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Back from our Indiana trip

Our trip to Indiana went really well! Johnny was fantastic in the car. On our way over, we only made one stop (which is incredible considering a toddler and a pregnant lady were on board!). Johnny slept through much of Ohio and was reasonably happy.

And on the way back, he was able to nap and didn’t fuss much. It was a completely different experience than we’ve had for previous trips where he’d scream inconsolably and wouldn’t sleep much. Whew.

Our first stop was to Shane’s brother’s house in Indianapolis to visit Shawn and Whitney. This was our first chance to see their house and it was really cute! While there, I was able to take some engagement portraits for them. Whitney was happy with them, so that’s all that matters. There were some technical problems with a lot of photos (white balance issues, exposure problems especially!) but she photoshopped some to make it better.

We got to see portions of Zionsville (adorable town!), and two parks. It was a quick visit, but nice. The weather was stupidly hot and humid and I whined a little too much about it. 100+ degree heat index? For real? Knock it off, Indiana.

Then, we headed south to Bloomington to see Shane’s parents.

Johnny was so excited to see his Papaw, whom he had just seen in Pittsburgh a few weeks prior. He seemed to still remember them which was nice!

We enjoyed some afternoons at some of the area’s parks. The weather cooled down some while we were there so it made it much nicer to be outside. Shane and I stole away to La Torre for a shredded beef burrito (I really want to know how they make their sauce! I could drink it.).

I was worried about keeping Johnny out of trouble, since Shane’s parents have so many antiques and stairs and all sorts of interesting things for a toddler to explore/break/hurt himself on. He’s old enough where he sort of gets what “don’t touch” means, but he didn’t really understand “don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.” So he needed some chasing. But it was fine and nothing got broken (that I know of) and he only got a few standard Johnny bonks — bonks that could have happened anywhere. It was a nice visit!

Then we went north to see my parents in West Lafayette. We first stopped in Brownsburg to visit my grandma and great-grandma. I knew my great-grandma wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know how poorly she was doing. When I saw her that Wednesday, she had been bed-bound for the past few days and wasn’t able to eat or drink anymore.

She was still awake at times and though her vision and hearing weren’t good, she could reach out and grab my hands.

I went back on Thursday with my mom and sister, basically to say good-bye. I read her some Psalms and some from the book of John. I didn’t know if she could hear everything I said, but I hoped she was comforted somewhat.

Back in Lafayette, Shane and I went to Little Mexico Too (spelled like that, I think). They have the best salsa. We also stopped by my old neighborhood and Johnny played at the playground. We tried to watch some airplanes flying around, but there was only one. Slow day.

While there, we also made a stop to the Columbian Park Zoo which has free admission. It’s a really tiny zoo and only has a few exhibits, but hey it’s free!

My great-grandma passed away early Sunday morning while we were in town. Shane really needed to get back to Pittsburgh for work, so he went without me and Johnny and we stayed so we could attend the visitation and funeral.

My great-grandma was 99 and almost a half. It was really great that I was able to know her and introduce her to my son a few times. Not many families get to have five-generation photos!

Johnny and I were at the visitation for about an hour and then went to my grandma’s house so he could nap. He hadn’t napped all day and the dude really needed to. So while he was asleep, I sat in the family room and read from my great-grandma’s Bible which was on an end table.

I’m finishing up the Bible in 90 Days reading plan, and that day I was reading 2 Corinthians.

The next day at her funeral, the minister said that my great-grandma had many favorite passages in the Bible, and one of them was 2 Corinthians chapter 5, which he read. I thought it was neat that I had just read that passage the day before, in her own Bible.

I have a lot of good memories of her and will miss her, but I know I’ll see her again.

My dad brought us back to Pittsburgh on Friday and I’m not sure when we’ll be back in the Hoosier state. Probably spring/summer 2011. Traveling with two little ones will be interesting!