Our Vandalia Visitors

Sorry about the long lag time between posts--the last week has been crazy. Last week, Papa Dan, Mama Vicki, Uncle Tyler, and Gracie and Reiley visited, which was fun. It took me 10 tries to get all three kids looking at me.

Wyatt on Papa Dan's lap
Slip 'n slide pictures. Great action shots.

Gracie loved Charlotte, the patient cat.

Climbing the spider web at the zoo and a great picture of Reiley.

A Fun Saturday

On Saturday, Wyatt and Heidi met our friends, Benjamin and Maryclare, at a nearby playground, which has lots of cool stuff to play with. I let Wyatt bring his rubber gloves, which he loved. Here we are taking turns on the slide and playing in one of the houses.

Paul was out of town for part of last week, so we celebrated his return by having subs at Penn Station. Notice how big the sub is that Wyatt is eating, and he stole Paul's lemonade and left Paul with the kiddie cup. Wyatt also wanted to have Paul sit in the back seat with him so I snapped this picture of the two (not while I was driving!).

Happy Birthday Becca!

Well, we did it. We went to Chuck E Cheese for the first time and not only did we survive, but we had a good time. The occasion was our friend Becca's 4th birthday. She is driving the car here. Looks like Wyatt was having a good time too. Heidi and Paul enjoyed playing the arcade games.

Becca, big sister Kathryn and Chuck E.

Pizza and cake--a yummy combo....

Wyatt and Kathryn looking out from us from above.

Our Weekend in Indy/Carmel by the Highway

This weekend, we went to visit Jill and her family, who are visiting from Texas. Jill's father, Roger, is the Pied Piper of Children--they love him. Here is surrounded by some of them--Wyatt and Alice are behind him, Jill and Jack-Jack on the other side.

We went to the Indianapolis Public Library, which has a great place for kids. If you get up on the green stage (see Wyatt and Alice), you are then projected into a background like a skateboard (see the big kid Paul with Alice), or football field (Wyatt, Alice & Paul), or an aquarium scene (above--see Ellie and Paul with his hand in a fish's mouth!)

Jack-Jack chilling out....

We also went to the "good McDonald's"--the one that Roger had taken Wyatt to before. It has a great playland. Notice that Ellie is tackling Wyatt here at the McDonald's. We had a great visit!

Bob Vila or Bob the Builder?

Last night, Wyatt decided that several doors needed to be worked on. First, the front hall closet. He is standing on the step ladder that Papa Dan made (and personalized) for him. Putting tools in the tool box to get ready for the next repair:

Next to Mommy & Daddy's bedroom, where he worked on the next repair: Daddy's closet door, which is also the back end of the front hall closet.

Making sure that the drill bit is just right.

July 4th Weekend

This was a very unusual Independence Day weekend--cold and rainy. On Saturday, we went out for Japanese food with Rob and Tiffany. Rob snapped the picture of Wyatt outside of the restaurant. Paul composed some haiku to go along with it:

July is for droughts,
not blue umbrellas opened
as small farts escape unheard.


Wyatt in the bathtub:

We went for a couple of walks this weekend. This is now a little easier since the road has been repaved. Paul also decided to shave off his beard and mustache, but I know that it will grow back.

Some bamboo on the walk...

and pretty flowers.

This barn is usually the turn around point of our walk. And it is a good day if we see any of the 2 donkeys or 4 horses who live there. Yesterday we saw the donkeys (see background of picture).

Knitting My Way to Sanity

A disclaimer: most of this entry is not about Wyatt, unlike my earlier posts. However, I have included some pictures of him at the end of this post.

In the midst of a bad spring, I decided that I needed something to keep my hands busy, so I turned to knitting, which I have picked up off and on in the last couple of years. Mollie Erickson and Joyce Stamm were kind enough to refresh me on the basics (which my mom had shown me a long time ago) and teach me how to knit socks. Socks seemed pretty daunting to me, as they involve 4 needles! But, the plus side is that they are really quick to do. Here is a sample of my work: 5 1/2 pairs of socks.


The ever patient Mollie and Joyce also turned me on to knitting for charity organizations, such as Warm Woolies. Recently, I sent a batch of children's socks to them and in return got this beautiful batch of Italian yarn--20 skeins in all. You are supposed to knit this yarn into socks or sweaters for Warm Woolies within three months. But the idea is great both because it keeps people warm and you get a box full of free yarn. I loved the colors that I received. In the first picture, you can see that I have already broken into the new yarn.


On another creative note, our sister-in-law, Jennifer Bone, is very talented at drawing. She did this drawing based on the photograph that appeared on Wyatt's cover of Evansville Parent.

Wyatt with his tool belt. Notice the mallet that is threatening to bring the belt down to his knees.