Thanksgiving {Pokagon}

We had a mini vacation at Pokagon State Park for Thanksgiving this year. Even though it doesn't seem normal to me to go out of town and not cook your own turkey meal, it is a Hillebrand tradition and one that I look forward to. Surprisingly it is one of the busiest times for this park.

 

We got to spend lots of time with Aunt Erin and Uncle Chris. Ari was spoiled rotten by them and now he won't stop talking about all the fun things we got to do. It all started with this Thanksgiving cookie from Uncle Chris.

You can tell Ari is thoroughly enjoying the candy corn.

Thankfully we were able to walk off all the food on the beautiful trails. We took a picture at this location two years ago and Ari was riding in the baby pack.

The weather was cooperative and even stopped raining just enough for us to enjoy the campfire with s'mores one night.

Ari liked hiking but his little legs tired easily so he hitched many rides on Papaw.

He even got one from daddy.

Pokagon is known for its Toboggan run and opens the day after Thanksgiving. You know it's serious business when it gets you going over 35 mph. 

I was so nervous for Ari to go down but he was fearless and sat in front. He would yell "Wee-haaa!!!" all the way down and when we got to the bottom all he could say was "I want to do that again!"

This little peanut finally decided to roll from her belly to her back. What better time than Thanksgiving, right? (Ignoring the fact that she's almost 7 months!)

One day we went to Shipshewana, also known as Amish Country, and ate at the Blue Gate Restaurant. There  were several little shops to go in and this one had a carousel that Ari was intrigued by. A lady saw him and gave us two tokens to ride (costing $4)! We were thankful for her generosity and used 1 token for a ride and passed the other one on to someone else.

As innocent as she looks, she has been on strike and not wanting to eat solids. So I gave up the cereal while we were gone and have still yet to successfully have her eat more than the size of a dime since we've been back.

We visited more shops and stopped to take a picture with Curious George, one of Ari's favorite characters.

This store was one just for kids, but to no surprise I was able to walk through the kid door without ducking. At a recent Dr. appointment it was confirmed that I have shrunk 3/4''. I was banking on keeping this height for at least another 30 years. So much for that.

Being in Amish Country there were lots of horses and carriages.

We were waiting for our driver and the horse kept swishing its tail back and forth. Ari thought it was hilarious and exclaimed to the horse "Stop spanking your bottom!"

Another adventure was at the pool back at the hotel. Ari learned to do cannon balls which he wildly exclaimed were "caaannndddyyy bbaarrrrsss!" Eventually he realized we weren't calling it a candy bar and started saying cannon ball.

Sunday rolled around and we all had to say goodbye. Vacation always goes too fast. 

I wasn't exactly ready to come back to the hustle and bustle of life, but I guess that's what makes vacation so special.

life this past week

This is a frequent look on her face at the dinner table. She is anticipating Ari running from side to side. She thinks he's hilarious.

I think his snowman is melting.

Lynlee always asks to hold the baby, so I took advantage of them sitting still for .5 seconds.

Sorry if this next picture looks gross. I promise it was delicious. Most food is not picture worthy but after Ari saw this piece of chicken on his plate, he immediately proclaimed "Look! It's Oklahoma!" 

It's fun having both of them bathe at the same time. Ari enjoys dumping water on her head to help rinse her and I enjoy not having to get her baby tub and haul it downstairs and back. 

This past weekend AJ was out of town so I was trying to think of ways to make the time go more quickly. Since the weather was nice I took the kids to the zoo. The walrus was very cooperative in having his picture taken.

Ari on the other hand was a little hesitant in getting much closer so this had to do. 

Then Sunday I visited my friends Laura and Shawn. Their little bambino was born on 11/11/11 at 11:07 pm. Only 4 minutes away from 11:11 pm! He was so precious. And I didn't want to give him back. 

some photos {breana}

Let me introduce you to my cousin, Breana Whitaker. She is a photographer, and a fabulous one at that. In case you are in need of one she can be found on Facebook. (Which is where I stole this photo...is that legal?)  Even though she has no idea I'm plugging her on here, I don't think she'll mind.

I wanted to give you a visual in case you wanted to find her. Just so you know, I am not plugging her because she is my cousin. She is creative, artistic, fun, great with children, and a very hard worker. So here is a glimpse of what she did for us. I am going to have a hard time narrowing down which ones to print for our walls. Any suggestions?