Welcome to the new blog! This has been in the works for an embarrassingly long time but it’s finally done. Armed with our new family pictures and a surprisingly empty weekend, I finally got everything up and running!
If you have the old blog saved as a bookmark or loaded in your blog reader, you’ll likely have to update all that information. The old blog should redirect you to the new one but it’s probably best to swap out the old blog address for the new one.
Please bear with me as I figure out how to use WordPress and let me know if something looks funky on your end!
Back when we were planning dates to go to Muncie for vacation, I had this wild idea to see if bobbi+mike would be available to do a family session for us. After some emails back and forth with Mike, I was able to schedule some time with them that magically fit in their busy wedding season, our Muncie trip timing and my very inflexible work schedule. I’m still surprised that it all worked out. I’m not exaggerating when I say I sent those first few emails to Mike asking about various dates and I literally held my breath when I opened his responses.
Mike had originally offered me a session at dusk (6:30pm-ish) or at dawn (6:30am-ish). Matthew and I are morning people but the thought of us all being ready and perky for a 6:30am session was intimidating. Its probably no surprise that I picked the dusk session. 🙂
After our day at the Children’s Museum and a late lunch of spaghetti, we all went down for naps. Photographer Mike had warned us that the session might go a little late and I wanted to ensure everyone was in a good mood for the full session. Mike and I woke from our naps first and started the shower/getting ready process. Once we were pretty much done, we woke the boys.
Matthew woke up completely cranky. He’s kind of anti-camera these days so we were trying to prepare him for the session as if it was the coolest thing ever (“we’re going to see Mommy’s friends and they’re going to take our pictures!!!”) and he was having NONE of it. He literally was screaming “NO! PI-CHURES!!!” at the top of his lungs and doing the “stop” hand at us whenever we brought it up.
Ian woke up cranky, whiny and with a migraine. If you know Ian, this typically means he’s going to be vomiting in the not too distant future. He also was refusing to take a shower. We gave up on the shower thing and gave him some medication in the hopes that the headache would go away.
Needless to say, getting ready and to the session was slightly stressful. I actually sent my mom a text that asked her to pray for us. LOL I promised the boys we’d go swimming at the hotel if they were good boys for our session.
We got to the session and the boys were AWESOME. I really don’t think it could have gone any better. It was so hot but it didn’t even phase them. They were completely taken with bobbi+mike’s antics. And based upon bobbi’s blog post, I think she and Mike thought the boys did pretty awesome too!
Here are some additional images from our session!
Needless to say, the boys got their swim in the hotel pool!
Our trip to Indianapolis was scheduled around a photography session but we wanted to make the most of our trip. Needless to say, heading to the Children’s Museum was a no brainer! I actually booked a hotel package that included tickets to the museum and the zoo.
Even though we couldn’t spend the full day at the museum, we decided to go to the museum on the first day. That way, if the boys were having a really awesome time and we wanted to see more, we could go back the second day to finish the museum off. Thankfully, we saw all we wanted on the first day.
The outside of the museum was so flippin’ cool.
On the planetarium side of the building, it looked as if dinosaurs were breaking out of the museum. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a wide enough picture to capture it all in one frame.
On the lobby side of the building, it looked as if dinosaurs were climbing inside.
Inside view:
The super cool exterior really set the tone for our visit. Everyone was so excited to go inside and check out all they had to offer.
Needless to say, we were all blown away when we walked inside and saw “Bumblebee” from Transformers on display!
Our first exhibit of the day was related to dinosaurs. I didn’t get any good pictures because it was pretty dark and Matthew was a bit freaked out by the big dinosaurs (fossils) and the simulated thunderstorm. LOL
After that, we went and checked out a train exhibit.
“Riding” the train:
We had to tear Matthew away from the train exhibit kicking and screaming (sadly, NOT an exaggeration) but our next stop was the ridiculously cool Dale Chihuly Fireworks of Glass exhibit:
This is the reflection of the ceiling onto the tile floor:
After that we headed off to the National Geographic “Treasures of Earth” exhibit. Neither boy was too interested in learning anything but were all about posing with the Terra Cotta Warriors and excavating in the pit!
The museum had famous replica works of art that were mosaics made out of Jelly Belly jellybeans. They were really neat.
Here is their replica of the “We Can Do It!”/Rosie the Riveter poster:
Hanging out with Diego, Baby Jaguar, Dora and Boots:
(I had to trick both boys into those pictures. They were being little stinkers.)
Exploring Egypt and taking a ride on NILE CROCODILE!!! (Little Einsteins reference!)
Chillin’ on the Sphinx:
Looking at a giant map on the floor:
Testing out an Indy car:
Playing in the water:
A friendly game of tic-tac-toe:
Ending our visit on a high note: on the carousel!
After our carousel ride, we decided to leave the museum. We got to see all the exhibits and it was about 1:30PM.
On the way back to the hotel, we picked up some Fazoli’s (fast food Italian/spaghetti) and ate in our room. The boys must have been starving because they ate a TON. I think Ian ate 5 bowls of spaghetti. I seriously think he ate more that afternoon that I’ve seen him eat in an average week. LOL
After lunch, everyone took naps to rest up for our photography session later that night.
Day 2, to be continued…….
The first day of our trip was mostly spent on the road. We left the house around 7:30-ish (I think) and got into Indianapolis around 5pm. The ride was pretty uneventful and the boys were well-behaved. I got to have Chick-fil-a for lunch so I was in happy. 😉
When we got checked into our hotel room, we noticed that there was a basketball court right outside of our building. Gotta love Indiana’s love affair with basketball! 🙂
After dinner at Buca di Beppo (YUM!), we got a basketball from the front desk and watched the boys play for a bit on the kid-size hoop (they had a regulation-sized goal on the other side of the court).
After that, we went up to the room to get settled in and ready for bed.
We set up the pull out bed for the kids and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. The big tv at the end of the bed was pretty fun too. 🙂
(That last picture was taken while sitting on the edge of our bed.)
I purposely reserved a suite for us in the hopes that the boys could go to bed early on the pull out couch and Mike and I could stay up later with the door closed to our bedroom. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Matthew was hyped up in excitement from the sleeping situation and would not hold still, keep quiet or cooperate with us. It was pretty clear that sharing a bed was out when Ian started complaining about Matthew keeping him up. LOL After threatening Matthew within an inch of his life, we pulled the plug on the shared bed endeavor and closed up the couch.
We had anticipated sleeping challenges so we had the portable cot with us just in case. We put Ian on the cot and Matthew on the couch and eventually everyone was able to get some sleep. Unfortunately, it was so late at that point that Mike and I ended up pretty much going to bed right away too. LOL
One hot, steamy Saturday morning in July, the boys were out playing in the backyard while I sat on the patio with my Kindle. After watching Matthew repeatedly try to climb into the sand and water table to bury himself in the sand, I suggested to Mike that we pack the boys up and go to Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. I knew the park had a beach so I figured it would be a fun way to spend the day.
The park opened at 11am so we stopped at Wendy’s on the way there and ate at a picnic table before heading down to the beach. The boys barely ate (of course). LOL
Done with lunch and ready to head down to the beach:
Matthew and I stayed pretty close to our set up on the beach. I was afraid to leave our belongings alone for too long. Thankfully, he was pretty content to play in the sand.
Going out to the water:
You can see Mike standing out in the water behind Matthew:
Coming back:
Going to get water to play in the sand:
Random Samulski trivia: Mike and I got distracted during the sunscreen application process and as a result, Mike never put sunscreen on his back. He got a wicked burn.
Please note the sand on the face:
Having fun in the sand:
Sand beard:
I love this guy:
He’s not too shabby either:
Ian making “sand angels” like the good little Buffalonian that he is. LOL
I was there too!
Showing me his surfboard moves:
I love this big boy!
