It's a Long Way to Tipperary...

But not so far to downtown Indianapolis, which is where the girls and I were headed this morning for the Indianapolis St. Patrick's Day parade. We were dressed in our Irish best and were excited to spend some time out in the sunlight. So welcome spring, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Looking sweet in Shamrocks.

We stopped at the Monument and checked out the fountain on our way to the parade route.

Waiting for the parade to start.

We're all excited!

The parade started off with the motorcycle cops -- always our favorites.

Can't have an Irish parade without bagpipes.

Can't have an Indianapolis parade without Blue.

Come to think of it, you can't have an Indianapolis parade without a race car driver either.

Here's hoping your St. Patrick's Day was as green and happy as ours was.

A Few Firsts

Here in the McCain household, we have experienced a few firsts in the last few days. Here is the photographic proof.

Elise had her first meal of strained peas. (I learned my lesson from Hazel, and mixed it with rice cereal to tone down the flavor a bit.)

The delivery...

Hmmm... This is different.

But I think I like it.

Elise has also learned to sit up pretty well on her own. Some of you may recognize this video. We took one just like it of Hazel when she was this age. You'll notice, though, that while Hazel was watching Jeopardy, Elise is watching Dora the Explorer. Slight programming change since Hazel has taken control of the remote control.

Our Mini-Vacation to Great Wolf Lodge

I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately. We get a little down during the winter, after Christmas and go into hibernation mode, just trying to get through to warmer weather. This February was particularly difficult given the snow-storms which just kept coming. Not to mention all the busy weekends we had going on. The first weekend in February, we watched the Colts battle the Saints in the Superbowl; the following weekend Glenn and I drove down to Louisville to see the Titanic Exhibit at the Science Center; and the weekend after that, Aunt Sarah and Cousin Mac flew out to surprise me for my 30th birthday. So, needless to say, we were ready for a little break by the time this weekend rolled around.

Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed to Cincinnati to visit the Newport Aquarium. Hazel was up late the night before, so she was a little bit cranky, and not really into seeing the fish, but she did enjoy watching the penguins waddling around.

Hazel was not at all interested in petting the Horseshoe Crab.

But she was interested in climbing these giant frogs in the Frog Bog.

The big excitement came after our visit to the Aquarium when we headed to Mason, OH (my hometown) and checked into the Great Wolf Lodge. Hazel couldn't wait to get into her swimsuit and go to the water park.

The indoor water park was super cool! Lots of things for the whole family to do.

Hazel had lots of fun playing in the water, but she wasn't particularly interested in the toddler slides or getting splashed.

Everybody got in on the swimming action, even Elise.

But Hazel is tired of standing around... Let's get in the water!

Hazel's favorite attraction was climbing across these floating tree stumps and lily pads.

Daddy helped hold them steady while Hazel made her way across.

Hazel must have climbed across this pool about 75 times.

Elise wasn't particularly interested in getting splashed either, but she really loved swimming with Momma. She would kick her feet until she wore herself out.

Christmas in Indianapolis...

... Or "I'm dreaming of a Wet Christmas."

While the rest of the midwest was being buried until feet of snow in a huge blizzard that shut down the interstates in Oklahoma, we were enjoying temperatures in the low 50's and lots and lots of rain. But that didn't stop us from having a completely magical holiday. We started yesterday off with a trip to Lilly to see Santa one last time and make sure he knew what Hazel wanted. For the past few weeks, she has been telling anyone who would listen that she wanted a pink leopard for Christmas. Apparently, Elise told Hazel that she would like a brown monkey, so Hazel went ahead and told Santa that. We spent Christmas Eve night in Lawrenceville at Grammy Burton's annual Christmas Eve party. We had fun meeting our new cousin, Mac and playing with Uncle Brian's dachsund, Joxer. We drove home after the party, and got home around midnight.

This morning, we woke up to find that Santa had not disappointed us. Upon arriving downstairs, we found a pink leopard and a brown monkey, along with a new play kitchen for Hazel and a music table for Elise. Hazel noticed the leopard first thing, and we were wondering how long it would take for her to realize that the leopard was sitting on top of a new play kitchen. Once she did realize it, she had a great time making dinner, baking cookies, and serving us lemonade.

Here are a few pictures from the morning madness.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It has been an exciting one out here in Indianapolis, what with an official two year-old running around and her adorable little sister. It all started out on Tuesday when the girls decorated the house for Halloween and we carved some pumpkins, and it peaked tonight with some trick or treating. So, for all the interested parties, some pictures:

Hazel's first attempt at a pumpkin

And her try at a squishier version

But Daddy ended up doing most of the dirty work

Our final creations

And the pumpkins in their natural habitat

Megan getting into the spirit

Tinkerbell getting antsy to get out the door

"C'mon daddy! It's empty! Let's go fill it up!"

Hazel's first KitKat. She liked it very much (but she didn't blink for the next 45 minutes)

Hazel and Elise had a great Halloween!