Trip to Indiana, Part 2

The next day was Sunday, and after a night of interrupted sleep, we woke up and had breakfast with the family (thanks Mikel!). I dressed Adelaida in her fanciest little pink dress with lace and we all went to church together. I had planned to put Adelaida in the nursery during church, but after vehement protests from relatives who don't get to see her often enough, decided to take her in to the service with us. She spent the entire service awake, mostly on Auntie Rachel Murphy's lap (although I think Uncle BJ got to hold her for a few minutes).

The service was about an hour long and she was silent and happy for the first forty-five minutes. With about fifteen minutes left in the sermon, she decided that she could add to the sermon and started babbling happily. She didn't quite drown out the minister, but several people around us were watching her and smiling. This only lasted about ten minutes and she let the minister finish his sermon in peace.

After church, we went out to eat and said goodbye to Uncle BJ, who had to drive back to Ohio so he could go to work on Monday.

The rest of us (Mikel, Mom, Rachel Murphy, Adelaida, and I) went home to quickly change clothes, then drove down to southern Indiana to see Adelaida's Greatgrandmother Rawlinson, Auntie Rachel Rawlinson, Uncle Bill, and Billy, none of whom had yet met Adelaida. We had hoped that the Rawlinson crew would be able to drive up to Greenwood for the gathering on Saturday, but they had other obligations and weren't able to make it, so we drove down to see them on Sunday.

After sitting around talking for a while, we went out to eat at Sandy's Pizza, arguably the best pizza in the greater Fort Branch metropolitan area! We had a great time visiting with Rachel, Bill, and Billy, but still had a long drive ahead of us, so headed home after dinner. Adelaida was great in the car, sleeping for both of the long drives. She also sported a Pebbles hairdo with her new ladybug hair clip (thanks Auntie Rachel Rawlinson!).



Monday and Tuesday were relaxing days. Rachel Murphy, Mom, Adelaida, and I all slept in both days (which I really needed after two more nights of Adelaida waking up!), then ran errands around town, including testing and finally purchasing a sewing machine for Mom, buying golden sandals for an Indian wedding, searching unsuccessfully for scissor-type cuticle nippers, buying an adorable swimsuit for Adelaida, and getting pedicures (for Mom and me) and a manicure (for Rachel). We had a great, relaxing time together.

Monday evening Rachel Murphy, Adelaida, and I met Dad, Mary Jo, and Annabelle at the mall for a classic Easter event: taking a picture sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap. I'm not entirely sure why kids sit on the Easter Bunny's lap (it's not like the kids tell him what they want for the holiday, like they do with Santa!), but it seems to be a strong tradition in Indiana, so we dutifully paid exhorbitant prices to get a single picture of Adelaida with the Easter Bunny. Even Annabelle, who confided to us that the Easter Bunny is just a man in a bunny suit (the real Easter Bunny lives at the South Pole), was willing to sit on his lap for a quick photo. (Note: the Easter Bunny's bow was nicely tied just moments before this photo was taken!)

After the obligatory Easter Bunny photo, we all went out to dinner, then went back to Dad's house to talk after dinner. Annabelle is 5 years old and was quite interested in Adelaida. She was kind enough to share all of her baby toys with Adelaida and seemed to enjoy watching her play.


Tuesday evening, Mom, Mikel, Rachel Murphy, Adelaida, and I journeyed down to Bloomington to see Michael and Sami and to eat at Lennie's (Michael and Sami's restaurant and one of my favorite places to eat!). Sami gave us a tour of the restaurant, including Michael's four pieces of art that were displayed in the restaurant's Staff Art display. We again had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the company all around the table!




By Tuesday evening, we had already had a very full trip, but the visit wasn't yet half over! I'll write more about the rest of the trip in future posts.