Trip to West Baden Springs Hotel

This weekend we headed down to the farm to visit Nick's parents and while we were there we decided to take a trip into the West Baden Springs Hotel. They have recently renovated and spruced up this really amazing historical hotel and it looks fantastic! I can highly recommend going there if you have the chance. Most of the pictures are in the gardens but the picture with Nick, me and the boys gives a good look back at the hotel itself. The interior is just amazing, although I was too busy trying to keep the boys in check to take any pictures there. The center of the hotel is this huge free-standing dome, which incidentally makes a really great echo if you're a little boy who enjoys screaming! I'm sure that the people who spent hundreds of dollars to stay at the hotel really enjoyed Andrew's screaming to hear his own echo!

Alex

Just a quick anticdote today...Yesterday Alex and Nick were building with blocks and Nick said "OK, I'll build the city hall, you work on the fire station." After a little while Alex said "Daddy, are you done with they silly hall yet?" Pretty darn cute if you ask me!

From the "I Can't Believe It Happened To Me" Files...

Last Friday something happened here that I still can't believe. I was getting ready to take the boys to the park so I'm running around the house gathering stuff up. Andrew was in the family room playing and Alex was basically following me around, making sure I didn't forget his juice. (Juice is like currency to my children--rare and very valuable!) I go over to get Andrew and notice that he's been playing with the phone. Nothing new there--he is fascinated by anything with buttons and the remote control and the phone are his current obsessions. He especially likes it when he hits the "Talk" button on the phone and it turns red--big fun. So I put down the phone and scoop him up to get loaded into the car.
I get both boys in and start loading up all the stuff we need (which isn't easy since we're having car trouble currently and having to change cars around a lot but that's another story!) After lots of in and out to the house, I'm getting ready to get in the car and a very large police officer is walking up my driveway. "Is everything OK here, ma'am?"
"Yes," I say thinking, "Well, Alex was crying because he couldn't have his juice right away but I don't think that counts as child abuse...did the neighbors finally call Child Protective Services on me???"
The officer says "We got an incomplete 911 call from your house and wanted to check to make sure you didn't need any assistance."
"Nine one one call?!" I say...what is he talking about?
"Yes, someone called 911 from this location." Then it dawns on me...Andrew and his phone addiction.
"OH MY GOODNESS! It was the baby, sir!" He looks at me like he's heard that one before. "I am SO SORRY! I can't believe he actually managed to call 911...I really am so sorry!"
He says, "But everything is really OK?" I think he must think I'm fleeing with the children due to domestic violence or something.
"Yes, everything is fine...I'm just so sorry...thank you for coming...Sorry again!" I go inside and look at the phone I had taken away from Andrew. The screen says "9119" and the red "Talk" button is still on. How in the WORLD did a one year old manage to hit that and then "Talk"...what are the odds???!???
So that was our Friday adventure in law enforcement. Tune in next week when Alex will call the fire department and tell them our refrigerator is running...

Nick and Amy's California Trip

A couple of weeks ago, Nick and I headed to L.A. Nick was there for business and I tagged along for a mini-vacation. The plant Nick was visiting was in Ontario, California, which is a distant suburb of Los Angeles. Ontario is truly beautiful! I couldn't believe how GREEN everything was, especially since everyone has been under a drought there for a few years. They must break some serious water laws to keep that town looking good! It was almost Stepford-green, it was so nice. Nick had to work Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday so I was on my own in the wilds of Los Angeles.

On Thursday I headed out, armed only with my map, to a really beautiful part of the coast called Palo Verde. I visited some gorgeous gardens there as well as a remote rocky beach. The pictures are pretty but don't do it justice!

Friday after Nick got off work we headed into Santa Monica for lunch and then Hollywood to do the whole tourist thing. Nick had never seen it so we did Graumans Chinese Theater with the hand prints and then the Kodak Theater where they host the Oscars. On the way there we drove through part of Beverly Hills but I didn't see any swimming pools or movie stars... :)

Saturday we were off to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. True to form, I had done all my research and we didn't have to wait more than 20 minutes for a ride--pretty impressive for a Saturday, if you ask me! For those interested, California Adventure is the new theme park out there but I can't really reccommed. It was fine but nothing I would have paid the extra money for. Disneyland didn't disappoint, even though we'd been to Disney World and the Magic Kingdom the month before. Yes, we do love our Disney!

Sunday, it was back home to our boys who I don't think missed us at all! It even took Andrew a minute before he recognized me, I think. Overall, it was a very nice get-away and I'm so glad we were able to do it!

Monday, Monday...So good to me?

Ahh, yes, Monday's. A stay at home mom's worst fear. Not really, but it is rather daunting to see a whole week stretched out in front of you. This morning I am headed to the Children's Museum with the boys. Later on we'll be taking a meal to my BFF Allison who just had the prettiest baby girl on Friday night AND moved to a new house on the same day (you go girl!).

Alex and Andrew are sort of playing together at this moment. Basically this entails Andrew trying to ruin whatever Alex is doing and Alex saying "Andrew, NO!!!" which is followed by Andrew screaming at him. This can go on for hours, if I let it. At least they are acknowledging each other's existence, which they didn't do for the longest time!

Andrew has started walking pretty well. He can take 10 -15 steps in a row and actually cover some distance. He still prefers to crawl, though, since its faster and safer at the moment.

OK, I guess I'd better get everyone dressed and ready for the museum. I can smell that Andrew has left me a precious gift in his diaper just now...what a treat in the morning!!! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Well, amidst pressure from all around, I have given in and decided to start a blog! It probably is the easiest way for me to share what's going on with us although I know this absolutely won't be updated daily! Feel free to check back in whenever you feel the need for a Lents fix!

Today is Father's Day so its Nick's day to enjoy doing whatever he wants. Alex and I made him a smoothy this morning and now we'll be off to church, followed by some relaxing time later today, I'm sure.

This last week Alex, Andrew and I went to a Touch-A-Truck event where we met my friend Allison and her son Evan. There were all sorts of cool vehicles for Alex to explore and he said he liked the helicopter the best. As always, Alex isn't really into taking pictures but at least I have documentation that we were indeed there!