Fun at the Zoo

With Emma being on Fall break I wanted to be able to take a little time off to spend with the kids.  Tuesday was a beautiful day outside so I took off of work and the kids and I spent the day at the zoo.  After a lazy morning watching TV we packed up some food and drinks and headed to the zoo.  This time around the kids were not really interested in seeing the animals.  They wanted to play in the playground and so some of the activities that are available.  I purchased each of the kids a ride bracelet and let them enjoy the things that we do not typically do while at the Zoo.

 Emma's favorite think seamed to be the carousel while Freddy loved feeding the birds.  If I had to guess we did each of these at least 5 times.  As we were walking out of the park Freddy asked if we could feed the birds again so I'm sure this is something we will be doing again in the future.

 We also went on the train ride which takes out around the back part of the zoo and talks a little bit more about how they take care of the animals.

    Emma also went to the 4D movie but she decided not to go on the little roller coaster that they have.  Overall it was a wonderful day spent with the kids.

Anderson Apple Orchard

Last year we went to Anderson Apple Orchard and the kids had a lot of fun so we decided to go again this year.  This was actually our second trip because the first trip turned out to be too cold and windy then it started to rail.  This time around we had a beautiful day.  Emma and Freddy had a lot of fun picking the apples and checking out the different varieties of apples that they have.  We discovered the Red Free variety that we all really liked however there was only 1 apple on the entire row of trees.  I looked it up and they ripen in the middle of August so I guess we will be taking an early trip next year.

Indy Zoo Boo

This Indianapolis Zoo puts on a Halloween event every year where they encourage the kids to get dressed up and come to the zoo for some fun and trick or treating.  We ended up with a really nice day on Sunday and mom and dad were up so we decided to go to the zoo.  The kids love seeing all of the animals and they really seem to enjoy the dog show.  Emma even got to participate in the dog show.  She was used for jumping over.

 They called this broomstick ally.  There were two different courses and you had to use the broom stick to get the ball through the hay bale course.

Elephants

Wilstem Ranch is hosting 3 African Elephants for the summer and the company Mom works for is paying for their employees and families to be able to go see them.  We were able to get together with everybody and go last weekend.  While I'm not sure if I would have paid to go it was pretty neat getting to learn more about then and see them up close.

We took a hayride up to where they are keeping the elephants and then they did a 30 minute or so talk and demonstration.  After that was questions and answers.  Emma being herself asked how elephants die.  Apparently elephants have 4 sets of teeth and when the last set is ground down they can no longer eat and this is how elephants die.

They also had a little petting zoo so the kids did that before we went to see the Elephants.  The little deer was so sad when we left it kept crying for us to come back.

 

 

 Freddy thought he just had to hold on to the elephants tusk

 Our group was the last for the day so when we were finished the elephants were taken back to the barn where they spent the night.

 Supper time

Camping

Camping at Lake Rudolph 2015.

 The kids wanted to mine for gems and with the not so great weather it sounded like something good to pass a little time.  The kids enjoyed being able to get the gems out of the sand and Emma enjoyed trying to identify them afterwards.

 No stay is complete without a visit with Santa.  Freddy was a little hesitant to go see Santa but once he decided to go to him they had a good visit.

Holiday World

We spent a week at Lake Rudolph again this year for vacation and went to Holiday World for a couple of those days.  One day Vince and Sandy came with us and the next day Deb & Joe joined us.  Unfortunately the week turned out to be a pretty raining one however that meant the crowds were pretty small. We were pretty much able to walk on whatever rides we wanted to go on and that included the Thunderbird.

Emma was extremely excited to be able to go on the roller coasters this year.  The only one she was not able to ride was the Thunderbird.  She rode the Raven, Voyager, and Legend and enjoyed them all.

 Freddy got to go on the little kids roller coaster.  He went one time around the track and that was enough for him.  I guess we will have to see if he grows up enjoying them or not.

 Look at the wild hair on this boy.  He sure loved the water park.

Tae Kwon Do

Emma, Drew and I all started doing Tae Kwon Do the beginning of the year.  Emma is in the little leaders class which is more learning the basics and having lots of fun while Drew and I are in the teenager/adult class.  We have all been enjoying it.   Our first belt testing was last week and we all advanced.  Emma is now a junior orange and Drew and myself are yellow.