Cousins Trio

As many of you know Madelyn has been taking piano lessons since February, and we thought it would be fun to have her cousins, Mac and Ethan, play one of her songs as a trio.

Mac and Ethan needed a little persuasion as they tend to live in front of their computers (ahh, teenagers). But, eventually they came around to the idea. The were very clear to all of us that it is difficult to keep a five-year-old's pace, but their dad reminded them that the piano sets the pace, and as professionals they needed to keep with her. (Thanks, Uncle Keith!) They only went through it about 10 times, and the recording below is the third, but I think they all did a nice job. I really enjoyed seeing all them play together. So sweet!

Bloomington Holiday Market

Visiting the Bloomington Holiday Farmer's Market was so much fun! We started the morning with chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Literally. We had never tasted chestnuts, so we were especially excited to give them a try. I loved them! Chris thought they were disgusting, but after further discussion, we realized that his distaste for them probably had something to do with eating them with the shell on. Oops.

Then Ethan and Madelyn decorated a sugar cookie! Madelyn really enjoyed this, but she had no interest in eating the cookie.

Then it was off to see the baby reindeer! We learned that their antlers fall off every year, and each new set is bigger than the last. Very interesting!

Then we settled in to listen to the day's highlighted performs, The Tuba Santas!

Madelyn practically did a cartwheel when she found out Paulita 

would be meeting us at the market!

We even did a little shopping and tasted some homemade treats! It was a beautiful day to be outside with family and friends!

Lighting of the Square

Tonight we went to the lighting of the square in downtown Bloomington. This was exactly what we needed to get into the holiday spirit! The weather was crisp and cold, and the hot chocolate was flowing. Although it was as packed as New York City on New Year's Eve, it was exciting to take part in this annual tradition!

 This huge tree was inside City Hall.

 Cousins!

 Up on Dad's shoulders to see all the festivities!

 New friends!

Princess Tea Party

The week before we arrived in Indiana, Madelyn got this very special invitation in the mail:

I have to say it surely had to be the thing Madelyn was most looking forward to all week!

As you can see, Auntie Kim went all out not only with the food and tea, but with the decorations as well!

Nutella sandwiches with sprinkles, peanut butter and honey sandwiches;

 & strawberry cream cheese sandwiches.

cupcakes with strawberry frosting and fondant flowers

mini eclaires, & raspberry tarts

mini bundt cakes & more raspberry tarts

The girls all had tea! Madelyn tried it, but wasn't overly excited about it. ;)

Each girl got to make a princess wand complete with sparkles!

 Madelyn was also very excited to meet Paulina,

who was going to be dancing in the Nutcracker!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was spent prepping for Thanksgiving dinner, but it was a fun day to just hang out and spend time together.

Madelyn wanted to get all spiffed up for the occasion...

Amy made some delicious drinks for the adults (cranberry mojitos)!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing the most unique Thanksgiving Day meal in the house...

 

Yep. That belonged to Mac. ;)

Ally was watching Chloe for us, and sent this sweet picture of Chloe during the evening.

Indianapolis Children’s Museum

A while ago, Auntie Kim sent a long list of kid-friendly places to go while we were in town. She told me to pick the ones I really wanted to do so she could plan the others while Chris and I were in Green Bay. The one thing on the list that I didn’t want to miss was the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, so she made arrangements for us to go when we came back into town. And boy, was I happy about that! There were so many things to see and do! So much so that we didn’t even get to everything!

We got some great pictures and video from the day! Enjoy!

 Daddy was super disappointed he didn't get to see The Mystery Machine!

 

Madelyn loved the miniature rooms!

They were definitely one of the highlights from her day!

 

American Girls: Kit!

 

Auntie Kim challenged Madelyn to a race around the obstacle course!

 

 

I want these! They were so, so sweet!

 

 

This was also one of Madelyn's favorite activities at the museum!

She could have played here for hours!

 

 

 

 I LOVE this picture!

Mac, the oldest grandchild, and Madelyn, the youngest.

(They were watching the snow fall, and Madelyn was asking him 100 questions.)

This water clock was amazing! We even got to watch it drain at 1 pm!

 

This slide is a fun way to get from Level 2 to Level 1!

Ethan and Madelyn raced Grayson and Tessa:

 

 

Ice skating in your socks is SO much fun!

 

Madelyn groomed one of the toy reindeer.

 

Madelyn loves to draw so this art station was perfect for her!

Click the picture to view it larger so you can see what she's drawing.

The goal was to draw the dinasaur skull on the right side of my picture.

Not too shabby, girl!





We had SO much fun that the car ride back to Bloomington was a great time to take a nap!