Trip to Indiana

Finally asleep! - Madison, Wisconsin

Madeline loves to play with Grandma during our visits.

This summer has been non-stop. David was back in Michigan City (IN) in June, however, the circumstances under that particular trip did not allow for the kids and me to go with him.  While looking at our calendar we felt that it was necessary to make a trip to Indiana to visit David's parents, otherwise we would not be able to get back there until October. Despite departing on a vacation the very next weekend, we felt that it was important to squeeze in a mid-summer trip.  It was a whirlwind trip, but very enjoyable for us.  Jonathan's last swim lesson was Thursday (7/18) and so we planned to depart right after swim class.  Due to our late departure, we also planned to drive only half-way on our first night.  Since we always bring our dog, Sobaka, with us on our trips to Indiana, this meant finding a pet-friendly hotel.  We called Madison, Wisconsin our home for one night and had a super big family slumber party.  Thankfully Sobaka is a good traveler.  The trip was our first attempt to travel without our port-a-crib for Jonathan and so bedtime was a nightmare.  Without the constraints of his own room and familiar surroundings, it took forever for Jonathan to settle down (Luckily the familiarity of David's parents' house made the Indiana bedtimes run smoothly)  But eventually, Jonathan and Madeline shared one of our room's double beds.  (That is if you can actually call it "sharing" as Jonathan turned out to be a bed hog.)

Walking a dune, on the way to the beach.

Although David's dad enjoys the break from routine and usual quiet, our 3-ring circus arrives and basically turns his house inside out and upside down.  My father-in-law is a good sport, however, I truly believe that although he is happy to see us and have the company, I would have to assume that he is probably ready to see us leave too :-)  We do, however, enjoy

A lunchtime beach picnic

our visits.  Despite this being a short visit, we enjoyed our time together. 

I am pleased that this particular

A summertime luau with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Carolyn

time in Indiana was more than just sitting in David's mom's room for our visits.  Prior to leaving for Indiana, I had coordinated with David's sister, Carolyn, and had her reserve a private dining room in the nursing home for one of the nights that we would be in town.  Together, we opted to have a mini-luau for dinner one of the evening we were in town.  Carolyn could probably open and stock

Jonathan loves his tote of make-believe items from Aunt Carolyn

her own Party City store and so she had supplied Hawaiian decorations for the room.  I cooked a bunch of tropical themed food and transported it all over to the nursing home so that we could enjoy dinner together as a family.  I was pleased that we chose to do something out of the ordinary for our visit.

Big thank you kisses

Jonathan was also super excited because our visit was just before his 2nd birthday.  Aunt Carolyn gave

A lunchtime visit with Grandma

Jonathan a huge tote of things for playing make-believe.  Due to the fact that Jonathan has an older sister, his world is still overloaded with Barbies, My Little Pony and the color pink.  Jonathan was thrilled with his tote of goodies and he & Madeline have since had much fun playing with these items together.

Why not?? We were in Wisconsin.

We also had a little time to head to the beach in Michigan City.  So many times our visits occur in spring, fall & winter.  Many times our summer visits do not allow for us to head to the beach - either because of prior commitments or poor weather.  This time, the weather was perfect and we made a point of visiting the beach that David grew up visiting.  David's childhood consisted of riding his bike to the beach.  And for me, another child of a Great Lakes city, I also enjoyed our visit to the lake.  Despite Minnesota having >10,000 lakes, there is nothing better than an afternoon on one of the Great Lakes.

Mmmmmm.....cheese!

Our ride home came way too quickly (although once it arrived it lasted wayyyyy too long).   And then, of course, stopping along the way is a necessity when traveling with kids - adding to our travel time.  Back in David's Marquette University days his pizza of choice was a Rocky Rococo (chain) and so we decided to stop there for lunch.  Certainly we couldn't pass up the Mars Cheese Castle that was nearby too.....Wisconsin. Cheese. Why not? Right??  We returned home on Sunday (7/21) ....just in time for us to unpack, do laundry and pack again for our next trip departure - 4 days later. Hectic? Yes. Worth it? Yes.