpack and prescription robutussin with codeine - woohoo!   

We picked up the drugs, and went home for naps.  By the time I woke up from naps I was feeling better.  I had schemy scheme ideas.  I even had almost an appetite for the first time in days, so I asked Eric if we could go out on a date for dinner.  Sushi sounded good to me (something else that hadn't sounded good at all).  We did, he took me out for sushi at Tegry Bistro down the street.  Lisa had given us gift cards for that place, and we hadn't gotten to use them, but it worked out just right.  We only spent our own money on childcare and got a great date night out of it!  Happy Anniversary to us!  Here's to many more years of good health and good times together. 

Doing Brunch

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Back to School!  Fall Break for the majority of the Willman clan is over.  Sam had to go back Tuesday.  However, since Chris had a full two weeks off, and one was spent in Florida, he still got another week at home with me (and Sam) though Sam's schedule got back into full swing when we got back.

As an added bonus, Chris's friend Emily was also on Fall Break while her little sisters were also not.  So, Kathleen and I schemed for our elder children to get together for a special date while the littles were in school.  We met for Brunch at Le Peep.


I've got to tell you, it was so refreshing to have some grownup conversation with my girlfriend, while pretty much did the same.  We felt like such grownups! They kind of kept to themselves, they played,  laughed hysterically, ate pancakes and french toast, and played school math class with the jelly samples.  It was great, and just what we needed. 

Too bad it was raining the whole time, however with a cold fall rain comes great warm beverages.  Also very good. ;)  


Even in the rain, it's still a beautiful Fall in Indiana.  This was snapped as I was driving around back of Eagle Creek Park after our brunch date, as we went to get Sam.  

12 weeks

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Christopher took this picture of me, not too shabby.  

It's my 12 week picture. 



How did I get to be 12 weeks pregnant?  

How did this happen?  I mean, I know HOW, it just boggles the mind.  I feel like I've only been pregnant for a couple weeks, and now we're at that 'safe' 12 week place.  Secrets Somehow we went to Florida for a week, and suddenly my belly is pooching.  I've been in capris and my swimsuit all week, but I get home and I now HAVE to wear my fat jeans.  That's OK and all, at least I have them.  But I've been feeling so crummy, I'm dizzy, tired, trying to unpack has been utterly exhausting.  It took all I had to start the laundry, and there isn't much from the trip, just 2 loads, and it was already in the mudroom, but even moving around wears me out.  Not taking any more road trips like that for a while!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Last, Day 10

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 Our last day on the road, began with another cloudless Alabama sky.  Gorgeous!


We drove by the exit to Huntsville, though we did not stop.  I wish we could have had time, the boys would have loved it.  We did all see this rocket as we passed by the rest area near the Alabama border.  


Of course, when we crossed from Alabama into Tennessee, the boys remembered that "Tennessee!  It's Time to Pee!"  But I started feeling really terrible, dizzy, my ankles were swelling again, so I stretched out on a park bench, and Eric literally ran the kids around the rest stop.  My tongue started to tingle, and I was really worried about something going wrong, I ate a bunch of chips and sugar and prayed that it was just a sugar nose dive,  but it took almost an hour for me to regulate, by which time I had called my sister and she talked me down through the hills of Tennessee as she googled to see if I was just experiencing "normal" abnormal pregnancy symptoms.  Yup.  I was.  


We didn't stop any more in TN, it was a relatively quick drive through, but when we hit Kentucky, we started talking about lunch or making some kind of stop. It had occurred to us, and been recommended that we stop at Mammoth Caverns.  But Chris said No.  We already went to a cave, he said.  True, we'd been in a cave at Ruby Falls.  And honestly, Mammoth Caverns is so huge, a tour would be hours, and with me feeling crummy, we didn't want to do an entire National Park, we'll have to save that for another day.  Meanwhile, while I was researching Cave City, KY thanks to my fabulous collection of AAA books, I found Dinosaur World.  Ah yes, I remembered passing a giant dinosaur just off the highway on the way down, read about life size dinosaur models and a playground, and that sold me, but the boys initially balked about it, they wanted nothing to do with it....until we fed them. 

Imagine, Feed them and they become more human. 

Much like monsters of old...


So we took the boys to Dinosaur World, it was a bit pricey, but cheap compared to most of the other stops we've made on this trip, 50$ for all of us to do the park/museum/playground/ and find their own fossils!  


They were really interested in the little board that told what the various dinos did.  Chris is beginning to be quite the reader!  Good thing they write out the pronounciations of the dino names, we were pretty hysterical trying to say them.  


Ironically, Sam's Favorite was the dino shaped trash cans.  
He could Not keep his hands out of them.


Sam with an Allosaur.  He looks so tiny!


The boys loved to run off ahead, which was problematic for me.  At one point, there was an optional turnoff where they could go to the Mammoth park and visit the Dino by the highway, which is they call Photosaurus, which wasn't real.  Eric took my camera and the boys up the path so I could rest a bit.  Good for all of us! 


The boys cozy up to a baby Mammoth. 


The boys charge up the hill to Photosaurus! 

Say Cheese boys!  They look so tiny, toenail size, yipes.  
Good thing we know that dino wasn't real. 


This one was.  Chris couldn't wait to see the T-Rex.  He was probably his favorite.  



Get that energy out boys!  Climb away!  We still have a state and a half to go. 


Who got eaten by that dino?  It's Daddy! 

One of the other neat spots at Dinosaur World is the fossil bed.  I couldn't help but be thrilled to see it was raised, so we wouldn't be bringing home a ton of sand.  They had an inground one too, but it was a bit too crowded for the boys to enjoy,  I was totally ok with that.   They have specific Fossil Dig times, and they have the little kids get up on a bench, they get a sieve and a little cup, and they can sift the sand and pick out their goodies.  


Here's Christopher with his cupful of goodies.  He snagged a lot! 


Sam learns about his collection of fossils.  



Chris gets his fossils explained to him.  



Now Chris tries to recite his interpretations of the 3 fossils he chose to keep. 



One last cheesy photo op before we get back on the road.  
We loved Dinosaur World, if you're ever  doing that kind of trip, with small stops, it's a great one!  


After Dinosaur World, we were back on the road again.  I was loving the colors of the hills of Kentucky, so gorgeous!  But no more time for dilly dally, we still have a state and a half to go. 


One of the most Beautiful sights to me - the sun setting in Indiana, beautiful flat farmland.  


It's good to be Back Home Again in Indiana!