Creepy Crawly Fest

Last weekend, we went to Hawthorne Park for their 1st annual Creepy Crawly Fest. This is definitely not my idea of fun, but I know how much the girls (and Bobby) like snakes and creepy crawly things, so I thought it sounded like a great thing to do with our family. The herpetological society was there to give a presentation on snakes, lizards, and a turtle. There was also a bounce house, arts/crafts and face painting (which neither of the girls wanted to partake in). We were only at the beginning of the event as the event overall went from 3p-11p. If our girls were older, I think they probably would have enjoyed the entire event because they had a nature hike, scavenger hunt and an outdoor movie, A Bug's Life.

Both of the girls got to wear a live snake (yuck!) and both loved it!  They also got to pet different snakes. Not my idea of a pet to have around the house...but to each their own!

  

Happy 4th of July!!!

Traditions...

4th of July has always been a holiday I look forward to and it probably all comes from family get-togethers on the 4th for as long as I can remember!!!  I remember as a little girl always going to the North Liberty parade, then hanging out with family, eating lots of food all day long, then watching the fireworks either at Potato Creek State Park or North Liberty Elementary. It was always super hot, but we always seemed to have so much fun!

This year started off as a bummer, but got better. First of all, we stayed in Terre Haute (which isn't the first time), but also our main group of friends that we would have over for a cookout, most (not all) were out of town or had other plans (...traditions!). I had heard about a parade to attend in Linton, IN...almost an hour away and mentioned it to Bobby, but he had no interest so we didn't go (but we will go next time if I have anything to do with it because the 4th just isn't the 4th to me without a parade!). I was bummed and he knew it, so we made the trip to Linton in the afternoon, hoping to take advantage of their festival (little did we know the rides didn't start until 6p). On the way, when we were almost there, we passed Stoll's Country Inn buffet which is this amazing Amish food buffet restaurant that I have eaten at closer to Evansville, but had no clue there was one even closer to Terre Haute!!!  We decided to stop (good thing too because none of the food places were open at the festival either) and it was so yummy!  That was worth the trip to Linton in itself!  Since none of the rides were running, luckily they have a great city park with tons of different playground equipment for the girls. I think they played for 1.5-2 hours!

Afterwards, Bobby and Natalie headed to the Cosby's apartment complex to swim while I stayed back with Aubrey who was still napping. After pool time, everyone gathered at our place for an impromptu cookout before heading to Fairbanks Park for fireworks. They put on a great show!  Luckily Natalie thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks since prior to leaving our house if she heard a firework outside, she came running to the door sobbing because she was scared. I'm not sure if it was because of a group setting or not, but the noise did not bother her at all and no ear plugs were needed!  Aubrey liked them too and was not scared, but she did not want to sit still and it was obviously time for her to go to sleep, but both girls stayed awake through the entire fireworks show!  We enjoyed hanging out with the Cosby's tonight, making memories.

No pictures of our family of 4 since Bobby was working part of the time since he was on-call and by the time we could have taken a picture, the lighting wouldn't have been great.

Aubrey spotted this little boy right away...went right up to him and his mom and didn't say much or interact a ton, but I think she definitely had a crush on him...it was SO cute to watch. They are only a couple months apart in age.

Bubble Mower Fun

I remember using my bubble mower back in the day and the girls are loving using it after Aubrey got it for her birthday!  Brings back memories!  Natalie prefers to push it and Aubrey prefers to chase the bubbles. Now I just need to make/buy more bubble solution!

Impromptu Zoo Trip

My sister texted me last night around 11p, saying the girls needed to see their Auntie and we should either go to the zoo or Splash Island. I was unsure if we should go or not because Mondays are usually a "chill" day and after staining the fence yesterday, staying at home sounded like a good idea, plus I have a lot of cleaning, etc to do inside. However, I decided to make the trip. We got to the zoo around 12:30/1 and didn't leave until around 4. It was HOT and HUMID and really compared to previous summers it wasn't really all that bad, but with the mild temps we've been having, today was just hot!  We all had a great time, plus there is a splash park in the zoo, so of course we did that. We also saw the tail end of the dog show and the newest exhibit, the orangutans!!!  The facility is beautiful but super crowded of course since it is brand new. We didn't get a great view of them since the windows were swarmed by people, but at least Natalie got upclose and personal since she is so small and could find her way to the front!  The one I actually got to take a picture of looked so sad, but according to his sign of info, he is supposedly considered the most handsome/attractive in the orangutan world!

It was a great day and I'm glad we went.

Intently watching the walrus training