dinner at the farm

we ended up arriving in indiana about an hour earlier than planned (who knew the kids would go all four hours without a bathroom break?).  matt's cousins and their families weren't there yet and great uncle dennis was still out at the beach with some grandkids but great aunt joy knew just what to do - big wheels in the driveway!  the kids thought that this was awesome.  we don't have any of our own, but the preschool has them and the kids love them.

there is no shortage of things to do on the farm.  we were shown a lot of love and the kids were shown lots of loot for playing!

and the indoor swing is always the best seat for the 'silly, surprise show'.

great aunt joy got out a table tennis game that daddy used as a boy.

the swing is even strong enough for madelyn

but we didn't have to stay inside.  after a delicious dinner of sloppy joe's (matt's nana's recipe), cheesy potatoes and fresh, local produce (the most amazing cucumber and onion salad that i am hoping to get a recipe for...) we went out to enjoy the beautiful evening!

nolan pushing mason an 'underdog' on the swing 

great uncle dennis (papa's brother) and maddux 

mason was having a great time swinging!

great uncle dennis and mason

madelyn and nolan swinging at the same time!

madelyn got to go driving with the big girls - leah and dayton around the farm.

matt's cousin jason was giving maddux some batting lessons.  maddux is a pretty good little hitter too.  jason was joking that he could skip right over t-ball and go to live pitch!  maddux hit more than half of the pitches in a pretty solid connection.

and then great uncle dennis took us for a polaris ride around the farm.  first we went through the corn field (did you know that each of the 'strings' in the top of the corn go to a single kernel?) and then he took us all over the property, including some 'roller coaster' hills.  it is a thrilling ride!

unfortunately, this wasn't a very long visit and they were so kind to host us for dinner.  we said our good-byes after this impromptu balloon party!  they had them left over from a visit from their grandkids from arizona last week and our kids were more than happy to play with them too.

now we were off to turn in at great grandma's retirement community for the night so that we could visit with her tomorrow before heading back home.  thank you all for a lovely evening!  love.