Indianapolis!

We took a little family trip to Indianapolis last week and had such a great time! Indiana was Natalie's third state. Charlotte has been through there several times - she's been to five states so far. 

Our first stop was the Indianapolis Zoo. The weather was gorgeous, the animals were out, and they had a carousel! :) 

It was Charlotte's idea for them to wear their zebra dresses :) 

feeding a bird

Patiently waiting for the dolphin show

After a few hours at the zoo, the kids were ready to check out the hotel pool! :) After a nice swim, we walked downtown to have dinner at P.F. Chang's - yum! The girls weren't impressed and basically had milkshakes from Steak n Shake on the walk home for their dinner...

The next morning we walked back downtown to the Rhythm! Discovery Center. We had some time before they opened, so we checked out the mall downtown where Charlotte found a big candy machine of just banana runts - her favorite!

 The Rhythm! Discovery Center was great - lots of instruments for them to play!

Natalie's favorite

LOL 

Nat's mooing while Charlotte plays the cowbell

One worn-out Nat Nat 

We swam some more, ordered pizza, and went to bed early!

mmm hotel breakfast bar :) 

One last swim before checking out

We spent the third day at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. This place is HUGE. We definitely did not make it to all of the exhibits, but really enjoyed the ones we did get to.

dinosaur dig

taking care of baby pandas

water table fun 

sand table fun 

music room 

race car painting in the art studio 

water clock

Dale Chihuly glass sculpture

putting together a terra cotta warrior

Indy 500 exhibit

climber

exhausted after a full day! 

We stopped for dinner at Puccini's on the way out of town (YUMMM) and then headed home. The girls had a great time, and so did Ben and I! There were no major meltdowns or disappointments and we got out of town before all of the craziness of the Indy 500 started this weekend! 

Preschool Graduation

Charlotte had her graduation ceremony at Playmates Preschool today. Our big girl is off to kindergarten in just a few months! 

Charlotte has had such a wonderful experience at Playmates. She made lots of friends, learned some important social skills, and had a ton of fun learning! When looking for a preschool, we really wanted a place where Charlotte felt comfortable, where play was priority, and where learning would be fun. We hit the jackpot! 

Let me tell you about these ladies... 

Mrs. Immke and Mrs. Merrill are the most patient, loving, gentle, caring, and fun preschool teachers! I admire their ability to walk into a room full of 18 four-year-olds every day and smile, laugh, hug, and teach each and every kid. Charlotte's 3-year-old teacher Mrs. Schulz was the same, too. Their gentle nature and positive attitudes made Charlotte look forward to going to school every day. They meet each child where they are and work with them on what they need to learn next. Did I mention they're patient?! :) We love you and offer so much gratitude for all that you've done for our little girl over these last 2.5 years. 

The ceremony was so cute - all of the kiddos in their hats! Mrs. Merrill announced all of their names and where they're headed for kindergarten. They were presented with a certificate and a really sweet memory book with snippets of their days at preschool.  

We're so proud of Charlotte and all she has learned in the last couple of years both at home and at preschool. We're also so excited for the next phase - kindergarten - after a nice, long summer, of course! Charlotte will be going to Metcalf Lab School at ISU in August and Natalie will start in the 3's class at Playmates. Natalie is so excited to go to preschool and Charlotte is so excited for all of the adventures to come next year in kindergarten!