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.

More Fun with Cousins

After a fun-filled Saturday we all went to bed and woke up Sunday ready to go to church.  John was very excited to hear Grandpa Fiene preach.  Then it turned out he wasn't preaching that day.  John said that was very poor planning.  Not sure whose poor planning he thought it was.  And, while I'm glad he listens to the sermons, what 7 year old looks forward to them?  That's my boy.

 After church we decided to take some pictures.  That was a bit of a disaster.  Not sure we should have expected anything less.

 We are missing some kids!

 John and Machara were very attentive to Finley.

 Machara is a baby lover.

 Isn't she just the cutest?

 I almost took her home.

 The boys enjoyed trying to play with her.  Even Gus.  That is saying a lot.  Gus doesn't usually like other people.

 This kid is going to be a heart breaker.  I almost took him home too.  Except he doesn't like anyone accept his mother.  

Christian was in town as well and gave Gus some pretty cool superhero stuff for his birthday.  Gus actually wore this a few weeks ago for super hero day.

It was a wonderful weekend.  The boys and I had so much fun spending time with family. 

A Weekend with Cousins

A couple of weeks before Easter the boys and I headed to Indy to spend some time with their cousins who flew in from California.  This was also the first time we were able to see the newest little Fiene, Finley.  I'm sure that Grandma and Grandpa were over the moon that they had all 7 of their grandchildren together.

 Grandma decided to tell the kids that everyone who picked up leaves could have $5.  Grandpa, like myself, was thinking that was a bit steep.  But they would both do anything for their grandchildren.  Even if that meant overpaying for sub-par work.

 It took a really long time to get the leaves together.  They kept playing.  But they love each other and just couldn't help it.

 Eva, in true first born girl fashion, quickly became in charge.  Good for Eva because these boys needed some direction.

We gave Michael some of Anders old clothes.  I have sufficiently turned my nephew into a clothes lover so he wanted to put them on right away.  He was the best dressed one of the bunch!

 Michael and Anders weren't ready to be done working so Grandpa suggested they clean the deck.  Both were happy to oblige.

 I'm not sure how clean it was...but it sure got wet!

I think all 3 of these boys had a good time.

After the kids earned their $5, Grandma and Uncle Christian walked them all down to Dairy Queen to buy ice cream.  Grandma even let them keep the change!

Family Fun in Indiana: Part 2

Our family gathering took place just a couple of weeks after John and Solveig came back from Spain.  So the boys got their gifts while we were there.

 Gus loves hats.

Anders gift was the cute jersey.  But he wouldn't put down the $2 microphone long enough for me to take his picture.  Anders gravitates to anything that will amplify his voice.

After dinner on the 4th, the kids got to play with sparklers.  They all had a little lesson in how to hold the sparklers so no one would get hurt.  I was pretty sure that if one of my boys got hurt it would be because they were sword fighting with them, not because they weren't holding them right.

Gus wasn't going to take his eyes off of it even for a second.

Anders wasn't as cautious and felt brave enough to wave it around a little.

John was extremely excited.

The boys went back for more and more and more.

Mike let Michael have some fun.

Grandpa has a birthday in July so we thought it would be fitting to celebrate with a cake while everyone was there.  Grandma put sparklers on the cake and Machara didn't think that was a good idea.

Ice cream cake will get 6 kids to sit still for a good 4 minutes.

Then after 4 minutes they are re-energized and ready to go.

Anders picked Aunt Andrina over Uncle Mike.  Uncle Mike wanted to go for two out of three.  Where's the ice cream cake when you need it?

Later in the evening we went down to the park for the fireworks.  John and Eva held hands the whole way.

After we found our seats we enjoyed the music and the cute little dancers.  We should enter these two in ballroom dance lessons.

Later in the weekend we took a trip back to the park.  The kids loved the see-saws.

Anders is not scared of anything.

Michael is not quite old enough to get on a see-saw, so daddy had to step in and help.

It was a wonderful, fun-filled weekend.  We ended  the weekend with a little baby shower for Ashley.  Stay tuned for those pictures.