The trip home.

Sunday morning, after the wedding, we all woke up at our regular time of 7:00am.  Carl and Estelle were already gone and Audrey and Andrew had plans in Chicago, so we brainstormed a bit on how to spend our day since we weren't in any rush to drive straight home.  Pete mentioned Chicago but I didn't really have any clothes packed for a day in Chicago and spending a couple of hours in Chicago wouldn't shorten our trip home at all.

Then, Pete remembered the Children's Museum in Indianapolis!  The perfect way to break up our seven-hour drive home.  We got pretty excited as soon as we saw the building.

There were four floors of fun and we took advantage of every exhibit that was age-appropriate for Ellie.  First up was Discovering Dinosaurs.

 Ellie participated in an archeological dig,

 and met a paleontologist. Her daddy liked the real tooth from the saber tooth tiger best, while she liked the fish impression.

 But best of all, was dressing up like real dinosaurs!

Then we learned a little about Indiana railways, saw different sized models, and toured a real train car.

Ellie probably spent the most time at the next exhibit - a work of art by glass artist, Dale Chihuly.  The actual sculpture was on the floor above us (and extended 3 stories), but we got to view it from below and Ellie got to make her own 'glass' sculpture by arranging and rearranging pieces in the children's area.  It was the bean bag toss all over again!

The birth-to-four area wasn't the most fun for Ellie, but Pete found some entertainment.

And Ellie scaled some train tables.

She also liked the babe-sized tractor.

Of course, a children's museum in Indianapolis has to have a race car.

Ellie practiced walking on cans, and, to prove I was there, Daddy took a picture of our tea party with the bear family.

Last, but not least, we rode on the carousel!  This carousel was originally built in the early 1900s, and was refurbished in 1964 (or something like that).  Then it was moved one last time when it was donated to the museum.  We chose to sit on the three giraffes.

Ellie was pretty scared of it, and spent most of the ride clinging to Pete, but she was talking about it yesterday at breakfast, so it must not have scared her too much.  

 

 

After two-hours of fun, all three of us were ready to get back in the car.  This is pretty much how Ellie spent the last three hours of our trip home.  She woke up as we pulled off the interstate in Lexington.  Perfect.  

Our Littlest Flower Girl

Fair warning, this post has MANY pictures.

This last weekend Ellie had the honor of being the flower girl in Pete's first cousin Danielle's wedding.  The Crawford clan hails from Michigan, so on Friday morning, we headed north to Kalamazoo!  This was our first road trip since Ellie's car seat was flipped around, so we were a little worried about how well she would do.  I was armed with a tote bag full of books, puzzles, nesting cups, and even a tea set.  I had also bought Ellie a special road trip treat - a Magna Doodle!

We left pretty early, so for the first couple of hours Ellie rode quietly snuggling her loveys.  Then after a few hours she read a book, and I gave her her new toy.  SHE LOVED IT!!  We made 3 stops along the way, and still arrived in seven hours flat.  Ellie napped in the car at her regular time and was ready to go when we got to the hotel - so we unpacked the car and headed to the pool.  Then it was time for the rehearsal.  I felt so lucky that Danielle was really chill about the whole thing - she understood that Ellie was only two and might not even make it down the aisle, no less do it carrying a basket and walking with the ring bearer, Owen.

We had nothing to worry about!  Ellie was happy to trot from Daddy at the end of the aisle to Mommy at the front, holding Owen's hand the whole way. 

The rehearsal dinner was back at Danielle and Kyle's house.  Ellie spent about 45 minutes carrying the bean bags from one corn hole board to another, one by one.  It was so cute.  Then we all filled up on delicious food, while Ellie showed all our relatives why keeping up with her can wear us out a bit.  At her bedtime we just plopped her in a pack n play in one of the bedrooms so we could catch up with Pete's grandmother, her husband, and the rest of family that was there.  (best baby ever!!)

The wedding was not until Saturday evening, and our photo call wasn't until 3:45, so we had the whole morning to play in small-town Michigan.  We remembered a great slide from when we went to Ox Roast in September of 2011.  So we headed over to Lawrence, the town where Pete's dad actually grew up, and spent about two hours on pretty much the most amazing playground ever.  Lawrence has less than 1000 residents, so we're not sure how much use this structure gets.  I'm not sure who had more fun, Ellie or us.  Audrey and Andrew met us there after a little while, and we all had a great time spending the morning playing with Ellie.  

We decided to stop for lunch in Paw-Paw, the slightly larger town next to Lawrence, and ate at Red's Rootbeer Stand.  We had lunch here on our last visit, so this seems to be a new tradition of ours.

 

We decided Ellie was old enough to have her first root beer - the baby size - and were elated when it was delivered in its own mini-beer stein!  Ellie had a great time toasting us all as she enjoyed her sugary treat.

After nap, it was wedding time!  Ellie loved her twirly dress and was happy to run around prior to the event.  Pose for and smile at the camera, not so much.  Se la vie.

 

Ellie did SO WELL during the ceremony!  I couldn't have been more proud - she came right up the aisle to me and wasn't scared of all the people that hadn't been there during the rehearsal.  I, of course, had big alligator tears running down my smiling face.

Ellie was very well-behaved at the reception, and only got antsy when the dancing started.  We kept having to explain to her that there were "special dances" for other people to complete before she could run to the dance floor.  

She waited very patiently.

and waited,

and waited.

Finally it was her turn!!  She danced her little heart out - with me, with Daddy, and with herself.  She tried to dance with the ring bearer, Owen, but he wasn't as into the idea as she was.

 

We got back to the hotel just before ten, which was the latest Ellie had ever been up in her life!  She slept like a champ, and was up bright and early in the morning, ready for our trip home.

So glad we were able to make it up to Michigan - Congratulations Danielle and Kyle - we had a great little weekend getaway!