Partisipation REQUIRED

OK I am not giving the details yet but would like you to vote in the comment section which of the above photos you like best.We will call them yellow or purple. These are both Straight out of the camera shots. I waited with baited breath.....

ARRRG .... Geocaching,Nuptials and Nashville.

Well when I last left you we were in northern Indiana Amish county. Well on Friday morning we ventured over to beautiful Kendallville for the "Midwest Geo Bash" a huge multi-state geo- caching event. We registered and got our free gift and name tags . Then we shopped around a bit and looked at some of the cool new containers they had for sale. This years theme was pirates. Bella loved it she was checking out all of the "booty". She even got a geo caching tattoo. We stayed until noon and headed south.

After stopping at home and dropping dirty clothes off and re-packing the suitcase we drove down to Louisville. My Mom came down and joined us after work . Then her and I took off for Horseshoe.While Adam and Bella went to a local festival then took a dip in the hotel's pool.Mom wound up winning about $100 and I won 13.25 I only came home with $2 though because I bought a pair of sunglasses at the gift shop. The main difference is Mom was playing craps for 2&1/2 hours and I played nickel slots for about 15-20 minutes. As soon as I get up I quit instantly. One machine I was down about $4 and then when it went up 10 cents over my orginal I cashed out. Mom was cracking up. I enjoy going just to watch the craps tables. It's fun and I can roll for Mom too and that keeps it interesting.

We got up early Sat morning and hit the road for Nashville.

The hotel was pretty nice and it was right downtown. We didn't tour much since I've been to Nashville a lot. I went to bed and slept and Adam went out caching. Then we went to Edie's wedding. It was in a really nice cathedral and it was Catholic but not full mass so it wasn't too long. The reception was in a cool little bar they rented out for the night and it was decorated really cute. Over all it was really nice and I am so happy for my Friend. Her she is with her dad an of course a shot of her cake.

Then we were up early on Sunday and headed back to Louisville as Adam HAD to do a few caches here.

It was a pretty cool place. You should go visit sometime.

Angling,Amish and Amazing vacation!

We went on a tour of northern Indiana that has been a blast. We went to our friends lake house and hung out,fished, and went to Amish country. I had never been to Shipshewana but wanted to visit a local bakery there. I had bought some awesome stuff they make called nutty crunch from the last year at the covered bridge festival and I had to have some more. So since they have no phone I knew they were somewhere between Middlebury and Shipshewana so via word of mouth we found it. I also bought some fab cinnamon rolls. I managed to almost single handily eat the entire container of it. Adam calls it "Amish Crack"

It was a beautiful area . I just don't think I could live there. I did love the laid back atmosphere for a few days though. Sometimes you just need that.

That's another reason the lake house was so fun. It was nice to do nothing and just hang out. The boat wouldn't start so we didn't get to go out on the water. Bella was disappointed but not as much as me. She was OK once Adam told her he would take her fishing though.

We all had fun ,they fished and I took a lot of photos. Bella caught about 10 fish in about 20 minutes and we were fishing right off of the boat that was still at the dock. She even held the fish a time or two. What a tough kid.

I made this cool ID card on flickr. I love playing around with all the options they have available. Tomorrow I am planning on doing a post about the wedding we went to last night.It was a nice time and my friend was so happy and beautiful.More later....

Fair,Food & Fun

Welcome to the Indiana State Fair. We went on Wed ,Opening Day to see the hot air balloon race. We went last year and a few years ago and I am prepared to make it a family tradition. I love the cool crisp morning air. Seeing all of the people running around to get their balloon in the air is fun too. Then to see it through Bella's eyes is even better. She was truly disappointed that she wasn't offered a ride in one though.I guess after this incident I am OK with it.

HERE IS YOUR ONLY WARNING OF WHAT'S BELOW

Bella has yet to learn the 1st rule of the animal barns. Watch where you step! Like any good mother I snapped a picture instead of rushing to her aid. Don't be to harsh on me ,I had to clean the shoe.

Adam's hope with most animals is that he will see them on his plate! Bella loved hanging out in the barns and petting all the beautiful animals. She even forgave the poo after awhile.

She really took a liking to this mule named Mandy. We even got to go into her stall thanks to a nice owner. She also really loved the cat show . Which in all my years of the state fair(nearly 40) I had never seen. It was hidden away behind closed doors ,like they wanted no one to find it. It was really cool all of the effort folks put into "dressing up" the cat's cages.

Who knew the were so interesting?It may explain why I am not a "cat" person though. I am going to close with some pictures of food and floral and shots around the grounds.

What are you waiting for "GET TO THE FAIR"

This blogs for YOU!

I am posting these pictures of the Pedicure and Manicure I gave Bella today . Only for spite as my good friend was chastising me for doing feet posts last week. I also wanted to show Granny and Grandma Bella's sweet little tootsies. Too Cute!!! Guess it's time for the peep toes again.

Rainy Days and Mondays...Oh wait it's Tuesday

I don't mind rain too much but it was a bit much today.Here is the pond. Normally it looks like this but not today. I have not figured out yet how to take a picture of rain.Ronda are you listening?

I was up at 5 am this morning to go to the gym for 3 reasons. #1 Adam wanted to go to the recycle place and it opens at 7:30 and he has to leave home by 7 to get there when it opens. #2 The trainer says early morning cardio is best because you go before you eat and it burns store fat instead of things you just ate! #3 We had a play date appt at 11 am this morning and I didn't want to be late for it. Gym opens at 5 but childcare doesn't start till 9 and by the time I get workout and shower done it's usually 11. I drug myself into the gym at 5:30 in the pouring rain. I should get a cookie. Oh you say that defeats the purpose ... OK fine!

Then my friend called and said you know it's pouring rain so I suggested we go here instead. It was fun, we had a chance to visit while the girls played. I got to hold Mr. Man <---- her son and Bella got some friend time along with some new books. Then we decided to go here and pick up some lunch to take home. We got one of these and it was awesome. I kid myself that it is a better choice but I couldn't avoid seeing the grease on top when it was cooking. But YUM! it was

De-litefull ;o)

One good thing about today ,it was a school day. Bella and I have been trying to get in a routine of doing school type work every morning . She is loving it and will actually ask me if it's time for school yet. She probably enjoys the one on one time and complete focus on her and I don't blame her. It's easy as a Mom to get side tracked with lots of "busy" stuff and forget she needs her special time with Mom. We got this workbook at Sam's Club and off we went...

I am so excited that she enjoys it and when we do works she calls me teacher and I'll say something about "Mommy" and she'll say "No, Your the teacher Mom"

Today we learned the Letter "J" as in Jacket

Then the Number "7"

Then we went on to work on opposites and what it means when a store is open or closed.

I just hope she'll feel that way when she's 15

Lifting and Swiming and so on...

I'm totally lifting this off Ronda's blog, but like it, so I think that's acceptable.
Appetizer - If you learned today you were going to die tomorrow, name three things you would do?
1.) Tell my family how much I Love them.
2) Spend as much time with my family as possible.
3.) Do the above on a cruise around the world.
Soup - What is your very first memory?
Being in a crib and having my step dad tell me my Mom was gone and not coming home
Salad - Name one service you are willing to pay for and one your not.
I pay for a pedicure and nails. I don't like it when I do it myself and it's a nice relaxing time for me. Fixing up around the house ,painting etc seems like a waste even if they are way faster and better at it than Adam and I.
Main Course - Do you make your bed every day?
Not every single day but almost


Last night was men's night out and Adam went out. So Bella and I went over to Mom's house for a dip in the pool. We got there pretty late but that was nice. The sun was going down so it wasn't so hot but it was still hot enough for the water to be quite warm. We splashed and jumped and played for a long while. We tried to bird watch the little starlings that were coming up to take a bath in the run off water. Bella is just to loud and busy , those birds never saw anything like her. She kept asking"Where are those birdies going" The she would hoot and holler. See a few pictures I took below.

So far today I have cleaned my room and made my bed(whoo hoo) Cleaned Bella's room and picked up her bathroom. I have washed 3 loads of laundry and folded 2. Packed up most of our suitcase.Did church bills and the deposit.Went to the bank,gas station,Red Box, Blockbuster and Panera too. Now I just have to unload and reload the dishwasher ,balance the checkbook,finish washing laundry so I can finish packing our bags. Heck I've got it made!