Day 2 at Coon Creek

Another nice day at the lake! Dave's parents arrived at lunchtime today and the kids spent more time riding bikes, going on walks, and goofing off at the playground!

Our campsite

Connor and Brenna

Cute girls and handsome boys!

Tyler's newest infatuation is with spiders--especially Daddy Long-legs!

Mama Carol and Papa Dave have arrived! Notice the two big kids waiting patiently for the truck to come to a stop. :)

Getting ready to walk the doggies!

This is what happens when you leave two 5-year-olds alone in a camper with a fresh batch of brownies! When I walked in on them chowing down and asked them what in the world they were doing, their immediate response was, "We asked Papa if we could have a brownie, and he didn't say anything, so we thought that meant YES!" Very clever. ;)

Connor and Brenna enjoying pizza for lunch, while Tyler and Taylor skipped right to dessert!

Deb and me

Lounge time!

After dinner, we took our kiddos into town for a Dairy Queen treat!

We're in Lake Shelbyville!

This morning, we headed to Lake Shelbyville, IL (about 2.5 hours from home) to join Dave's sister, Debbie, her husband, Dave, and their girls for a fun few days of camping! The kids spent a good portion of today playing on the playground; we also took a walk down to the small "beach," which is currently closed due to high water levels. :( The kids did enjoy throwing sticks into the water and watching Copper fetch them, though!

The boys passed the time in the car playing with Star Wars figures.

Fun on the playground! Or in Connor's case, fun with cars on his "road rug."

Tyler and Taylor had so much fun following each other around on their bikes!

The English and Lunning Families

Fetch, Copper, Fetch!

Connor and Brenna ended the day with roasted marshmallows. :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy

Since Dave's birthday is on a weekday this year, we celebrated early with our families this past weekend and I just bought a miniature cake for the four of us to share after dinner tonight. The boys (mostly Tyler) helped decorate it and write "Dad" on it (wasn't room to write much else). Then, they told Dave to sit down at the table, close his eyes, and they very carefully carried it to him together. It was so cute to watch. :)

The boys' work of art

I like the look on Connor's face in the photo on the left; it's almost like he thought he'd drop the cake if he turned his head to look at me!

More "Happy Birthday" singing, more candles, and more sugar!

Dave's parents came over for dinner tonight and gave Dave his birthday gifts.

Silly Papa!

Cracker Barrel

We met up with my part of the gang at Cracker Barrel after church today and had breakfast for lunch--very yummy!

The boys really liked the just-their-size rocking chairs.

Dave and Tyler passed the time playing checkers while we waited for a table.

Mom/Scott, Michael/David, Queen Bee, Pat/Dick (Scott's dad), and Kay/me.

Dave's Early Birthday Celebration

After a trip to Lowe's this morning, our families came over to celebrate Dave's birthday a few days early. His mom baked him a cake and we had a yummy lunch. It was a fun day!

The kids had fun making their helicopters at Lowe's.

Battle of the "airplanes."

The boys sang "Happy Birthday" to Dave, then each took a turn blowing out his candles.

Allstate 400 at The Brickyard

Today was our 2nd annual Indianapolis trip (with Tyler) to watch the cars practice for the Brickyard 400 Nascar Race. Dave and I have gone a few times in the past (before children!) and we've always enjoyed it, so we took Tyler for the first time last year and are SO glad that we did. He kept saying how "awesome" it was to see the cars going round and round so fast--and getting to see them up close behind pit row was totally the highlight for him. I have a feeling that was the first of many trips to Indy to come!

If you had been driving behind us on our way to Indianapolis, this is what you would have seen. :)

Go M&M's!

We're ready to cheer for our favorite car!

Enjoying a picnic lunch across the street from IMS--on a super nice day.

View of pit row from our seats.

From Tyler to me: "Mom, you know what that man down there is saying? It's your turn: ready, set, go!"

My and Tyler's fave cars

See that man in the background wearing the yellow shirt? The cars drive right past him on the way to their garages. Tyler loves to stand here during practice 'cause he feels like he can almost reach right out and touch the cars as they go by.

Some of Tyler's other fave sponsors this year.

After our traditional end-of-day dinner at Applebee's, Tyler asked to make a stop a Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae. This was totally HIS day!