Symphony on the Prairie- Friends and Fun

This week our friend Adam and his two daughters (Katie and Kimberly) were in Indy visiting friends and family. Adam is married to my friend Christy (Christy and I used to teach together back in California). Adam grew up in Indiana (about an hour and a half south of us) and moved to California when he was in his twenties. He and his girls drove up to Noblesville and stayed with us Friday evening.I thought it would be fun if we all went to "Symphony on the Prairie." The Indianapolis Orchestra performs all summer long at Conner Prairie in the town of Fishers (about 15 minutes from our house). This particular concert was especially cool because it was ALL songs from the rock group, Queen!!!! There was an awesome singer who sounded very similar to Freddy Mercury. You were allowed to bring in your own food and drinks, so I packed up a cooler with fried chicken, french bread, watermelon, chips, cookies and beverages. Conner Prairie is an interactive history park that is open to the public. There are always a variety of things going on there. I am attaching the link to the website so you can check it out if you'd like : www.connerprairie.org There were over 5,000 people at this outdoor concert. It was the perfect evening for some outdoor fun!

Katie and Kimberly- Kimberly (the oldest girl reminds Ryan and I soooooooooooooo much of his sister, Erin). What do you think???

My buddy and me :)

Me and the girls...they were so funny- they kept asking when the "Mama Mia" (Bohemian Rhapsody) song was going to be played...LOLI love Queen...we got to hear all the hits...Bohemian Rhapsody, Best Friend, Fat Bottom Girls, We are the Champions, Killer Queen, Another One Bites the Dust....the list went on and on!!!! Here is a short video clip I took if you would like to take a listen (scroll down to the bottom of this blog and pause my music player so you can hear the video).

Shot of the balloon as we were leaving...

Later that evening after the girls went to bed, some of the neighbors came over and the guys drank and played games. Here are Zach, Ryan, Steave and Adam playing "3-Man." Adam and family- thanks for visiting us! We enjoyed having you!!! :)

This weekend we did a lot of RELAXING!!!! We all hung out at the pool and then regrouped at Lisa and Steave's for some Saturday Night Shenanigans... Here are Zach and Steave playing "ping-pong."

Ryan and Brian (I'm sure you can see the LOVE my husband has for me oooooozing from his face). I always tell him- you may hate me taking pics now, but these are memories in the making...

Lisa and Sabrina...

Brian again... Lisa, Sabrina and me...Liz and Eric were at their 2nd baby shower thrown by family in Illinois and Kristen (who is an RN got called into work)....We missed you guys!!! xo Ryan made it through his first week back at work. He is REALLY happy- he is teaching 5 periods of Physics (no Chemistry this year- which makes his life a BILLION times easier). I go back tomorrow....We will try to take pics of our classrooms and post them next week. Love and miss everyone!!!

Until next time...xo

The "Last Hurrah"

Summer vacation has gone by way too fast!!! I guess that means we have been having way too much fun!!! This weekend was our "Last Hurrah." Ry starts work tomorrow and I follow suit a week later...
This past Friday, my neighbors and I threw Liz a "Surprise" baby shower. Sabrina cleverly disguised the gathering as a neighborhood BBQ. Liz is due in October, and with all of our hectic schedules, this weekend was the ONLY weekend all 5 couples could get together all at once.

Here is a pic of the guest of honor looking adorable as always :)The shower was held at Sabrina's house. Here is some of the decor...

Brian, Sabrina and I hung the streamers...

Here are some of us waiting for the Liz and Eric to arrive...

Haha...WE GOT HER!!! SURPRISE!!!! :)

Lisa was in charge of sides... here she is checking on her famous potatoes! Sabrina purchased hot dogs and burgers the boys grilled up...

Yum!

A toast to the "Daddy to be!!!"

I was in charge of the games. The first game we played was called "Dirty Diapers!" I took diapers and mushed 12 different candy bars into them...the diapers were passed around and everyone had to try and guess the name of the candy inside each diaper. Here are Lisa and Steave...

Our neighbor Tammy and her 2 little girls, Peyton and McKenna...Brian :)

Liz showing her chocolate poo.... haha :)Ryan taking a whiff...

All the neighbors. We love them all soooo much. We ALWAYS have a BLAST together!!!

Proud Parents to Be :)

The next game we played involved trying to figure out the girth of Liz's belly. Here is Eric making a guess...

Steave giving it a try...

Sabrina taking a guess...

Me getting the final results....Sabrina and Zach were the winners!!! Look how close they were!!! WOW!!!

Liz opening her gifts...

Ryan and I bought her the Colts outfit and Diaper Genie....ALL of us chipped in and got her the high chair :)

The next game we played was guess the baby food. I bet you are wondering how I got grown men to play these games...the answer is in the prizes- golf and beer (it works EVERY time, ladies).

Here is Zach...

Liz...

Eric...

Me and Kristen... Kristen is the only mom out of the 5 couples, so it was not surprising that she was able to identify EVERY jar of baby food :)

Lisa and Layne thought it smelled gross!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!!!

Later on in the evening after the kids went home, we played the final game...Baby Bottle Beer Chug!

It was pretty entertaining watching the guys sip out of baby bottles. Here is my big baby...heehee :)

Here we all are: Me, Liz, Kristen, Sabrina and Lisa I LOVE you girls!!!! I am soooooo excited to see the new girl...Baby Elise :) Congrats again, Liz and Eric!!! xo

On Saturday, we drove up to Chicago to visit our friends Eric, Kelly, Mike and Michele. They were out visiting from California. Here we are crossing the Indiana-Illinois border...

It takes a little under 3 hours for us to drive to Chicago from Noblesville. Here is the White Sox stadium...

Driving into downtown Chicago...

Soldier Field...the stadium where the Chicago Bears play.

The Field Museum of Natural Science- thanks to our friend Eric, we discovered that teachers get into several museums and the aquarium FREE!!! Soooo, we will need to take another trip up soon :)

Pic of Lake Michigan...

Pic of the REAL, Chicago dog I had for lunch!!!! It was sooooo DELICIOUS!!!Eric and Ryan in the Field Museum...Eric taught first grade with me back in Moreno Valley. He is an awesome teacher and has taught me TONS about technology.

Chi-Town Skyline...

Michele, Kelly and me :)

More of Lake Michigan...I still cannot get over how much it resembles the ocean!!!

Me and Michele...Michele has been a mentor to me- I LOVE her!!! She has been a wonderful friend to me :) I REALLY miss working with her!!! She is the BEST!!!

Ryan, me, Eric, Kelly, Mike and Michele :)

Smile :)

Picture Ryan took of Millennium Park...

Fireworks seen from White Sox Stadium on the drive home...

Ryan goes back to work tomorrow and I start back on the 18th. All my friends in Moreno Valley start back tomorrow too. I wish everyone a wonderful school year! May your days be enjoyable- and your students be well-behaved (at least most of the time). Oh, and even on your worst days, PLEASE do not forget how BLESSED you are to have employment in this terrible, terrible economy!!!

Until next time...xo