Family Vacation

We left early Monday morning and set out for an adventure in Indianapolis. Every time I tell someone where we went on vacation, I get the wrinkly nose and the cocked head and the skeptical "Really?" Yes, really! Indy is a great place to go for a couple of days with kiddos! The children's museum there is one of the largest (if not the largest) in the country, and it kept our girls entertained for over five hours. We dug at a construction site, sent billiards into a crazy maze of gears and pulleys, served ice cream in a real (use your imagination!) ice cream shop, rode the carousel, dug for fossils, toured an awesome dinosaur exhibit, and learned about all kinds of things. Jim and I really enjoyed it as well... Jim was fascinated by the train exhibit, and I loved the amazing sculpture of blown glass that started in the basement and went up to the fourth floor.

We had a bit of an adventure finding our hotel, but that was only because Indianapolis is very much like another city I know, in that the streets change their names at nearly every intersection. Always fun. We eventually found it, and didn't even have an argument in the process. (Remind me to write about The Times Square Fight sometime.)

We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti factory--my choice. This is one of my favorite places to go in big cities (I love the spinach-cheese ravioli), but I'm starting to wonder if it is mainly the quirkiness of the decor and the promise of spumoni that makes me think this is such a great restaurant. Our server was not so nice, and flat lied to me when I asked if the salad was romaine. He said yes, it was. The lettuce in my salad was white, people. White is the definition of iceberg lettuce, not romaine. I do not like iceberg. It is, as my friend Liz calls it, "the polyester of lettuce." Also, there is not one other item in this salad. Just a heap of white lettuce on a plate and dressing on the side. Not my fave. But the entree was delish and the lamps were cool, so it I guess it was good. I'm just wondering if maybe I've built the whole Spaghetti Factory experience up because of how cool it was to sit in the bed seats or on the trolley car when I was a kid. Must give this further study.

Tuesday we went to the zoo. Brynn's top three at the zoo (in order) were 1. getting popcorn, 2. seeing the elephants by the waterfall, and 3. the Enchanted Mill water play area. I liked the lions, the giraffes, and a ham of a polar bear who did everything but stand on two legs and beat his chest in his efforts to entertain a very appreciative audience. Jim liked the meerkats and the butterfly habitat. Katykins has not shared her favorites with us, but I would guess the elephants or the polar bear based on her squeals of delight and clapping hands.

Back at the hotel in the late afternoon, we went swimming. This was a monumental event for our family, as Jim is not a fan of getting in a pool for fun. In fact, I don't think he has been in a pool since we were engaged 15 years ago--wow. But after seeing how much Brynn loved it last summer, he decided he would try to get into it. So we bought him swim shorts and pool shoes and prepared for a fun family swim. It was a beautiful outdoor pool (which I prefer to the indoor variety), and not another soul was in sight so we had it all to ourselves. Brynn was super nervous when we first got in, but was kicking across the whole length of the pool with her floaties and a kickboard by the time we forcibly removed her from the water to go inside. We had a blast, and I feel safe saying we have converted Daddy to the joys of swimming. Yes!

We went out for dinner again that night and finished by splitting an extremely decadent dessert four ways. Yum! Wednesday morning we wandered around Circle Center Mall downtown for awhile. We shopped a bit and had a snack in the arts atrium which sits above a major downtown intersection. Then we piled into the car again and headed home. I admit I was bummed when it was over, and even more bummed to see Jim head back to work yesterday. It's good though. It couldn't have been that great a time if you're not disappointed to see it come to an end, right?

I hope you all (okay, the three of you reading this) have as much fun on your summer adventures!