Enjoying More of the Great Outdoors

We're trying to spend as much time outside as possible. Especially before the cold, winter months set in. Today we went hiking at Turkey Run State Park in western Indiana. The scenery was beautiful and the kids did great! The park has several trails ranging in difficulty from easy to very rugged. We mostly stuck to the easy and moderate-to-rugged trails. The kids were able to hike on most of the trails and had so much fun. We went with our friends, the Broadbents.

Here are Ashley and Brandon up on a ledge (don't worry, we're within arms length to catch them)

There were many flights of stairs on our hikes. Ashley loved climbing up and down the stairs and was such a trooper!

This was a huge, live tree that was knocked over. You can see the roots sticking up out of the ground, but the roots on the bottom side are still grounded and is keeping the tree alive. As you can tell, this was a big tree. Thad's feet can't even touch the ground, and mine definitely weren't touching! :)

We took a break to eat lunch and let the kids play on the playground. Their favorite part was swinging in the tire swing!

After lunch we set off again, on to more rugged terrain. This time we loaded Ashley up in a hiking pack and she did pretty well, but was completely exhausted.

By the end of the day, Ashley was completely pooped! :)

Biking, Playing, Biking, and more Playing

Last weekend Thad had a break from school. On Friday we went to Eagle Creek Park with our friends, the Broadbents, and went biking and played around. Here are some pictures:

Ashley loved playing in the damp sand and would throw it all over herself. She was covered in sand and had it all through out her hair. However, she didn't like it when the sand stuck to her hands... go figure!

Here are some pictures of Ashley playing at one of the playground parks at Eagle Creek. She had a blast, with her buddy Brandon, swinging, climbing, and going down slides. They were both exhausted by the end of the day!

On Saturday we went out to Washington Park, one of Thad's favorite mountain biking parks. He and Justin had alot of fun biking through the park, while we played with the kids at the playground. Ashley spent most of her time swinging, throwing rocks in the pond, and going down big slides. There was one big orange tunnel slide (which I do not have a picture of), that she just loved. It's the biggest slide in the park. She kept begging to go down again and again, until one time where she ended up twisted, turned around, and upside down. There was no more after that, but she still had a complete blast!

Family Pics

We had family pictures taken last week by a friend. Our last picture together as a family was when Ashley was 6 months old. We figured it was time to update things! :) Anyway, you'll have to bare with me as there are alot of Ashley. She was in a really good mood and did a great job!

We love the pictures! Thanks for everything Adri!