Summer Vacation 2013: Journey to Indianapolis

Today I'm going to start telling the story of our family vacation. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . No, really, the times were mostly pretty decent, barring a few inevitable and sometimes hilarious hiccups.

Does Nick look a little crazed? Desperate, perhaps, to get out of the minivan?

Setting: One blue minivan, packed to the ceiling with everything that five people would need for eight days. I packed 17 outfits for Nick and 20 for Henry. We brought special new dollar store toys and books to keep the boys interested during the long car rides. Greg had the back of our van set up like a carefully orchestrated game of Tetris, except for the fact that whenever you opened the trunk, everything fell out onto the concrete.

Characters: Melissa, Greg, Grandma Toni, Nicholas, and Henry. Henry was lucky enough to sit in the way back, and Grandma Toni mostly sat in the middle row next to Nick, though she sometimes squeezed in next to Henry so he wouldn't get lonely. Sitting backwards in the way-back of a mini-van is no fun, poor little guy.

Objective: To enjoy ourselves while taking care of two diaper-clad, rather highly strung little boys.

And thus our tale begins. . .

We wanted to make it to Indianapolis for lunch and to Mammoth Cave National Park by dinnertime. The first leg of our journey wasn't too bad-the boys are used to a few hours in the car, and Nick was excited about the upcoming trip. But after awhile, he started asking how much longer it was going to be, and when I told him we'd be in the car all day, this was his reply: "Mommy, you are destroying my dream!" I guess it was a dream of miraculously fast travel. Yup. Destroyed that one.

Don't you think the stickers add a certain. . . je ne sais quoi? 

Grandma Toni was wonderful with the boys. She even let Henry decorate her hand with stickers, when he started getting bored. We were all ready to get out of the car by the time we finally arrived in Indianapolis, though!

Do we look like we've been sitting in the car a little too long?

Indiana is not really my favorite state, but Indianapolis is one city that I don't mind walking around, especially on such a beautiful day. We stopped in a pretty part of the city, and there was plenty to look at as we strolled around.

I had to tell Henry that these decorative chili peppers were NOT for eating. 

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We walked down to the City Market, where there was a lovely public square with benches and flowers and even a pretty historic gate. We ate inside the City Market, which I will describe in my next post.

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Nick liked this clock. He's been into clocks lately, since he started watching the Back to the Future trilogy. It reminded us of the clock tower.

It felt really good to stretch our legs. . .

. . . even if that stretching was accomplished through chasing this young gentleman across the square.

Greg finally had to tackle him and carry him bodily back to the minivan for another few hours of travel.

They were both sleeping in a matter of minutes.

Nick's lips are blue because a nice man in the City Market gave the boys samples of the messiest ice cream ever.