Austin's 17th Birthday

Austin turned 17 on Wednesday.  We had dinner with the grandparents to celebrate.  We thought it was a good time to capture the "whole family" on Kevin's side.



Including their goofy side....c'mon Grandpa!

Despite the little chill in the air, Camden wanted to play outside.  I captured a few cute pictures on PaPaw's porch.

Austin loved his new eReader (he'd been borrowing one from school for the last month). 

Art and Language

On a shopping excursion on Monday, I found a great little artist easel on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I knew Camden would love it.  One side has a dry erase board with clips to hang paper so she can paint/draw; the other side is a chalk board.  She is very anxious for me to get some paint and let her show off her skills.

It also came with a huge bag of magnet letters and symbols that she can stick to the board.

She had a ball with it last night...and she does continued to amaze me with her knowledge. She knows A for Austin (or Bubbie), M for mommy, G for GaGa, D for Daddy, and, of course, C for her.  She always points those letters out on everything - books, signs, stores, etc.

At school they are beginning to work through the alphabet and focus on a new letter each week.  I think they are on D.  She knows B goes "ba" and that it starts ball and balloon and baby.  She also has been saying "ka, ka, kite" lately.  Basically, I knew she was getting the hang of some letters and sounds.  This one cracked me up, though.  She held up the letter "X" and asked me what it was.  After I told her, she responded....

Got Milk?

Camden told me she wanted a drink.  I heard her go into the kitchen and open the fridge.  That's not unusual, but generally means I need to follow her and make sure she's not doing something she shouldn't or getting something that she needs help with.   I found her in the living room and discover she had gotten the almost empty carton of milk, hopped onto the couch, and was chugging it!  Not sure where she has seen that or why she thought to do that.  I did explain that we need to use a glass when we get a drink; although I think between the stiffled laughs and taking the picture, she may have gotten a mixed message. 

The Park

When we decided not to find an alternative swimming pool for our outing last week, I decided to try indoor playplaces.  Camden loves "the cow place" because it's not too big.  She has gotten overwhelmed at bigger, more crowded, loud places.  I searched online and found what one writer called, "Indy's best kept secret."  There is a church just outside Zionsville (actually just off I-65 exit at Zionsville) that has a free indoor playplace that is open to the public from 8am-8pm.  It's called, "The Park."  It's huge, clean, and did I mention, free.

I thought she might balk at the size, but the noise level was good and it wasn't too crowded.  She jumped right in and started climbing.

The other girl in the above picture was a big help and assisted Camden whenever she was unsure or did get overwhelmed.  They also had a very small "toddler" area that Camden played in as well.  Surprisingly she prefered the bigger stuff.

She also liked that it had a big open area where she could run and kick balls.

It shocked me when Camden was willing to climb up the stairs in the tree to get to the top of the 2-story slide.



The height didn't bother her at all.  However, when she made her way to the slide entrance there were about 3 other girls hovering around, squealing and blocking the entrance.  Camden decided it was not something she wanted to do, so back down she came.  I was impressed, none-the-less.

Pleasant Surprises

Camden has been asking to go swimming a lot lately.  With her doctor's appointment scheduled for early Wednesday morning, we decided to make an "event" of it and Priceline a hotel for Tuesday night in Indy.  We always do a 2 1/2 star since they usually have a pool and free continental breakfast.  I put in a fairly low price and was pretty confident on the few hotels we would probably get...all fitting our desired objectives.  Sure enough, not a minute after "submit" the message flashed..."Your bid has been accepted."  Followed by..."and we've upgraded you to a 3 star."  Okay, normally that is a reason to be exceedingly happy.  But I knew immediately we could be in trouble.  Sure enough - great hotel, but no pool and no breakfast. UGH!

Since you're locked in (and believe me I called to see if we could argue that fact since it was an upgrade I didn't ask for), we made the most of it.  I did a search for indoor pools in Indy and discovered there are actually options (good to know for the future), but on a Tuesday night, they were more limited than we liked and we decided to do something else.  I found a great indoor playplace (next post) where Kevin and Camden met me after work.  We played for about an hour then checked into our hotel and headed out for dinner.

I had also researched "kids eat free" deals in Indy, but we weren't thrilled with our choices either.  We ended up at Chili's because Kevin and I love their chips and salsa.  Camden made friends with the little girl in the booth next to us.  They colored and fed crayons to the turtle statue and entertained all the waitresses.

When we got the bill, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Tuesday is "kids eat free" at Chili's.  Sometimes, things just work out! 

Speaking of which, the hotel ended up being a very pleasant surprise as well.  No they didn't have a pool, but they did have AIRPLANES.  We were at the Radisson at the old Indy airport.  All the planes fly overhead to land at the new airport.  As we parked, the first one went over and we all squealed in delight.  We stood outside for a few minutes watching.

Our room ended up being on the "right" side of the hotel to watch them the rest of the evening.  This was really about another hour before bedtime (and Kevin heading off to work), but Camden sat in the window and watched and cheered them on the entire time.

I have a few great videos that will hopefully be posted soon (they wouldn't upload last night).  Camden just really couldn't get enough - the sounds, the lights, the closeness of it all. 

She woke up in the morning and immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the window to watch them again.  She didn't even realize how close we were.

We are planning another hotel stay at Easter, so we'll get to swim in the not to near future, but this Priceline "error" was a nice blessing in disguise.

Ear Update

Yesterday we returned to the ENT in Indy for a follow-up to make sure there was no fluid behind her ear drum.  This was the final step in determining if the ordeal earlier in the year was "real" and if tubes would be necessary.  The final verdict....everything is clear.  No need for any procedures!

We have spent the last week getting Camden ready for this appointment.  Lots of talking about it.  Promises of no shots and no bandaids.  Talk of going to the "cow place" (Chick-fil-a) afterward - if she didn't throw a fit.  Reading books about Big Bird and Elmo going to the doctor.  By the time we were driving to the appointment she was excited to be going.  "No scream, no cry."  "Doctor - yea (clapping hands)!" Good!

That was until we pulled into the facility.  "This isn't the doctor, Mama."  Uh-oh.  "I want the elephant" (one of the rooms at her pediatrician has an elephant examining table.  We had talked once about it not being at her regular office, but I didn't really realize she didn't get it.  "I'm scared." We talked briefly (it was 15 minutes until her appointment) about being scared and that nothing different was going to happen...no shots, no bandaids, cow place afterward. 

She was fine in the waiting room.  But she wouldn't walk onto the scale (typical reaction, just not sure why).   Tried bribes, but ended up having to weigh her on the "baby scale."  Not a good start.  Waited in the room and read about Big Bird at the doctor again.  When Dr. Trigg came in, we had some whimpering.  I had to hold her on my lap and she cried the whole time, but she didn't throw a fit and she let him look in each ear a LONG time.  I figured that was a big step forward.  She really was trying her hardest. 

On our way out (and on our way to Chick-fil-a),  I thanked her for letting the doctor examine her without throwing a fit.  I talked about doing better next time and simply letting the doctor do what he/she needed to do.  I tried to reassure her by saying that it wasn't bad and the doctor didn't hurt.  "Yes it did, Mama."  One day, I hope she isn't scared about going to doctors...too many bad experiences have left her feeling overwhelmed each time....I can live with baby steps for now!

Wild Girl

Camden and her daddy have an almost nightly romp on the floor.  It exhausts them both, but she loves to giggle and squeal while he chases her or lifts her up in the sky.

She's left with wilder hair than normal!

Couldn't Resist

On our Saturday morning shopping run to Wal-Mart, Camden and I took a detour through the toy section.  This makes Camden soooo happy.  There are certain aisles that she lingers over a bit longer than others.  Her favorite aisles have toys with buttons that can be pushed for sounds.  Her second favorite are the balls.  When we were leaving, we came across a display of giant bouncy balls and neither of us could resist.  They looked like so much fun! 

Watch Out Michelle Wie!

Our night out this weekend was to Olive Garden and the mall in Lafayette.  Our waiter saw how much Camden loved her tomotoes and brought a whole plateful for her.  The scowl on her face does not indicate how much she enjoyed them.

At the mall, our first stop was Dick's Sporting Goods.  Kevin is getting "golf fever" and went straight to that section.  He couldn't resist the kids clubs and found the perfect set for his baby girl.  She still needs a little work on her form, before we will buy her a real set!

It's Grillin' Season

We grill throughout the year, but once Spring hits, it's a rare night that we don't grill.  While it is not yet Spring, and the weather wasn't fully cooperating (notice winter coats and flip flops), it was still wonderful to fire up this bad boy and have yummy grilled burgers earlier this week.  Daddy had a big helper to get things rolling! 

73 Degrees!

Time for a trip to the little park down the street!