Trip to Indy

On Friday, Josh and I took the boys down to Indy to hang out with Britt and the kids at the Children's Museum.  We got an early start to the day and arrived right as it was opening.  Of course, it was already crazy crowded (duh, spring break...should've thought that through) but we were able to enjoy a couple of hours with the kiddos.






Dave was pumped to see Bumblebee as soon as we walked in.

Ike loved the carousel.  

Caleb claimed the lion as soon as we got in line.  

Zac along for the ride with Soph.

The kids all loved this exhibit in the science section.  It was like a giant version of the game mouse trap.











After this point, the museum got really crowded so I put my camera away to help herd the kids to one exhibit or another.  The new playscape is really nice, but it was really hard to keep an eye on all the kids.  Fun for kids, stressful for parents!

We grabbed some fast food then headed back to the Smith house to eat and play before we had to go back home.

Dave and Zac playing around.

Tried to get a picture of the cousins. You'll notice Ike's missing.

Found Ike sneaking a drink of ginger ale under the table.  

Josh got stuck wrestling with the big kids.








When we got home, we took the kids over to Barry and Divana's so we could go out to eat and enjoy a night without the boys!  First sleepover for Ike and he did great at grandma and grandpa's.

Spring?

Crazy Indiana weather strikes again.  I am really starting to feel like a broken record, but I am seriously over winter!  We have had a few nice days in the past couple of weeks, but nothing like normal.  It even snowed yesterday, what is up with that?!  Most afternoons we just get out and bundle up so the boys can get a little fresh air.  Of course, Dave complains most of the time and Ike screams when it is finally time to go inside.  

Anyway, rant over.  It has been nice to get outside recently and the kids have enjoyed rediscovering all of their outside stuff that was forgotten over the long winter!  Ike especially loves exploring now that he is older and notices more things in nature.






Cruising the yard.














This is from a couple weeks ago.  Thankfully it is all melted now!

The yard may be a little bit muddy  :)

Dave playing his video game on a day that was just too cold to go outside. 

Ike entertaining himself with glasses and playdoh.

Dave has gotten creative playing with blocks and all of his superheroes.  Here's a video.

Ike "fell" into the giant puddle in our front yard.  Loved every minute of it!











Just the little bit we have been outside lately has gotten us all excited for the (hopefully) nice weather to come.  The weekend's not looking great weather-wise, but we are looking forward to heading down to Indy on Friday to see Brittany (Josh's sister) and the kids and go to the Children's Museum.  Dave is obsessed with museums and we haven't been to this one in a long time.  Should be a good time. 

Visitors

Last weekend my dad and Kyra came up to visit us, along with my stepbrother Rob, his wife Molly, and Liam.  It was definitely a full house!  Ike was of course obsessed with Papa, and Dave got plenty of Ipad playing in  :)  Dave was also excited that Rob came up because they share a love of Transformers. 





 Grandparents with their boys.













Just lounging on the couch.

Grandma and Liam.

Dave and Papa playing in the front room.










We didn't do much since they only stayed one night.  Ike was constantly yelling at my dad to take him outside (he says "beee-o" when he wants to go out...we think he's saying bird).  We ate and just hung out for the most part.

In other news, we got Dave a shirt to wear with his new bow tie, so I took some pictures of the boys.  It involved lots of bribing as usual.

Seriously, every boy should be wearing bow ties.  Adorable.

A perfect representation of their relationship right now.












Dave does something to make Ike mad, then smirks like he has no idea what could have happened.  Classic.

Looking casual.












And finally, Bennett came over the other day and we had an impromptu dance party/jam session.  Here's a video of Ike and Bennett dancing.  

Ike was getting down with his bad self.  I don't think Bennett was impressed.

Bennett really enjoys playing that guitar!

17 Months of Ike

Every month I cannot get over how fast the time has gone with Ike.  I know it went quick with Dave, but it just seems to go even quicker with Ike.  I am sure it's the second kid and all that, but I really want him to slow down already!  He is saying all kinds of words and figuring out way too much stuff (yesterday he pulled a stool over to open the top drawer...turns out he was after some gum!). 

Our big guy has such an awesome personality, at least the times when he's not throwing an all out tantrum.  I was kinda hoping he'd be over the whole screaming to get his way phase by now.  Oh well, he is awfully cute most of the time  :)






Getting the month picture in, he didn't like the sign being next to him so he had to hold it.

Doing a modeling session in his new bow tie from Claudia.  Seriously cute.

And there's his usual self...crazy kid.













I am basically out of activities to keep Ike entertained indoors, so lately I have been letting him play in the sink and "wash" dishes.  He makes an unbelievable mess (we're talking at least 2 bath towels to soak up the floor), but it keeps him busy for a loooong time.

Look at that grin!











Dave has gotten pretty good at keeping Ike happy as well.  He loves to set up all the little people figures we have and let Ike knock them over.  So, when Dave's at preschool I get to fill in as the set-up guy.

Ready for the next round.  Here's a video of him knocking the people over.

He is super interested in all animals right now, and especially loves hanging out with the turtles.





I do make sure to keep an eye on him because he likes to poke at them and then try to pry their shells apart.  I am sure the turtles are in need of some therapy after Ike's tormenting.

As far as milestones go, I already mentioned his expanding vocabulary.  He will basically repeat any word that you say to him, or at least try.  His very favorite word right now is baby and he has a doll that he drags all over the place and must sleep with him at night.  His favorite food is definitely hummus.  A couple of days ago he went to the fridge and opened the door and started yelling, "hummy, hummy!".  Took me forever to figure out what he meant but he was extremely excited when I got it out for him to eat. 

He has started learning his colors, but really only just repeats them for now.  Dave is really good about working with him on stuff like that, especially whatever he just learned in preschool.  He is obsessed with being outside (this is probably true for all kids at this point!) and cries whenever we go inside.  And I almost forgot...he loves to play in vehicles.  He could spend hours playing in our van.  Just gotta watch and make sure he's not putting change in the CD player or leaving the hazard lights on and draining the battery.  :)

Quick Trip to Evansville

This weekend we came down to Evansville to get a car for Josh's work.  As an added bonus, we got to hang out with the family!  It went super fast, but we had a lot of fun :)

On Saturday we went over to grandpa's to meet his friend Jane and have some pizza.  Josh and I got to try out a new restaurant before we went over (it was fantastic, go visit if you're ever in Henderson, KY). 






Grandpa and Ikey.

Dave with Uncle Tony.

Ike was so excited to play outside!













We went over to dad and Kyra's to drop the kids off, then we went with Tony to the casino.  We played some penny slots and managed not to lose any money while we were people watching.  Then we came back to visit for a while before going to mom's for the night.

Ike conned Tony into feeding him a chocolate strawberry.







 Sunday we went to church with dad and Kyra then spent some time with them before the IU game (big win by the way!).  

Josh and Dad using the meat slicer.  They were super pumped!

Even though it got really cold, Ike insisted on going outside.

Loved knocking down icicles with papa Charlie!









It was forecasted to start snowing/sleeting so we went back to mom's and stayed in and watched the Oscars.  We got up Monday to some nasty roads, but made it back home by the afternoon.

Ike and Gamma reading before bed.













Well that's our quick trip recap.  Good times all around, hoping to make it a longer trip next time!