Birthdays and Bar-b-que

We hope everyone enjoyed their 3-Day Weekend!!! Two of the most important guys in my life share their birthday on September 3rd. My adorable nephew, Dylan turned 2..... And my equally adorable hubby turned 29....

I have been pondering what to get Ryan for months. It has been soooooo long since we have been able to buy each other anything (we were saving our money to move out of state and haven't bought gifts for each other for several years). I wanted his gift to be extra special. I finally decided to surprise him with a grill. But, I needed a little help from our friends...

Our neighbors Steave and Brian came to my rescue and came to Lowe's with me to load, transport and hide the BBQ for me. Brian kept the grill in his garage until Ryan's party (which was the day after Ryan's actual birthday). Thanks guys!On the day of Ryan's party, he went outside to go over to Steave's house to borrow his grill, and SURPRISE!!!! His new grill was in the driveway waiting for him! Got ya!!! ;)We have been grill-less for over a year, as we had to leave our old BBQ in California because we had no more room left in our moving van. Ryan has talked about getting a new BBQ for months now, but was having a difficult time deciding on whether or not he wanted a gas or charcoal grill. Soooooooo when I saw this grill (where you can cook with gas or charcoal) I knew it was the one...Here he is checking it out with Sabrina, Zach, and Brian...

Here is a shot of his golf cake....Next year, the BIG 3-0!!!Here he is showing off the books Sabrina and Brian got him- Ryan is an AVID reader and LOOOOOVES fantasy and Sci-Fi.

We marinated Carne Asada the evening before with a recipe my friend Maria gave me. It was delicious- we marinated the meat with orange, lemon and lime juice, tequila, onion, garlic, Tabasco and pepper. Here is the birthday boy using his new present :)

Ryan had to go on a "wild-goose chase" to find this meat...they do not sell skirt steak in the grocery stores here. Ryan had to find a specialty Mexican meat shop in downtown.! In fact, this was the first time almost ALL of our neighbors had ever tried carne asada! Crazy, huh???

Me and my love :)

Steave, Lisa, Sabrina and Brian :)

Frodie and Sam were in on the action and got TONS of attention from the younger girls in our neighborhood...

Liz, Sabrina and me...

Doesn't Liz look great??? She is due October 16th and is ALL baby!!! We are soooo excited to meet Elise! Gosh, the time has gone by sooooooo fast- it seems like she just told us she was pregnant!!!

This was the first time we have ever used our backyard for a function. Now that we have a BBQ, I'm sure it will be utilized more. We played Bags and Ladder Ball...

So you can see we do not have a fence. You are allowed to put in a fence if you want, but most people don't. At first we thought it was weird, but now we love it. We probably will never get one....we really enjoy the open area.

Steave and Lisa :)

Ryan, April and her friend, Ryan....

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you.....

Make a wish!!!! I love you, Ryan!!!! Hope you had a great birthday! xo Continuing on with our birthday bonanza, we went over to my friend Alissa's house on Saturday to celebrate her son Tyler's 5th birthday! Check out this "Treasure Chest" cake!!! Isn't it awesome???? Alissa made it all by herself- the girl has some skills I tell ya!!!

Here I am playing Pirates with Tyler and his friend, Rod....Arghhhhh Matey!!!!

Ryan and Rod sword fighting-yes that is a candy necklace on Rod's head....heehee ;)

On Sunday, we were headed out to the west side to go to Parke County and look at covered bridges, but the weather wasn't cooperating!!! We decided to postpone the covered bridge trip until my mom visits in October and headed into Downtown Indianapolis instead. I know I do this a lot, but these houses are soooooo pretty!!!! You have to check them out!

Meridian Street has some of the most SPECTACULAR homes I have ever seen. They are just magnificent!!!

Lovely, Lovely!!!

To get out of the rain, we went to the Indiana State Museum and thanks to my friend Eric, we asked for a teacher discount and got in for free!!!! All my teacher friends need to ask if there is a discount when you visit museums....so far it has worked in the last 3 museums we have visited!!!

The museum was cool...we saw an I-Max movie about the Great Barrier Reef and learned tons about our new state. Did you know that Jane Pauley, BabyFace, David Lee Roth, David Letterman, Axl Rose, John Mellencamp, Vivica A. Fox, Colonel Sanders, Tony Stewart, Florence Henderson, Larry Bird, and Greg Kinnear are all native Hoosiers????

When we see a beaver, it ALWAYS turns into a photo opportunity...LOL

A model of workers constructing buildings...

Ryan in front of a Native American Wigwam....

Swinging Pendulum...

Ryan checking out a Mastodon skull...On the drive home, the rain had stopped and the sun decided to poke its head out...

The first signs of fall are beginning to appear. Won't be long until all the trees turn...

I have been meaning to post some updated pics from my school's garden for some time now. Remember that garden Ryan and I were helping to set up last spring???? Well, here it is!!!! Can you believe it???It is soooooooo incredible!!! These pics are of one of the classes I push into. They are doing fieldwork for a garden project they are doing for science. It is sooooo awesome to have a garden of this caliber on our campus. The kids LOOOOOVE it!!!! I love it too!!!Finally, I will end this post with Ryan at the BBQ Sunday night....I have a feeling there are many grilled dinners in my future :)

Until next time...xo