Indiana

In August we had the privilege of visiting Jeff's extended family in Leavenworth, Indiana.

Well, let's be exact.  We flew into Louisville, Kentucky.  As in Loo-eh-vuhl.  You know.  You have to say it right.  None of this Lewis-ville for us. [Even though after all our practicing, a Kentuckian, (Kentuckite, ???, whatever!) did tell us that the correct way to pronounce it is "Lewisville".  C'mon people!  Make a decision.  Potato, Patato I say.]

Just before our trip, Jeff asked me, "So what exactly are you expecting in Indiana?"

And I sheepishly replied, "Ummm....I expect to be pretty bored."  Luckily, I was wrong.

Our trip started with a two part plane ride.

Kaeden's first.

With the help of some drugs [i.e. benadryl], Kaeden made it through both flights without much trouble.

Our first flight started like this:

[Hey nice man in the background!  Who also randomly ended up being a co-worker of our new neighbor!]

And quickly turned to this during takeoff:

Ahhhh.  All that worrying about entertaining a toddler in an airplane for nothing. So glad Jeff had the foresight to pack the boppy in our carry-on. Regardless if I gave him a crusty that clearly said, "Seriously? You are bringing that? You are an idiot." Thank hun. I'm sorry.

We spent the time in Indiana with Jeff's grandma who we never get to see anymore [big frowny face]. Does that guilt you into coming to see us soon Norma? We've got a big comfy bed for you to stay in, and TWO [count them, TWO!] ovens for pie-making. Just throwing that out there...

Moving on. We stayed at Jeff's uncle's house, and I have never met more hospitable people in my life. Seriously.  Good people.  When exactly are you coming to see us?  I have a lot of hospitable-ness to brush up on...

With the way Jeff always talks about Indiana, I had pictured us staying in some shack out in the middle of nowhere.

We definitely were in the middle of nowhere, but shack it was not. Absolutely lovely.

We spent our few days touring the countryside, and visiting all the spots that held sentimental value to Jeff's mom who grew up in the small town.

In this picture, Kaeden and Ali pose inside Indiana's own Senor Frog's. I kid. But this picture reminded me of EVERYONE's Mexico pics. Who doesn't take a picture with Senor Frog?

We had a nice meal at the Overlook Cafe, where the backyard had this view:

That would be the Ohio River [oh please don't let me have that wrong!].

I'd never seen a large river like this before, nor riverboats. It was quite beautiful.

And here is the fam:

That's four generations y'all. And I was the only non-blood relative. Talk about an outsider.

Oh! And the other thing I've never seen in real life before?

Real Amish people:

I'm serious. They were really Amish!

I don't know why the Amish excited me so much. I learned after our trip about how amazing their peanut butter concoctions are. Jeff's mom shared some of her Amish peanut butter with us. If I would have known during our trip how yummy it was, we probably would have had no choice but to become the best of friends. Are the Amish allowed to do that? I dunno.

Anyway, anytime an Amish buggy rolled by, there I was chasing after them with my camera. Again, I don't know why I was so fascinated, but they were probably thinking, "Enough with the pictures lady. We're not a sideshow."

When I wasn't busy playing small town paparazzi, I used my camera to capture some of the countryside.

I sure wished I would have had my Nikon there. The photo ops were astounding. Unfortunately I only brought my little point and shoot which is frequently disappointing me more and more. I'm pretty sure if I had my Nikon I could be compiling my shots in a coffee table book called "American Countryside - And the AMISH!". Regis and Kelly would probably have me on their show to talk about my "art", and I'd be rich by now. But sadly, no. Maybe next time!

As all good jars of Amish peanut butter do, or trip too had to come to an end. And what better way to end it then how you began...with a sleepy boy on a plane.

The end.