The Riverwalk

Whenever we are in Indiana we head to the riverwalk to ride bikes. The kids love it and it is so pretty along there. I wish we had one just like it in our hometown! When we were in college we always went to the east race to walk around. This is so much better! I wish it was around when we were there so that we could have enjoyed it. It is so close to Bethel that we could have done lots of walking around there...among other things...

oh, wait, there's more...

My mom picked us up a cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake. I am a huge fan of traditional wedding cake. Plain chocolate and white cake with buttercream frosting was what I wanted at our wedding. Plain and simple. I didn't want anything else but the cake from the "belgian bakery" that is so popular with my family. Nothing new and fancy...just traditional.
Oh, how I love this cake...



Here is a picture of the celebrating couple! I remembered we still hadn't taken a picture at the last minute, right before cutting our anniversary cake. This was taken on our actual anniversary day, which was Saturday, the day we returned from our retreat and reunited with our kids. Taken after a day of bike riding, playing at the splash pad, etc. So, it is not the greatest, but it is a picture nonetheless.

Our 11th anniversary

On Saturday, May 29, 1999, Barry and I exchanged vows and became husband and wife. On that evening, after the celebration was over, he took me to a surprise destination. I'll never forget that drive with all the excitement of the wedding, the anticipation of things to come, and the far-off fireworks that we enjoyed in the dark Memorial Day weekend sky.

The surprise destination was the Das Essenhaus. Our room was in the Dawdy House, an actual Amish home renovated for overnight guests of the hotel. Our stay was very short since we arrived after 11 from our wedding reception, and we had to be up and leave very early so we could open gifts with our families before catching our flight to Puerto Vallarta the next morning.

Since that night we have returned a few times for our wedding anniversary. It is always nice to go back and it just doesn't seem quite like our anniversary unless we are there. Last year we enjoyed Mackinac Island for our 10th which was great. This year we decided to return to the Dawdy House, which is so relaxing.
Here are the pics of the house:

Upon arriving at the house, Barry and I sat on the front porch, which is attached to our room, and just rocked in the chairs. We just sat, relaxed, and basked in the wonderful quietness. It was great. We were the only ones in the entire house, so it was very peaceful. Just what we needed. For dinner, we headed to Rullis, our favorite pizza making family restaurant. Then, we had homemade whoopie pies for dessert from the Essenhaus kitchen. The next morning Barry and I both alternately enjoyed running along the property. I even squeezed in a little shopping time with little Spencer, but didn't make a single purchase.

Here is the little roomate that we had with us. He had to come since he still was not sleeping through the night and wasn't taking bottles in the middle of night. He was easy to take and was a good baby as usual. I tortured him a little by trying the Amish man's hat on his head. I was so tempted to take those little Amish outfits off the wall and try them on him. :)

Notice there isn't a single picture of the celebrating couple? What is up with that? UGH!

Special thanks to the Hokes and to the Zartmans for entertaining Sydney and Sawyer and allowing them to sleep over at your homes so that we could have a relaxing time!

T-ball 2010

Summer began with Sydney and Sawyer in T-ball. They were on the same team this year which was wonderful! They had a good time and enjoyed it a lot. After we worked through not throwing rocks/dirt, actually paying attention to the ball, and not sitting down in the outfield, they seemed to enjoy it! There were a few moments when Sawyer had decided he needed a break and would randomly leave the field and sit on the bench. He much preferred batting to the outfield. Sydney on the other hand enjoyed chasing after the ball and throwing it to first base! They did great. I am sure their favorite part was the snack afterward.



Go Sawyer!

Yay Sydney!

Their biggest fan.

Thanks to the loyal fans who supported Sydney and Sawyer in their first t-ball season! Thanks to G&G Jones, Abby, Brent, Linda, Aunt Laura, Uncle Gary, and Ann. We appreciate you!