State Fair & Sugarland Concert

I have a small confession to make: I've become a country fan in the last 5 years. It all started when I was selling pharmaceuticals all over the state of Indiana. I was in the car a LOT. I had XM radio and loved, loved, loved listening to the radio. This is when I discovered the awesome-ness of country music. Simply put, it just makes me feel good. I had been a fan of Dixie Chicks since college, and even went to their concert in 2003...but my love for country grew in the car. Over the years I have become more diverse in my country repertoire and embarked on my 2nd ever country concert: Sugarland!!! Little Big Town opened for them and both acts put on a stellar performance.

My girlfriends from work bought these tickets while I was on maternity leave, so that lets you know how long I've been anticipating this show!

Me, Chelsea & Lori at work ready to head out into the heat of the Fair
Indulging in a corn dog...yum!

We listened to Josh Kelley perform on a free side stage (he is married to Katherine Heigl and is brothers to the lead singer in Lady Antebellum)

Lori & Kelly

Brenna was chomping at the bit to get on a carnival ride...hilarious

Then the rest of us went on this crazy ride. I literally thought my life was in jeopardy. Scarey mary.

The stage

Just the four of us. Oh, and 12,000 others!

Sugarland was absolutely incredible...it was worth staying out WAY past my bedtime for a night of singing and dancing with the girls!

Sorry we've been out...

Sorry for the long absence (for me, not blogging every Sunday night is very rare!). We have been here:

Enjoying this...
And lots of this...

Our friends offered us their lake cottage for the week...so we took them up on 4 days of pure serenity. More to come later. Much, much more. I took over 100 pics!!! Right now I'm trying to catch up on work (and last night I was catching up on unpacking, laundry and a long run).

Izzy McCulloch, Junior Pilot

Izzy's school had a special surprise for them today; a mini helicopter came and they were able to suit up in a jump suit and get their pictures taken! These pictures are low quality b/c I had to scan them and then do some minor editing, so I apologize in advance. I just couldn't resist putting them on the blog as she's just so darn cute! I keep saying this age is very trying (lots of tantrums, saying no, defiance, screaming) so it's a good thing Izzy's adorableness makes up for it :)

In the driver seat
Holding the helmet. TOO CUTE! They even received official badges to wear around their necks with their picture as a pilot. This is a fun new addition to the dress-up bin at our house!

PARTY!!!! Delaney's 1st & Mike's Graduation

We had a busy weekend preparing for a big celebration in our house: Delaney turning 1 and Mike graduating with his MBA in Accounting. Bob & Laura (Mike's dad & step-mom) arrived Saturday to help us prepare for the party.

Delaney opening her gifts from Grandpa Bob & Grandma Laura: she got a water table (huge hit!) and a walk behind/ride along BUG Radio Flyer (and lots of fun/funky clothes!).
Laney playing The girls helping grandpa put together the water table (check out DJ's high tops!)

Baked two dozen cupcakes to supplement the cake. Please ignore the horrid frosting job...trust me when I say these were YUMMY.

Laney's birthday cake and smash cake (can you tell which was homemade?!?)

We had some face painting and tattoos in the shade of the garage

Izzy showing off her face paint and tattoo

Emma helped with the tattoo on Luke

Grandpa and Delaney

Jacob & Jaime

The bounce house was a huge hit...Laney LOVED it

Taking it all in...

Family pic

Brooke after a face painting session

Delaney checking out her bug smash cake

She looks like a clown here!

We had to rush to the bath after this...look at those red forearms!

Izzy sporting her new headband and watch from Aunt Molly

And a lollipop as well!

Katie & Christopher

Sugar!!!

And it's not really a party until someone gets naked!!! (Had to beat the heat somehow!)

Bobo & Laney bouncing...she loved being popped around

Thanks to all who came to celebrate. Sorry I didn't get pics of everyone there, it was quite exhausting to manage it all. We are ALL pooped from a fun (and HOT) day! Happy (early) Birthday Delaney and (early) Congrats to Mike for completing his MBA.

New haircut & dance party

Last week Mike and I decided it was time to cut Izzy's hair...it was getting far too long and with the heat we just had to get it off of her shoulders. I took the scissors out and chopped it...to her chin. After 2 straight evenings of post-bath trim/shape-ups, I decided it was time to take Iz to a profesh hair-fixer-upper. Here is the result:

I had Friday off (and since school started back up and therefore the pool lacked their lifeguards, we couldn't go to the pool!) and so we ventured to the library for a dance party!!! We met Brenna & Jack there where the girls had a BLAST. Oh my goodness...30 straight minutes of dance party USA. Loved it. When we first got there, Izzy said her buddies were there (very few people are considered her buddies; Luke, Tyler, Elissa, Molly, GiGi) and I just brushed her comment off b/c none of these people were at the library on a Friday morning. Until I realized Izzy was giggling with delight and said buddies sitting next to us...their mom introduced herself to us as Elissa's sister!!! Our nanny's sister and her two girls would meet up with our girls once or twice a week for playdates. SO FUN! But I have to admit I was choked up immediately and realized how close these girls had become (holding hands, dancing, hugging, giggling). Made me miss Elissa even MORE than we already do! Was such a treat.

Jack, Delaney & Izzy

Even Delaney was dancing!!!

Laney & Taylor

Pool, block party, and bicycling

Loved this weekend!!! We did most of the usual weekend things we usually do and for some reason I just loved it. I'm a creature of habit and love a good routine, so that's probably why I loved the monotony of the weekend.

The four of us hit up the pool both Saturday and Sunday...we had perfect weather in Indy with minimal humidity. The low humidity made for a very cool and easy long run (11 miles) and all of the weekend's activities more enjoyable.
Laney Bug still loves herself some water!!

Saturday night we took part in our very first block party. We had never gone in the past b/c we'd either been out of town or we didn't have kids to bring along with us. There was a huge bounce house, face painting, crafts and lots of food. We met a ton of our neighbors and made a handful of new friends (and babysitters!). I might even have some new running partners...who knew that there were so many female runners in the neighborhood!?!?

The Carmel Fire Department was there and gave tours of the fire engine, which Izzy loved.

Izzy also tried her first sack race. It was so cute...Izzy did a lot of jumping, just not forward. Girl just jumped in place and made zero forward progress. Hilarious. Obv she didn't win the race!

Sunday afternoon Katie and Christopher came over for an impromptu playdate. Izzy did her best to show off her dress-up skills.

While Christopher and Delaney had fun playing doctor. Um, let's hope this isn't the case in another 15 years!

Both Saturday and Sunday we worked hard with Izzy to learn how to ride her Roadster tricycle. By this evening she was a pro! She still isn't super speedy, but she is riding it on her own and quite proud of herself (so are we!). We're looking forward to the days when we can go on family walks while Izzy is pedaling beside us.

We cycled up and down the sidewalks.

And back and forth down the cul-de-sac.

Izzy was pooped after all that biking!

Laney was quite the cheerleader for her big sis...

This is how we end every night - both girls climb the stairs up for bath time and jammers. I just love how they do so much together.

After baths we decided on a whim to cut Izzy's long locks. Her hair is getting so long and stringy (I'm sorry to say she's got her mommy's hair) and this heat just makes it hard to keep it off her shoulders/back. She's also in a stage where she is taking her piggies out all the time. Problem solved: we cut about 3 inches off! It's now about chin-length again. Makes her little cheeks look uber chubby...I'll post pics soon!