Good Bye, Auntie Kate! Come Back Soon...

Feel free to just skim through the pictures as there are too many to count - it was hard to pick and choose after our last busy weekend before Auntie Kate headed back to Pennsylvania.  She came over Wednesday night to help us make banana bread.

I LOVE how she loves our kiddos (even when they're impossible)!

Thursday, Phoebe got to take a field trip to the downtown public library.  She had a blast with all her friends and although I couldn't go along, I did watch them walk the long five blocks to and from school from my window on the 24th floor with a pair of binoculars! 

Thursday night was Phoebe's last swim lesson.  Not sure she learned anything like the butterfly or even the backstroke but she is a bit more comfortable in the water than she used to be.  We're even talking about taking Maverick for a parent/child class just so Phoebe can hang out in the aquatic center!

The last week of lessons was gray and rainy so we couldn't take Maverick out to the outdoor aquatic area.  Which meant we had to suffer through the 99% humidity with a very active 15-month old.  I know the picture is fuzzy, but at least you get the point.

And here's Ryan trying to convince Phoebe to go under the water.  She thinks she does, despite the fact that the top of her head remains dry.

Floating on her back (which she can now also do in the bathtub)!

Saturday we got up early and took family pictures.  Not our most successful venture, but there were a few keepers we'll post when everyone recovers from the onslaught of photos in this post.  Saturday evening, Ryan and I headed to Lake Monroe down in Bloomington for a get together for my work.  Mom and Dad kept the kids and when our last ride on the lake lasted longer than anticipated, they just went with the flow.  When we came in to pick them up at 11:15, Maverick had just fallen to sleep and Phoebe was still wide awake!  Church came a bit early Sunday morning but we all survived!

After a quick lunch at YiaYia and Papou's we headed to Conner Prairie.  Phoebe has been talking about it since our last visit back in February. 

It was a steamy 98 degrees so we spent lots of time in the barn where they had fans set up everywhere to keep the animals cool.

We're currently working on the word/meaning "gentle" with Maverick.

Not sure he gets it quite yet!

How many hands are you?

Auntie doing her best to edumacate the kiddos!

Yeah, it was hot. 

Phoebe could have stayed here watching the circle dances all day if we'd let her.  Luckily, they had a "shade station" nearby with water and fans to cool down.

Whatever Sissy does, little brother wants to do, too (and vice versa)!

Phoebe is starting to want to take pictures with my camera.  She has her own camera that she got for Christmas but I'm pretty sure it's lost in the depths of storage till we move.

We finally headed inside for the last hour that the museum was open.  We frequented Conner Prairie a lot as a family and this indoor area was non-existent when we were growing up.  They've made the museum much more kid-friendly so we decided to become members!

They even put on a little puppet show.  I'm pretty sure it went something like "If You Give a Pig a Pancake..."

There was all kinds of costumes to play dress up with!

Even Maverick got in on the "fun."

LOVE these curls!  I just don't have the heart to cut them quite yet...

Davy Crockett?

Once we closed down the museum, we headed up to Anderson to have dinner with GGMa and GGPa at one of our favorites - can you guess?

I'm pretty sure it was still 98 degrees after dinner, too.  We spent about 30 minutes outside chatting, trying to resolve GGMa's iPhone issues and watch the kids spin and twirl.

Auntie Kate left this morning and we already miss her.  So how does the Wallis family cope with her absence?  Pop Rocks, apparently.  Both kids are a fan!

And on a quick side note, we drove by our lot on Saturday just to see if they'd broken ground yet (we were told construction would begin July 24) and noticed that the house going up next to ours looked to be the same color siding as what we'd selected (which is a big no-no in this neighborhood).  We got word today that it is indeed the case and we were asked to come in and re-select all our exterior finishes.  Ryan is hoping they'll compensate us with a larger lot where our color choices will still work but I'm not convinced they'll be that generous. 

Here's hoping and praying we still get to move in by Thanksgiving!