October in Indy

We happened to have a free weekend in October so we headed down to Indy to visit the Fienes.  While we were there Traderspoint Creamery was having an Oktoberfest.

Anders is such a ham and Finley doesn't know how she feels about all of these boys.  That's okay, Finley.  I know what that's like.

The creamery had several stations set up over the grounds.  Aside from face painting there was a petting zoo, various games, and a hay ride.

 Face-painting is always a big hit.

This little girl is a cutie.

We ended with a nice hay ride.

Since we were in Indy so close to Anders' birthday, and because Jake's birthday is a few days before Anders',we had a little gathering at Jake and Ashley's to celebrate.

 A beer and his phone.  This hunky hubby of mine is set for the next several hours.

 But a game of Cornhole with his brother is way more exciting.

 Jake and Ashley got Anders this longbow.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but this kid was excited about that.  I'm sure he was calculating all the ways he could torture his brothers.

 Solveig makes each grandchild, on their 5th birthday, a special book.  This is probably Anders' favorite book because it's all about him.

It was a great weekend.

Conner Prairie

While we were visiting Indiana  we took all 7 grandkids to Conner Prairie.  I've been to places like this before, but this really took the best of all of the places I've been to and mixed them into one. There was a great interactive indoor section and acres upon acres of land dedicated to hands-on activities outside.

 I asked Eva if she knew what that was and she said, "Yes, I think people straighten clothes with it."  Notice I didn't ask my boys. They would have no clue.

 Shortly after we got there the kids were all hungry.  Surprising, right?

 Hans was trying very hard to get Finley to like him.  She wasn't going for it.  She did, however, run to me once.  It just melted my heart.

 The kids loved watching the blacksmith.  

 One of the houses had a bunch of stilts for us to try.

 Hans actually did pretty well.  This comes as no surprise to me.  He's such a clown.

 Michael just watched all of us make fools of ourselves with the stilts.

 There were all kinds of animals at Conner Prairie.  These boys had fun petting the sheep.

 Finley just enjoyed walking around everywhere.  She is so cute!

 While Finley wanted nothing to do Hans, she loved John.

These two really started taking a shining to each other.  They even shared an ice cream.

It was a wonderful day and we can't wait to go again.

Fun with Cousins

Just a week after we went to Zionsville, we went again!  This time Andrina flew in with her kiddos so we had all 7 grandchildren there.

 Michael's birthday was earlier in the month so Solveig decided to throw a little party for him.

 There was a lot of noise and chaos and Michael decided he wanted his mom to be next to him.

 He is really into Thomas right now, so I decided to make him some train cupcakes.

 John made pizza and we all enjoyed an afternoon of crazy, loud children and good food.

 These two have always loved each other, but this  year they really started to play together.  Machara was telling Gus what to do and Gus was following directions!

 Then we decided to take a picture of the 7 grandkids.  And, if you can count, you can see I'm missing two.

 And then I got all 7 kids....and a dog.

And. Well.  This is as good as it got.

These kids don't have time for pictures.  They just wanted to play.

Some Fun in Indy

On Memorial Day weekend we took a little drive down to Zionsville.  The boys had a ton of fun playing with "baby Finley".  I keep telling them that Finley is no longer a baby, but she is the youngest Fiene, and therefore is the baby.  Sorry Finley.  I tried.

 She was having a good time playing with the Legos.  I'm sure she will be a Master Builder by next week.

 John was introduced to the bags game.  He had a ton of fun and tried to be very strategic about his moves.

 Gus enjoyed playing the game as well.

 This kept these four boys occupied for quite awhile.

 Anders preferred going through all of the toys Grandma has stored to find a gun of sorts.

And you know it's time to go home when one of the kids starts puking.  John, John, and Hans were enjoying a little basketball game when poor Anders started throwing up.  I'm guessing it was just allergies, because this kiddo was just fine.  Either way, it was a fun couple of days.

Yoga with Grandma

After that big Thanksgiving meal the boys needed to do a little workout.  So they enlisted the help of their yoga-doing Grandma.

 Now, one would think seeing Gus in his pjs that it was late.  It was probably only 5 o'clock.  Gus would live in pajamas if I let him.

 Two of the Fiene boys were actually trying out these moves.  One of them was being ridiculous.  Care to venture any guesses?

 Doing a little cool-down.  Looks like it is time for bed.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Yes, I know it is way past Thanksgiving.  I'm behind.  Way behind.  But it is this or nothing at all.
 
We went down to Zionsville, IN for Thanksgiving this year.  River of Life has a Thanksgiving Eve service so Hans had no service obligations on Thanksgiving Day.  We woke up early that morning and made it to Zionsville in time to surprise his parents at their church service. The boys even picked out matching sweaters to wear.  They actually still like matching.

 We attempted a family picture with the matching boys.  If only they could have matching smiles...or at least all be smiling.

 Great Grandma Fiene was in town so we had to get a picture with her too.

 The table was set and we were all waiting for some delicious food.  I was just hoping Fritz wouldn't try to get under the table and break everything.

 We were excited to spend some time with Jake, Ashley, and our adorable niece, Finley.

 Finley definitely stole the show.  Grandma and Grandpa just couldn't put her down.

 Finley had just turned the big O-N-E a couple of days before Thanksgiving.

 I know the parents of an adorably cute child get lost in the crowd.  But we were super excited to see them too.

 Anders was willing to share his new toy...for about 5 minutes.  Then he picked up something else to distract Finley so he could take his toy back.

 Hans and I enjoyed some mimosas.

 Uncle Christian enjoyed spending time with his nephews.  We didn't think we were going to see this California boy, but he was able to fly in and surprise all of us at the last minute.  We loved seeing him.

See?  He is fun and crazy.

We all had a ton of fun and a Happy Thanksgiving.