June 2018

June 2018

         This summer has been (and will continue to be) very action packed!  In June, we went on vacation with the Cyphers family, saw several friends from near and far, enjoyed a fun weekend with family at my mom’s condo and even found our way to the Alley Cat lounge in Broad Ripple!  More on that in a bit…

 

            We started our vacation on June 8^th and drove to Birmingham, Alabama.  We spent the night at a Drury Inn which was a great choice.  They have a snack bar that can easily serve as dinner for our family and it allowed for us to stay at the hotel and head to bed early so we could get on the road early the next morning.  We arrived in town around noon and met up with Randy and Anna for a late lunch and we enjoyed the view of the beach.  After lunch, our house was ready so we went and started unpacking for the week.  This location was awesome as we were only about 200 yards from the stairs to the beach and our house rental came with 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas set up for us on the beach!  We went out to eat at the Great Southern Café and The Hub, which are 2 really great locations.  We enjoyed our rooftop deck where we could have coffee in the morning and drinks in the evening.  We also grilled out a few times along with getting our fill of seafood as Kyle went to the store and bought peel and eat shrimp 3 or 4 times.  Jim (Deb’s cousin) and Linda came and visited a few days with us and the kids had a great time playing on the beach and in the waves.  Everyone else had early flights on the day we were going to leave, so we got into the car and started our trip back at 5AM and made it back by 5PM.

 

            Another tradition that typically occurs in June is “cousin’s weekend” at my mom’s condo.  Several generations of my mom’s family convene on Indy for the weekend and we enjoy a weekend on her lake.  This year was hot as the heat index was over 100 degrees.  The kids played well together and enjoyed time in the lake for 4 straight days until we had a few of them come down with swimmer’s ear.  As always, it was great to see my mom’s brothers and their families. 

           

Sarah’s Things of the Month

Sarah went to a birthday party for one of her future classmates, Isla.  It was at the Monon center and it was a great time for the kids to run around and play in the water.  Sarah and I enjoyed several laps in the lazy river.  Sarah also participated in tennis at North Central again this summer. 

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month

            Allison also went to Isla’s birthday party but I didn’t see her much after it started since she was off with Reese doing the water slides.  Allison also went to Maggie’s birthday party where Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) came and entertained the girls in attendance.  Allison participated in tennis at North Central again this summer and joined the K of C swim team.  They won the league championship and Allison’s swimming improved a lot during the month.

A few more items from this month:

• Grandma watched the girls on Saturday this month and Deb and I continued our tradition of going to dinner and then meeting up with Tom, Tracy, Brandon, Diane and Lawton in Broad Ripple.  We enjoyed several beers at Triton Tap and then the word got out that Debbie had never been to dive bar called the Alley Cat (because it is literally in an alley).  We went in and had a few drinks, but it was evident that we weren’t the usual clientele there at 11PM on a Saturday. 
• Brad was in town for a family situation and was able to set aside an evening for food and drinks with Jeremy and I.  Of course, his uncle Don couldn’t let that opportunity pass him by without stopping by for a few beers and laughs.  It was a great time to catch up with Brad. 
• Each year, our church has a summer festival and it takes a week to setup.   I stopped by to volunteer on Monday of that week and had such a good time that I got a babysitter so I could go back another time that week to help out again.  It was a lot of fun to meet other parishioners and volunteer some time…and the beer truck arrived on Monday, so most of the setting up was done with a beer in hand! 
• We did head back to the festival on Friday and Saturday evening.  It rained a lot on Friday so I took the girls home early while Deb had to stick around to volunteer.  On Saturday, my mom took them back to her place for the night and Deb and I enjoyed a fun evening in the beer garden until 12:30AM! 
• Jeremy and I went downtown to see a comedian, Nick Swardson perform.  We went to Goodfellas for a slice of pizza and then went to the show. 
• We got our annual family pictures taken late this month.  We decided to head downtown to the canal this year.  The girls really enjoy getting their pictures taken and they usually only last about an hour.