Indianapolis Get Away

Last week the kids and I headed to Indianapolis for a little vacation.  Our first order of business was to spend a day at the Indiana State Fair.  The kids were pretty excited, but kept saying "where's the fair?"  I think they were thinking the fair meant rides only.  They were way less excited about seeing the world's biggest pig and some of the other exhibits than they were about riding rides.  Until...

...we saw pony rides!

Natalie probably could have ridden that tame pony all by herself.  His name was Copper.

And, much to my surprise, Ben didn't hesitate to saddle up on his pony, Ziggy.

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

look how happy he is out there!

27 tries later and they figured out how to get both their faces in there

we liked watching these horses race and 

were able to get right up by the side of the track for a good look

watching horse racing

we bought a very limited number of ride tickets for a few rides at the very end of the day

And, did we mention that we had a very special guest join us?  Nana drove all the way down from Wisconsin to spend the two days with us in Indy!

Our last ride was on the ferris wheel!

fairgrounds from the top of the ferris wheel

after a whole day at the fair, I thought these two would be out like a light.  Once we got to our hotel (yes!  we stayed in a hotel downtown so we could have a second day of Indianapolis adventures.), they found the energy to have a dance party!  They were so excited for the hotel.

a quick walk around Monument Circle at night for some ice cream before bedtime

giant malted milk balls were a fun surprise in the bottom of our ice creams!

On day two, we headed to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  After a pancake breakfast at McDonald's, we were on our way.

excavating for dinosaur fossils

Dale Chihuly glass ceiling

traditional Chinese meal with chopsticks!

practicing Chinese characters

somebody was worn out after the fair, restless hotel sleep 

(both kids, Mickey, Minnie, & myself shared a double bed!), and a morning playing at the museum

after a quick snooze, he caught a second wind

old fashioned pony ride

We closed down the museum, got caught in rush hour traffic on the way home, but had a great two days!  The kids loved it.  We definitely will do a quick trip like this again!