Trip to Indianapolis (Christmas part 2)

The second part of our Christmas season would be spent traveling to see family and friends in the States. We finished up Christmas parties and packing and left town at 4:30am on Thursday December 19th. We figured the boys would sleep on the taxi drive to the airport but they were bright-eyed and so excited the entire way there. We flew out of Glasgow this time and stopped by a coffee shop as we waited for our flight. The boys read about airplanes in their pjs while the adults sleepily sipped some caffeine for the full day ahead.

 

We flew Glasgow>London>Chicago>Indianapolis. The boys didn't sleep at all on the long flight since it was during the day and they had the prospect of watching Despicable Me 2 (twice!) before them. They finally got sleepy in Chicago during our short delay and slept on and off before arriving in Indy at about 3am our time. We were so happy to get to Matt and Stephanie's house and settle in for some sleep.

We woke up early with a little struggle with jet lag but felt the best way to spend the day was to just entertain the boys and wear ourselves out so we could get some good sleep at night. Grandma took us to the Children's Museum, where we spent most of the day. Joseph was thrilled to go back and James was glad to actually be able to participate this time.

So pumped about seeing the gigantic transformer

Blurry pic-but the boys loved going down the big slide

 

Grandma treated us to a group picture with Santa. We were all in it and got a nice copy to take home with us. They also let you bring your own camera in and I was able to snap a sweet pic of Joseph and Santa (James high-tailed it out of there!).

For Christmas, the museum sets up a special Winter area where you can ice fish, ice skate, take care of reindeer, and pretend play with Christmas traditions. It was one of the boys favorite places (possibly because they loved running and sliding on the "ice skating rink".

James caught a big one

Racecar driving in Indy 

We could have stayed in this area for hours. The boys were fascinated by the machine and enjoyed manipulating it to create different outcomes. I like to think it's that engineering gene coming out in them :)

James arranged all the pipes and then sent the ball up a kid size Plinko board. He loved seeing what would happen with his creation. This picture is of him literally jumping up and down in anticipation of watching the balls take their course.

Our last stop was the Science room and James headed straight for the construction equipment. He loves anything about trucks, digging, and dumping so this area was right up his alley.

 Who put these two in charge?!
 

Another highlight of our trip was staying with Matt, Stephanie and Cullen. The boys met Cullen in May but this was the first time they spent an extended amount of time with him. They had a blast playing together at the house and exploring Indianapolis together.

Cullen was so sweet to share his toys.

Mesmerized by the big boys

 Joseph VII with a painting of Joseph V (Joey's dad)

Day 2- On Saturday, we headed to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to spend the morning. They have a great room for children where you can build, create, draw, etc. The boys loved drawing on the ipads, playing with the giant light bright, and taking pictures of themselves for the wall. Joey and I took turns going to an exhibit on Matisse. It was on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art and had so many great, well-known pieces by Matisse. Apparently, he worked up until his death at age 84 and there were pictures of him STILL creating even though he was confined to the bed. It was a wonderful morning for both the kids and the adults!!

Having their picture taken for the wall

Cousins creating art together

James loved pretending he was an excavator at the block area. We could put that hard hat to use on a daily basis around our house!

It was a busy morning and Cullen quickly fell asleep as soon as we left the museum. Matt took Cullen home to nap and the rest of us went to lunch for Grandma's birthday.

 Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Day 3- On Sunday, we went to worship at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, just down the street. The beautiful sanctuary was all decorated for Christmas and we enjoyed our first American Church service since July. We had a traditional midwest lunch at Steak and Shake and then made a quick trip to Target before heading back to the Children's Museum. Cullen came with us this time and the boys loved going to some of their favorite spots.

They loved watching and playing with the giant Rube Goldberg machine. 

Joseph and I on the carousel

"ice skating"

taking care of the reindeer

We tried to get a group picture on our last night of all three cousins together.  They were still a little hyped up so this was the best I could do. 

We loved our time in Indianapolis and especially enjoyed spending time with our family. Thanks so much Stephanie, Matt and Grandma for taking care of us and showing us the city!!