A Week in My Life: Saturday and Sunday

You just can't beat a beautiful fall weekend in the Midwest. The beauty of this season is a big reason why we love living in this part of the country. We did our best to savor autumn's bounty this weekend. Here are a few highlights:

Saturday Morning Nature Walk
Our church just developed a memory walk on its property (which is a beautiful piece of land at the foothills of Brown County, which is probably the most popular place to delight in fall in Indiana). We've been meaning to check it out before or after church for the past couple of months, but it just hasn't worked out. So we drove out that way and hiked the short trail on Saturday morning.

I got some fun pictures of our "walk in the woods" as The Arrow called it.

The Arrow made a new friend that morning when we stumbled upon a frog. Perfect timing, as I'm hoping to take him to the new frog exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis this week.

Dining Al Fresco
On Saturday night, we thought about taking The Arrow to his first movie, as the local theatre was showing Smurfs in the early evening. But the weather was just too perfectly crisp to spend indoors, so we chose to grill burgers and eat dinner outside instead.

This was followed by about an hour or so of outdoor playtime.

A Sunday Spent in the Leaves

Sunday morning after church and lunch, we tackled raking leaves.

The Arrow was a big help, as you can see (ahem...)

IndyCar Tragedy

We were supposed to babysit one of The Arrow's little arrow buddies in the evening, but she was sick. Instead, my husband fatefully flipped on the television to see who was winning some of the football games and to check in on the IndyCar race in Las Vegas. The minute he turned it to ABC, we just knew something had gone terribly wrong at the race. About an hour later, it was announced that Dan Wheldon, the winner of this year's Indy 500, had died in a horrific crash.

My husband and I enjoy following the IndyCar series, mostly because we are huge fans of the Indy 500, our community's premiere annual event. I've written about our enjoyment of the race often here. Needless to say, the unexpected and tragic death of such a popular and successful driver cast quite a shadow on the night.

But you can always count on the innocence of kids to lift your spirits. The Arrow was oblivious to what was unfolding on television, and he kept demanding a trip to the park. So off we went to the same park I wrote about on Friday, and it was a nice way to cap off the weekend on a positive note.

End of Week in My Life Series

It's been fun to blog nearly everyday (although I admittedly lost a little steam by the time the weekend rolled around). It certainly wasn't a typical week for us, but I guess no week ever is. I heard from lots of friends who enjoyed a little glimpse into our day-to-day life. I know I'll be glad I captured this moment in time. Afterall, we now have orange juice that expires by the time the baby will join our family!

Anyway, thanks for joining us this week. Kudos to Melissa at Adventuroo for putting all of this together. If you found this blog via her link-up and have enjoyed learning about our week, feel free to "like us" on Facebook and keep up with our family's adventures.

Indy 500 Wrap-Up

I promise I'll take a break from posting about my love for the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after today. (But if you didn't get enough, you'll find posts here and here.) Needless to say, it was a great weekend in Indianapolis, full of lots of excitement as the outcome came down to not just the last lap, but the very last turn! My husband even came home from the race with a little cash in his pocket (and a sun-burned face) because he drew lucky winner Dan Wheldon in his pool. Speaking of pool, the arrow swam all on his own with swimmies at his grandparents on race day. I was too busy squeeling with glee and enjoying the freedom of my own two arms to take any pictures, so you'll just have to trust me.

Two weeks ago, my mom kindly watched the arrow so that my dad and I could have a day at the track for the Fast Friday practice. It's the last practice before qualification weekend, so all the cars were out trying to pick up lots of speed. It was fun to watch, and as always, I loved wandering around this beautiful venue. This being the 100th anniversary of the race, it was particularly striking to reflect on its profound history. Here are a few of my favorite photos.

The pagoda from the infield.

 This giant column shows qualifying order and track position during the race

The fancy new cars that they'll race next year.

Next year, I hope to have the arrow join in us for a day at the track!

This post is a part of Things I Love Thursday at Diaper Diaries and Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

A bit of Indy in St. Pete

Indianapolis rolls out the "checkered" carpet to more than 250,000 race fans at the Indy 500 this weekend. (To read a little bit about what's new this year for the 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, see my post at the Indiana Insider.)

My family got to see how St. Pete welcomes its own race fans when we visited just a few weeks before the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

The arrow got up close and personal with an IndyCar. Probably won't be his last encounter, given that he's growing up in Indy.

And we got to see what the road course looks like there, as it winds its way through the streets of the city. A little different experience than the gigantic Indianapolis Motor Speedway (the largest spectator sporting facility in the world). More photos from our walk around downtown St. Pete are available here.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Thanks to all the soldiers who keep us safe, day after day, so that we may travel, experience new things and enjoy our many freedoms.

This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Next week, I'll share some photos from last week's exciting Fast Friday practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

May in Indy

It's officially May in Indianapolis. Perhaps one of my favorite times of the year. While the hoopla and excitement surrounding the Indy 500 has tapered off in the last decade or so, there is still so much fun to be had around here throughout the month.

We'll kick things off this weekend with a morning at the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. It's the largest mini-marathon in the U.S. with 35,000 runners and walkers. We'll be cheering on several friends and family, a few of which are participating for the first time. We can't wait to see them cross the finish line. If you're planning to attend the race, check out my tips for fans at the Indiana Insider.

The next few weekends, the activity will center around the track itself as the car tries to qualify for a spot in the big event. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a great place to visit if you're ever passing through town. Even if you're not a race fan, you'll be fascinated by the history of this place. We're excited for the arrow to get a little older to take in qualifying festivities. I remember sitting in the stands as a little girl with my dad and a stopwatch, as he taught me how to time the laps to see which driver was fastest.

So while the cars are too loud for his 2-year-old ears, I have hopes of bringing the arrow to the parade this year. It runs through downtown Indianapolis the day prior to the race, and all the drivers participate, along with colorful floats and bands. I've never been to this big parade and it's been on my list of things to do for a while now.

I don't have plans to attend the actual race this year, although I've been a handful of times. I'm sure my husband will go, but I think instead I'll listen to it on the radio and spend the day at my parent's pool (oh hey Mom, I'm inviting myself over!). The race is actually not shown on television locally, so listening to it on the radio has long been a family tradition. We usually draw drivers' names out of a hat and cheer on our chosen racers.

So it's Indy in May... can't beat it. If you don't get goosebumps when Jim Nabors belts out "Back Home Again in Indiana," then you're just not a Hoosier. Since the arrow is too young for the noise of the race cars, if you'd like one family's take on experiencing the Indy 500, check out 500 Places with Kids, a blog about experiencing Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. Anne wrote about the pre-race festivities and the race itself.

This post is a part of Mondays are for Dreaming at the Mother of All Trips.