Cleaning Trouble

While Mommy was cleaning, Lillian was having all sorts of fun.

First, she tried on all of mommy's tank tops (she thought they were the better as a necklace then a shirt). Lillian loves to open drawers and play with what she finds.


Then it was off to find a new hiding place

There is no better way to get out of the way then to climb in the nightstand.

State Fair

Sunday after church we traveled as a family to the fair grounds for the final day of the Indiana State Fair.

This sure isn't the Farncombe Garden and Flower show but it was a lot of fun.

Lillian enjoyed riding in her buggy through the different exhibits.

Those are some nice looking pumpkins and potatoes.

Look, at those gourds.

We have a winner!

Both girls loved the massive pumpkins

Lillian just couldn't understand why she could not touch them.

This one is definitely ripe and ready to go.

We had to check out the apples in honor of Miss Emma.

Then Daddy and Madi found the prize winning pumpkin and just had to get a closer look.

On our way to the wine exhibit, we stopped for a much talked about Jumbo Strawberry Short cake. While it was good, the Sparkman's only gave it one thumbs up.

At the wine hall, we located all 6 of the Hopwood Cellar wines (Great job Ron!) before heading out to the food stalls.

A quick stop at the Corn stall for Lillian (they gave her a free stub of corn) and we were on our way.

She loves her corn.

My favorite part of the fair was the BIG pigs. Madi thought they were all named Wilbur like in Charlotte's Web.
Boy, did it smell in the exhibit arena but it was fun to check out the the winners and watch them waddle by.

Food stop #2- Potato Ribbon (not as good as it looked but worth a taste)

Rob finally got his much desired Deep Fried Snickers

Both Madison and Lillian loved getting a taste

Lillian needed 2 just to be sure it was good.

A walk on the ledge, as we headed to the exit was the perfect way to end our fair adventure.


With Monkey's tail in hand, Lillian finally gave in to a much needed nap.

It was a great Sunday afternoon for our family.

Adventures to Chicago

While Daddy headed to Florida for Grammie Ellie's birthday, the girls and I headed to Chicago Friday afternoon with Nana.

No trip would be complete without a hot dog from the ONLY hot dog stand worth visiting.

Lillian loved her first Gene and Jude's hotdog.

But she preferred it without the bun.

It was the perfect late night snack at our hotel before heading to bed.

Saturday morning began with a trip to the hotel pool and then lunch with family: Aunt Nancy, Aunt Susie, and cousin Nicole. Then it was on to the Science and Industry Museum downtown.

Lillian enjoyed the baby scape area where she climbed through the blue tube...

and captained her first ship (just like Grampie)

Madison and Nicole enjoyed testing the different experiments (using water to keep a ball floating)

Cranking a conveyor belt to move the shape blocks through the machine.

We left the Kid Zone and headed to space an the other museum exhibits, where Madison documented her first trip the moon

and enjoyed a bit of clowning around with her cousin.

The highlight of the museum visit was the Harry Potter exhibition. Madison could hardly contain her excitement as we waited in line for our tickets before she raced to see the real Harry Potter car. The exhibit was VERY expensive but really cool to see.
Our favorite part was waiting for our designated time (4:53pm) and answering the Harry Potter trivia questions.
The exhibit was filled with props and costumes from the Harry Potter movies, as well as, Hagrids hut and a few replica figures of Dobby the house elf, Buckbeak the Hippogriff and a Dementor.

After the museum we piled back into Nana's Rav4 and headed to Applebees for dinner together.
Aunt Marge (next to Lillian) was also able to join us for dinner.


Sunday morning the girls went swimming with Nana and then we headed for Omi and Opi's. We celebrated Opi's birthday at our favorite greek restaurant, Connie's before heading back to Indiana.


It was a lovely visit with family.

Lilli's Summer Smiles

Summer flowers and shades!

All smiles!

Look out 2nd Grade- Here comes Madi!

Summer flew by all too fast for some, but not for Madison. She was ready to go back to school.

Madison will be returning this year to Bridgeport Elementary and is excited to join Mrs. Gilbert's 2nd grade class.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the school for a meet and greet with her teacher and dropped off her supplies.

We also learned that her class is the lucky class to have 2 class pets- a bearded dragon (who eats pineapple) and a rabbit. Madison could not be more thrilled.

She happily skipped down the road to the bus stop at 7:40am headed for her newest adventures.

Story time for Monkey

After a long morning of playing, it was time to read Monkey a story before laying down for nap.

Summer Splashes

Summer is drawing to a close and school is starting right around the corner so Sunday afternoon our family (plus Nana and Pa) headed to Splash Island for an afternoon of fun.

The slides were the biggest hit of the day and it was great to splash into cool water after standing in the 93F humidity.

It was a great family afternoon and a fabulous way to end summer.