Trader's Point Farmer's Market

We have only been to Trader's Point Creamery once - Melanie was about the age Joey is now.  At that time, we thought we'd probably wait a while before we went back.  Well, we waited awhile, but then had another baby the same age - so again, we tell ourselves, we'll probably wait a while longer.  We went on a Friday night to enjoy the Farmer's Market - Jeff & Melanie go literally every Saturday morning to the downtown Zionsville Farmer's Market, so we thought the Friday night one at TP would be fun, particularly with fresh ice cream.  It was fun, but it was hot, the kids were tired, etc.  It was nice to be outside, in any event - and Melanie cooled off with a nice lemon in the car afterward....

Doan Family Road Trip

My dad and I took a road trip to Wilmington, Ohio, which is where his grandpa (Charles "Pop" Doan) was from.  Wilmington is a place my dad had heard about his entire life, and holds a special place in his heart.  When his brother John called and asked him to explore their roots in Wilmington for about 24 hours, my dad agreed and set out, to meet up with their second cousin Susan and her husband Nial.  Susan has a particular passion for family geneology, and she showed us around the town and the family records.  It was pretty amazing to learn about Pop's (and our!) lineage in Wilmington.  For instance, Pop's grandfather, Azariah (in the framed picture above, which is on the courthouse wall), was a Civil War Colonel who also served as a state senator and judge.  Azariah lived in the white house above, where he raised his son, Joe T. Doan.  Joe then moved next door to the brown house, where he raised his son, Charles (and his two daughters - one of them being Susan's grandmother).  Charles later married Hazel, moved to Lafayette, and had their one son, Joe T. Doan - who went on to have my dad, Joe C. Doan, and my uncle, John Pierce Doan! 

It was a fun road trip with my dad, and to be able to spend time with my uncle - all while learning more about the Doan family name.  The Doans were one of the first families in Wilmington, and donated part of the land on which the courthouse now sits. 

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a fantastically lazy weekend; Jeff's was a four-day weekend, and my three-day weekend started a little early on Friday.  We didn't have ANY plans, and we capitalized on that by spending lots of time at home with the kids, just hanging out!  The picture of the plane above was one of the many fly-overs we get on race day weekend; Melanie was mesmerized!

New Pool

A lot of our lazy weekend was spent in back with the new pool.  It could be debated who this pool was purchased for, since Melanie and I ran to Target on Monday afternoon and came home to find Jeff sitting in it smoking a cigar.  It's a great size to entertain in - and comes with two cup holders!

Monday, Melanie made it to two parks (one being Coxhall Gardens, below) and the neighborhood pool, all by noon.  The backyard pool was set up later, and it was a fun day to just be outside.

What's so mini about it?

Jeff ran the Geist Mini-Marathon (13.1 miles) the weekend before Memorial Day.  The kids and I went to cheer him on at the finish line - both of them had on the shirt you see Melanie in above.  It was a fun morning, and Jeff did great!

Meeting Ronald McDonald

Melanie and I made a dinner trip to McDonald's one night to meet Ronald himself.  Mel was pretty excited at the prospect; and then she saw him.  She wasn't horribly freaked out, though - more like an amused scared.  She didn't want to get anywhere near him at first, and then after she ate and got autographed pictures for both her and Joey, she just wanted to spy on him and laugh from around the corner.  We finally worked our way up to talk to him (with me holding her) - but she still wouldn't give him a high five, or get her picture taken with him.  He was really good with the kids.

Now, whenever Melanie sees Ronald McDonald on TV, she yells "It's my friend!!"

Joey's Ear Tubes

Before.....

 After....

Joey has had six ear infections since November, and so we decided to do ear tubes.  We went to Dr. Scott Phillips at CENTA on May 20.  Melanie was confused why he needed this surgery, since, after all, she had just recently fixed his ears with tools from her doctor kit.  Joey couldn't have anything to eat/drink after midnight, so we woke him up around 11:30pm on Thursday night to give him one last bottle.  We took him in his pajamas to arrive about 6:30am for his 7:30 surgery.  We took him into the operating room about 7:50am, and he sure struggled against the "gas mask."  The anesthesiologist had explained that this would happen, since it doesn't smell good to them.  He cried, his face red, and finally I was dismissed as he floated off to sleep.  No more than 15 minutes later, Dr. Phillips came out to tell us the surgery went well, and the tubes were in!  We had been suspicious of a current ear infection, since Joey hasn't been sleeping well - but Dr. Phillips confirmed he did not have any infection, but he did have some fluid "back there," so one was probably brewing.

Joey was asleep when we came back to see him.  The little guy was finally getting some good sleep, and really didn't want to wake up!  Finally we coaxed him awake, and he didn't cry or seem scared at all!  He was anxious to get some milk in that empty belly, and about 30 minutes after returning home, he was in bed for a long nap.

We are prayerful that the tubes help alleviate the ear infections, and also help him recover the slight hearing loss the audiologist confirmed he has due to the fluid/etc.  If they do have an impact on his hearing, he could also start saying words soon!  (Although, I had two witnesses last night that heard him say "DADDY!" while walking toward Jeff).