Road Trip!!

When we hired a summer nanny, we knew she was going to need the second week of June off for a family vacation.  Since we didn't get much time off last summer, I started hatching a road trip plan for the kids and me (Jeff claimed to not be able to get off work).  We left on a Saturday, drove to Washington, PA - random location but with a hotel/pool - and then completed the drive on Sunday to Rockville, MD to stay with Uncle John & Aunt Vi.  Sunday was spent at their club pool and cooking out.  Monday we took the train into DC for a day chock full of sightseeing; we got tickets for the double-decker bus that we could get on & off as often as we wanted, and saw just about everything there was to see!  We also went to the Air & Space Museum and Arlington Cemetery.  Tuesday, we took the train to the National Zoo, which was a great visit.  Wednesday, the kids and I drove into Baltimore to walk along the waterfront and have lunch, and then we went out to Bel Air, MD to visit with all of the Coreas - Tony, Kate, and Nick and their families.  We headed back on Thursday, stopping at a wonderful state park in OH for the night and completing our trip by returning on Friday to Zionsville.  The kids actually did quite amazing on the trip; of course I was nervous being outnumbered for such a long drive. I also had thought I'd wait until the kids were older to do DC - but quickly realized there is a different set of things they see/understand at each age, and I think they really enjoyed it. I'd definitely do it all again!

Random trip pictures - 

Backyard games with Uncle John

Joseph Pierce explaining something VERY important to John Pierce

As long as there's a pool, these kids are happy (this is at John & Vi's club)

Photographic evidence from the beginning & end of the trip

At least they carry their own weight....

View from the patio at the state park hotel

There was swimming at least one time a day nearly every day of the trip

State park arcade room

The state park hotel had an indoor and outdoor pool

Fun w/ Uncle John & Aunt Vi

Washington, DC

First Metro ride for the kiddos

We were trying to figure out what ceremony was going on at Arlington - we encountered this group, and also experienced a lockdown where we couldn't travel down certain paths.  We later realized it was D-Day, so there must have been memorials going on

National Zoo

Pandas!

Baltimore

Joey lost a tooth while staying at Tony's - luckily, the tooth fairy found us!

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day weekend with college friends - Kate's and Gretchen's families spent Friday night at our house, and then we all headed to Kokomo to stay at Shelly & Rick's Saturday & Sunday nights.  The kids all got along great, and it was fun to catch up with my DG sisters!

On Monday, our neighborhood hosted an all-day festivity of a kid bike parade, water balloon fights, baseball game, and other "stations" throughout the day, culminating with a cookout.  It was a long and fun weekend to kick off the summer!

Photo opp with one of Shelly's signs.  We're missing Clayton, since Gretchen's family had to leave on Sunday.

All the girls - from left, going into 6, 4, 6, 3 grades

Melanie & Elise

Rides on the golf cart were just one of many activities for the weekend

The kid table at the local Mexican restaurant

Joey & Clayton

Playing with Rick & Sandy's dog

Neighborhood parade

End of School 2015-16

I'm going to attempt to retroactively document our whole summer by starting with the end of school and working our way through!  Here we go!

Kindy 500

Joey and buddies at Kindy 500

Union Singers' end of school performance

School's out ..... for summer!  Some celebrations

Neighborhood party

Half of the Stone Creek Drive kindergarten crew on the last day

The last day with Mrs. Sorgen

Last day of K & 2nd

Melanie with her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Masters

We were lucky to have Mrs. Sorgen for both of the kids' K years (she was Miss Compton when Melanie had her!)

Bonus K picture

Fun with Friends

Just a few random pics over the last couple of months with friends.  Jeff & I went to Arkansas in late March to help Aunt Barb celebrate her retirement from Subway.  The kids spent Friday night at the DeHarts, and enjoying the Union Spotlight Night - an amazing event that the PTO puts on every three years.  This year, the school was transformed into several national parks, and the students visited each area, learning more about the parks.  The pics were amazing, and the kids had a great time!  Saturday night of the same weekend, the kids headed to Fishers for a sleepover with Charlie & Sammie, and of course a good time was had by all!

With Alexsandra at Union Spotlight Night

Weekend lunch with girlfriends

Dinner with the Huffords

Proof that Melanie DOES love Lulu

Mrs. Sorgen's K class at Union Spotlight Night

The magic of Marc Lehman w/ Wyatt & Molly

Field trip to Kelsy Farms

Spring Break '16!

In the basement of the Sears (Willis) Tower

Exploring the "Bean"

Family Bean Time

Navy Pier

Gardens inside Navy Pier

Mel is proud of her first lollipop, Joey is proud of his new puppy

I'm sure Jeff's having more fun than it looks

Legoland!

In the jungle at Legoland

I love the look on Joey's face

All kinds of Legoland fun!

Intense game-playing with Becky

We made a whirlwind trip to Chicago over the second weekend of Spring Break.  The break itself was cobbled together with school Access Days, a sleepover at Gigi & Poppy's, having a neighbor sit for a few hours one day, and with my cousin Erica another day.

We left on Friday afternoon and spent two nights in Schaumburg.  The hotel pool, as always, was a big draw; we visited it at least 5 times.  We had a few good meals, spent all day Saturday downtown Chicago, showing them our old apartments, and then visiting Sears Tower (I still can't call it Willis - but Joey calls it Serious Tower, which is way better), Millenium Park, and Navy Pier.  Sunday we visited Legoland and then met Becky & Jeff for lunch at Portillo's.  All in all, many Chicago highlights were covered in well under 48 hours!