Christmastown at the Creation Museum

Last weekend we experienced a very unique view of Christmas at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.  Drove down Saturday for their special presentation of the Christmas story and Christmas lights.  It was the busiest we've ever seen the museum! 

If you've not seen it, it's worth the trip.  Christmastown at the Creation Museum



A Guard in the Marketplace




Boy selling goods in the Marketplace



Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus

Christmas Lights



One of the wisemen telling his story

The great thing about Christmastown is that it is all free!  It's an outreach sponsored by the Creation Musuem.  We also saw a dramatic presentation by Elizabeth, Mother of John.  And another one by Hyam, a temple Guard.  Dr. Jason Lisle put together a special presentation in the planetarium about the Christmas star.  Pretty awesome! 

We spent the night in Florence and got up the next day to another day of clear skies.  After some last minute Christmas shopping and goofing off.  We decided to try a new place for lunch and stopped at the Casino near Shelbyville, Indiana.  UNBELIEVABLY FANTASTIC!  Only $12.85 total for both of us including drinks and tax!  Can't beat that deal plus everything I tried was delicious.  We'll definitely go back there! 
A stop at the commissary on the east side ended our late afternoon and we headed home to our "children."  Here's some of them now!!

Yvonne helping to work a puzzle

Rusty - not quite awake

And Splotches (the fuzzy one on the left!)

Merry Christmas to All!

Wreath Making Class

Following up on or "artsy" Thanksgiving weekend.  We went to McCloud Park in Hendricks County for a wreath-making class.  It wasn't so much a wreath-making class as a make your own wreath.  Check it out:

Of course no trip out west is complete without a stop for cobbler at the Mayberry Cafe.  Here's Santa in Andy's squad car.

 Sunday afternoon it was snowing, so we thought it was the perfect time to hang them outside.

My wreath is on the left and Vince's is on the right.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

Artsy Weekend

In order to enlarge our horizons and broaden the mind, Thanksgiving weekend we set out on an artsy adventure.  First we took an art class....painting Chickadees on ornaments and notecards.  We started with a blank slate:

As class moved along, our art skills progressed:

Ahhhh...togetherness!

And finally the piece da resistance!  The finished product...the fruit of our labors...

We are officially artists....well, artists in training that is...

Saturday we met friends downtown and went to the IRT for a production of "Mary's Wedding."  It was set during WW I and was about a young woman who was dreaming a very vivid dream the night before she was to be married.  Unfortunately, they turned the lights down....and well it was after 9:00 pm and well.....I may have missed a few lines in the middle somewhere....

Artsy, eccletic weekend officially completed!  YAY for long holiday weekends!  Hope your Thanksgiving was awesome!

Pumpkin Carving

Our annual ritual of pumpkin carving was stepped up to a new level this year as Vince introduced power tools into the concept:  (Yvonne is introducing herself to whatever is in the bowl.)

Also an annual ritual and right of passage for each pumpkin, the annual "I'm sick, I'm sick" pumpkin barfing up his guts: 

Ta Da!  The beautiful finished product.  Mine is on the left and Vince's "Yvonne look-a-like" is on the right:

 And of course, the spooky night shot:

Hope you got lots of candy this year!  Happy Halloween!

Crane in the Fall

It's October in Indiana..one of the most beautiful seasons of the year if not the most beautiful (and the best month of the year for birthdays!)  Time for a Fall trip to Crane to see what changes had taken place from the earlier summer trip.  You may be thinking, "there they go again!"  Well, you'd only be half right!  Mom and I, once again, "loaded" the van as the naysayers looked on and made negative comments.  (We won't name names here!)  Although our mission was successfully accomplished, unfortunately, the term "overloaded" may have been more applicable and due to the whining and noises coming from some part of the van (oh, maybe that was the guys!) - we were forced to upack and divide the spoils between TWO vehicles.

Me with EVERYTHING overloaded in the van!

So off we go down the road in our two vehicles.  The guys in the van in the lead vehicle and Mom and me in the Tracker in the follow vehicle.  (We won't go so far as to say that was a mistake..so I'll not digress here...but should I say Dale Hollow...Mmmm....1987ish?  Anyone?  Anyone, now?)  Anyway, we made it to Crane! 



Our cabin at Crane and the "second" follow vehicle.


The fall colors at Crane were vivid and the water was beautiful.  The days warm and sunny and the nights cool and perfect for a campfire.  The cooking awesome...the fishing?  Not so great, but you know us...fish we did anyway!

Mom and Dad fishing away...oops, maybe I mean dozing away.

Check out the beautiful fall foliage on the lake.  Ahhhh!  Fantasticly awesome scenery!

At night to stave off the cold and to avoid certain death by wild animals (such as cheetahs and bears that roam freely here!) we built a huge campfire.

 

Vince the He-Man building a fire from nothing.

Our beautiful fire!

Back at it the next day...here we are again:

Dad - our driver and Mom - the true Captain giving orders.
and posing for the camera!



 And as always, the worker among us....paddling us off of a sandbar...Me!:



What a great long weekend, food, fishing, campfires, scenery, peacefulness and even greater company...could you ask for anything more? 



Boston or Bust - NOT!

It was approaching Labor Day Weekend and our long weekend trip to Boston!  Neither of us had ever been and we were excited to see a new city with new sites.  Won a bid on Priceline for the Intercontinental Hotel right on the water!  Had the city mapped out, coupons printed and places to do and things to see planned.  When what to my wondering eyes should appear?  Why, it's Hurricane Earl...not a dear!  Bummer!  Hurricane Earl was busy churning up the coast and the eastern seaboard.  The day before we were to fly out, Boston appeared on the official potential "target" list as a possible "hit!"  I had to make a decision and fast...so I sprang into action....  I kept my fingers crossed as I called Priceline hoping against hope that they would at least give me a credit for the pre-paid hotel.  I thought I was in trouble when I explained we needed to cancel because of the hurricane and the reply I got was "What hurricane?"  Uh oh!  Turned out he was on the southwest side of Mexico and they tracked all the hurricanes, so he was really serious and meant "which hurricane?"  I was in total shock when he offered a TOTAL refund back to my card!!!  I was really suprised, but immediately said Yes, thank you!  Then I called Airtran, who had already repeatedly said "don't call them...they're busy!"  Got through in about 5 minutes (which is unbelievable at any time, let alone a hurricane time)  They offered me a 100% credit to be used in the next year!  No penalties, no cancellation fees due to the hurricane.  YAY!  YAY!  YAY!  I couldn't believe my ears.  So no harm, no foul!  Now that we decided to stay in good 'ole hurricane free Indiana for the long weekend...what to do? 
Well...........we started with a good 'ole fashioned fish fry on Friday:

Then moved on to White River Gardens, Ribfest and downtown Indy on Saturday:  

Can you tell which butterfly is from our garden and which is a "professional" butterfly from the White River Gardens?

Ribfest....MMMMmmmmm Yummy!

Adding my opinion to the IUPUI discussion boards.

Look!  A downtown Boston trolley!  Maybe we really are in Boston!?  Maybe this is "Lost?"  Ahh, the city keeps moving!  (must be a Lost fan to follow that diatribe!)

Shopping in Little Nashville on Sunday.

Riding 20 miles on Cardinal Greenway in Muncie on Monday, Labor Day.  (and labor we did!)  If we had made it to the end of the path (34 mile round trip) we would have been rewarded with a quaint restaurant at the end of the trail.  Sigh!  Too bad...didn't make it.  (Note to self...get in shape...goal for next time!)  :-)  Did you know that there are over 100 miles of bike trail running N/S on the eastern side of the state.  Goes all the way to Fort Wayne and down to some little Indiana burg on the south.



Tuesday went to the Badlands in Attica:

On the way back, stopped for ice cream cones and found a cool corn maze:

 Check out my awesome shots from laying on the ground and looking upwards.  Figured I could win a big photography contest with these:

Thankfully, we had the most picture perfect weather all weekend!  Good thing we stayed here!

Boston or Bust?  Naaahhh!!  Indiana is Incredible!