Who knew Indiana had a gigantic duck to welcome you & that it could be such a blast!
(There are quite a few pictures ahead - sorry!)
We had a great time on our vacation with Brad's cousin Katie, her husband Nick, and their daughters Rae and Rian.
Even though these 2 had never met in person by the end of the week they were like brother and sister - fighting and all!
Teagan and Rae did a little better. Rae did very well sharing all of her things while we invaded her house. Her and Teagan shared a mutual love of baby dolls.
The boys golfed one morning so Katie and I earned our freetime and got pedicures. While we were out the dads took the kids to the park.
That night we meet Brad's other cousins Erin and Meghan for supper. They live about 2 hours away in Indianapolis. We didn't get to see them for long, but were glad to be able to hang out for at least a little while. The kids all had a blast!
We did spend a lot of time in the car - this is what Tate thought of the driving! Overall he was a good boy!
We spent Tuesday at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. It was a great day and a really great zoo!
They have a new African exhibit where you can feed the giraffes. They were close enough for us to touch and even feed. I got to do it since Teagan was a little concerned about their freakishly long tongues! So cool!
Tate went on his first sky ride. A little scary for mom, but he loved it!
Photo op! It always amazes me that we take so few family pictures.
Carousel ride. I failed to add the picture where I am actually sitting on the rhino with Tate. I would never live that down!
They had a great little log ride in the Australia section. The kids loved it - especially Brad rocking the boat and then almost being attacked by a black swan! For real - it was hilarious!!
Our last night we went to the new baseball stadium in Fort Wayne. It is awesome! There inflatables for the kids, lawn seats where the kids could run around, and of course stuff for the parents!
The parents.
This is Brad's cousin, Joe. So the 3 girls are his sisters and he still turned out pretty good! Tate and Teagan both fell in love with him and he was awesome with them!
So after the game kids (and parents) have the chance to run the bases. Teagan was excited, Tate had no idea, but loves to run. Here they are waiting.
Good thing I got a picture before they ran because I could keep up with Teagan. She was passing everybody! Plus my zoom stinks!
Here she is after finishing. They have a camera set up at home plate so you can see yourself on the jumbo-tron. It was really cool!
Here come Tate and Brad.
The mascot is the "tin caps". Not sure exactly what that is, but he was pretty cool. Tate, on the other hand, was not so sure! This picture is priceless!We had an amazing time and are kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner. Thanks again to Nick and Katie for putting up with us. Brad and his family have always been close (even if not by distance), but they have always welcomed me into their family and they are all great people. We are working on making this a yearly tradition. Next year - Williamsburg. Great! I better start planning now!
Now that I am home I have a huge list of things I want to do before summer is over for me. Don't worry - I will keep you posted!!
The kids got their pictures taken today and everything went great. Until they were over that is. While waiting to view our pictures Tate somehow hit his head on the couch in the waiting room. It swelled up and turned blue in about 5 seconds and is bigger than any goose-egg I have ever seen!
It was hard to get a good picture, but I think you get the idea. You might notice the scrape on his nose and above his lip. That happened later in the day - yep, not a good day for Tate!!
Here are Teagan's battle scars. She learned to ride her bike about a week ago and has done her fair share of falling. Her steering is getting better, but braking is a whole other story!!
I guess this is what I look like when I blog. Teagan got ahold of the camera again!
The boys! This is Tate's "cheese" face.
I know how you feel buddy! Back to the dungeon - if you don't hear from me soon come and dig me out!!
I found this at Hobby Lobby today - $13!! I have been perusing around for a plant stand for outside and was so excited to come upon this one today. 
I did a ton of painting today, but almost the entire kitchen is done! I will share final pictures when all the walls look like I want.
Below the cupboards is the next project.
Garage door - with border. Nice, huh? This was one of those "I own my first house and I can put up anything I want!" moments.
This is before rearranging, but you get the idea. The tile on the wall is what we want to use as the backsplash above the counter. Plus some kind of curtain and maybe blinds for the window. We'll see!
Here is the haircut part. Brad has cut Tate's hair ever since it was long enough to cut. We have never taken him anywhere - he does great with Brad. I love that he stands in the sink!
I wouldn't have to pack according to how much space I have in the van or worry about finding enough stuff to keep them busy during the ride. Can you imagine traveling like this all the time? It would be nice, but I am living a pretty good life the way it is!
Love it and just in time for vacation. Oh well, we will get plenty of use out of it when we get home! Have a great weekend everyone! 
