Whew! I'm finally back. No excuses, really. Sometimes you just need a little blogging vacation, you know?
We had a fun-filled few days with my baby brother, Kevin, last week. My 6' 5", 25 year old, funny, wicked smart, pop culture-lovin' baby brother. (He's available, ladies!)
We picked Kevin up from the airport Tuesday afternoon. Within an hour of being home the fruit bowl was transformed to this:
What is it about the Roper genetic make up that requires my fruit bowl to turn into a sugar-and-trans-fat-laden bowl of complete temptation? Sheesh.
We decided to brave the chance of rain and headed down to the Indie Zoo on Wednesday. The trip started off well enough, but within an hour it was pouring. We found shelter under a cafe overhang, then a pretzel stand tent, and then some trees. Finally, we just gave up and didn't care about getting wet anymore! The boys enjoyed splashing in the puddles, chasing ducks, and occasionally looking at the animals.
Here we are at the rhinos. They were fun because they kept scratching themselves on the big rocks around their pit. The rhinos, not the boys.
Despite the smile on his face, Spencer was something of a pill the entire trip. He kept whining about wanting to go home and play video games. I think he's addicted. Rotgut kid.
We ended up getting quite wet - but that's okay. It's not like it was cold or steaming hot.
Okay, maybe Spencer and I were the only ones who didn't mind getting wet. Trying to put things into perspective I told Kevin it could be worse - it could be super hot, with steam coming off of the pavement.
Within the hour steam was coming off of the pavement.
Oops. Whatever. It was still a fun and glorious (if a bit soggy) afternoon at the zoo!
It was supposed to rain most of the day Thursday, so we decided to hang out at home. Of course it didn't rain a drop, but whatever. Kevin played with the Spencer and Josh and I even got a nap. (Score!) Then he brushed up on his baby holdin' skills. (Have you ever seen a bachelor who was the youngest in his family hold a baby? Hilarious.)
Cole really liked his uncle, and showed his love by kicking him - repeatedly - for several hours. Fun!
On Friday we decided to do something I've wanted to do for the past five years I've lived here - visit historic Battle Ground, Indiana, home of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe. Woo-hoo! Nothin' but excitement when you visit the Madsens! Okay, but seriously, it was a gorgeous day and this was the kind of place Kevin and I grew up visiting, so it was only fitting that we went.
We started with a rather tasty picnic. (Why are picnics so fun? Does eating outside make the food taste better? Discuss.)
Then we played a rousing game of "Guess Which Tree Mommy is Thinking Of", where you run to a tree and then look at Mommy to see if that's the tree she was thinking of while she eats her lunch in peace. After a couple of rounds, Kevin joined in on the fun, too.
Oddly, the tree mommy was thinking of was often the last tree the boys ran to. Weird.
Spencer also worked on his mad table walking skillz.
Then we decided to go check out the monument, which was actually fairly impressive considering it's out in the middle of Indiana and all.
Good thing we had Kevin with us to point out that the General of the battle, William Henry Harrison (thank you Wikipedia, source of all Internet knowledge!), later became a United States president. In all honesty, I wouldn't have put the two together. See Spencer? Little brothers are good for something!
We also found this random staircase on the fence around the monument. Weird. What's the point of having a gate that closes and locks if there's a staircase like this a few yards away from it? (Obviously the point is to entertain little boys.)
We also decided to checkout the battle museum. It was typical of a local, small museum, but worth seeing at least once. The boys actually did fairly well, and loved looking at all of the antique swords and guns.
Spencer thought these were computer mice:
Since there was no sign to explain what they really were I couldn't convince him otherwise.
There was a short presentation about the battle with a super modern (can you feel the sarcasm?) fiber optic map. Of course we had to watch it!
Spencer asked who the bad guys in the battle were: the Indians or the soldiers? I didn't know how to answer... so I distracted him with an Indian teepee.
We finished off the day with a visit to...
... a random log cabin with a bench in front of it in the antique gun room...
... an apparently fascinating drinking fountain, and...
... the monument again, where much frolicking was to be had and...
... where you could also pretend to be an Indian.
Or blow kisses. I'm not quite sure what Kevin is doing there.
That evening Kevin got to experience the thrill that is LANily Home Evening. I believe Kevin's exact words about the evening were "I got my butt handed to me", but I think he still had fun.
It was a short trip, but fun. Thanks for coming, Kevin! (And thanks for footing the bill, dad!)
We had a fun-filled few days with my baby brother, Kevin, last week. My 6' 5", 25 year old, funny, wicked smart, pop culture-lovin' baby brother. (He's available, ladies!)
We picked Kevin up from the airport Tuesday afternoon. Within an hour of being home the fruit bowl was transformed to this:
What is it about the Roper genetic make up that requires my fruit bowl to turn into a sugar-and-trans-fat-laden bowl of complete temptation? Sheesh.
We decided to brave the chance of rain and headed down to the Indie Zoo on Wednesday. The trip started off well enough, but within an hour it was pouring. We found shelter under a cafe overhang, then a pretzel stand tent, and then some trees. Finally, we just gave up and didn't care about getting wet anymore! The boys enjoyed splashing in the puddles, chasing ducks, and occasionally looking at the animals.
Here we are at the rhinos. They were fun because they kept scratching themselves on the big rocks around their pit. The rhinos, not the boys.
Despite the smile on his face, Spencer was something of a pill the entire trip. He kept whining about wanting to go home and play video games. I think he's addicted. Rotgut kid.
We ended up getting quite wet - but that's okay. It's not like it was cold or steaming hot.
Okay, maybe Spencer and I were the only ones who didn't mind getting wet. Trying to put things into perspective I told Kevin it could be worse - it could be super hot, with steam coming off of the pavement.
Within the hour steam was coming off of the pavement.
Oops. Whatever. It was still a fun and glorious (if a bit soggy) afternoon at the zoo!
It was supposed to rain most of the day Thursday, so we decided to hang out at home. Of course it didn't rain a drop, but whatever. Kevin played with the Spencer and Josh and I even got a nap. (Score!) Then he brushed up on his baby holdin' skills. (Have you ever seen a bachelor who was the youngest in his family hold a baby? Hilarious.)
Cole really liked his uncle, and showed his love by kicking him - repeatedly - for several hours. Fun!
On Friday we decided to do something I've wanted to do for the past five years I've lived here - visit historic Battle Ground, Indiana, home of the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe. Woo-hoo! Nothin' but excitement when you visit the Madsens! Okay, but seriously, it was a gorgeous day and this was the kind of place Kevin and I grew up visiting, so it was only fitting that we went.
We started with a rather tasty picnic. (Why are picnics so fun? Does eating outside make the food taste better? Discuss.)
Then we played a rousing game of "Guess Which Tree Mommy is Thinking Of", where you run to a tree and then look at Mommy to see if that's the tree she was thinking of while she eats her lunch in peace. After a couple of rounds, Kevin joined in on the fun, too.
Oddly, the tree mommy was thinking of was often the last tree the boys ran to. Weird.
Spencer also worked on his mad table walking skillz.
Then we decided to go check out the monument, which was actually fairly impressive considering it's out in the middle of Indiana and all.
Good thing we had Kevin with us to point out that the General of the battle, William Henry Harrison (thank you Wikipedia, source of all Internet knowledge!), later became a United States president. In all honesty, I wouldn't have put the two together. See Spencer? Little brothers are good for something!
We also found this random staircase on the fence around the monument. Weird. What's the point of having a gate that closes and locks if there's a staircase like this a few yards away from it? (Obviously the point is to entertain little boys.)
We also decided to checkout the battle museum. It was typical of a local, small museum, but worth seeing at least once. The boys actually did fairly well, and loved looking at all of the antique swords and guns.
Spencer thought these were computer mice:
Since there was no sign to explain what they really were I couldn't convince him otherwise.
There was a short presentation about the battle with a super modern (can you feel the sarcasm?) fiber optic map. Of course we had to watch it!
Spencer asked who the bad guys in the battle were: the Indians or the soldiers? I didn't know how to answer... so I distracted him with an Indian teepee.
We finished off the day with a visit to...
... a random log cabin with a bench in front of it in the antique gun room...
... an apparently fascinating drinking fountain, and...
... the monument again, where much frolicking was to be had and...
... where you could also pretend to be an Indian.
Or blow kisses. I'm not quite sure what Kevin is doing there.
That evening Kevin got to experience the thrill that is LANily Home Evening. I believe Kevin's exact words about the evening were "I got my butt handed to me", but I think he still had fun.
It was a short trip, but fun. Thanks for coming, Kevin! (And thanks for footing the bill, dad!)
1 comment:
Ok, 3 things. First of all, Hobnobs. Are those Hobnobs in the fruit basket? They do say once you nibble, you're nobbled! Second, when did Kevin grow up? I still think of him as a kid with a paper route, and then I remember that was 1999 when I came and helped him with his paper route. And third, I'm glad "rot gut" is still in your vocabulary.
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