A night out on the "Super Bowl" town!

As all of you know, the Super Bowl is coming to our hometown next weekend and Indianapolis is really making a transformation in preparation for the big event.  Nick and I hit the town Saturday night with Mike and Erin- thanks to some great babysitters staying behind to watch Ben and Owen (thank goodness for Grandparents!).

We started our night with a quick walk through the circle to check out the sites.  The crowd was pretty heavy already, even with the blistery cold winds.  I can't imagine how it will be by next weekend!

Super Bowl "46" sign in front of the monument 

Erin and I with an attempt to get a picture of ourselves in front of the sign- not the greatest angle for getting the full effect in the background (or for my face!)  

Me and my hubby

After a walk through the circle, we hit up our next destination- Capital Grille for a delicious dinner.  Nick and I had never been, and it definitely lived up to the Watts' description and our expectations!  

Several calamari, crocks of soup, and steaks later, we left the restaurant to stroll down towards Georgia street.  From east to west, Georgia street has been completely transformed into a pedestrian walkway with a huge stage/concert area at one end, a zip line at the other, and several bar areas in between.  It was very chilly, but extremely cool to see Indy take on the look of a completely different city.  

We ended our night with tickets to the NFL Experience inside of the Convention Center.  There was shopping, huge rooms set up with NFL memorabilia such as the Lombardi Trophy, and then and massive area for games and other football related events.  Nick and Mike were in football heaven, and even got Erin and I to take part in the action.  

Nick getting ready to show off his quarterback worthy arm... 

We actually got to see a station set up where they were making footballs, sewing the laces on and everything.  I was pretty impressed! 

This is apparently Nick's tough guy face, throwing up his guns just like the statues in the background.  What a guy:)

Puppy + Ring = Good Weekend for Lindley

This weekend turned out to be a very eventful one for Nick's sister Lindley!  The Christmas gift that her boyfriend Frank got for her was a brand new little boxer puppy, AKA Ruby.  Ruby wasn't quite ready to leave her momma at Christmastime, but finally this past Friday it was time for her to go to her new home!  We were all very excited for Lin to have her- such a sweet little doggy!  They dropped by the house so Gunther and Ruby could get acquainted.  She might look tiny next to Gunther now, but give her a few months and that probably won't be the case!

Look how sweet she is- her skin is all wrinkly still! 

A glance at the size difference- makes Gunther look huge! 

Either Ruby missed her momma and was looking for a little snack, or she really just wanted to get to know Gunther a little better:)

Ben also loved Ruby- I wonder how he'll feel about her when she is 3 times his size!

Well the story definitely doesn't stop here!  Not only did Lindley and Frank stop by to introduce us to Ruby, but they also had very big news... they are ENGAGED!  Turns out when Frank gave Ruby to Lindley earlier in the day, Ruby had a beautiful ring tied around her neck with a pink ribbon.  Nicely done Frank!  We are so excited for both of them and look forward to planning a wedding this year!

Ben and Mommy's Day Out

Last Monday was a company holiday in honor of MLK day, so Ben and I ventured downtown for the morning to meet up with Erin and Owen at the Children's museum.  We spent the majority of our time in the "Playscape" area dedicated to toddlers like ours who can play in a giant water table, sand table, slides, train tables, you name it.  Ben had a blast with his best friend Owen, and it was nice for Erin and I to chat for a few minutes at a time in between chasing down our little men!  

 The boys splashing around in the water table

Ben looking a little damp- time to move on to something else! 

 Now onto the sand- trust me, I limited time spent at this table to avoid sand in every crevice!

Ben's favorite- the slide!   Can't wait to get this little guy his own swingset for his birthday! 

Christmas Part 2

After having our Christmas at home on Friday morning, we loaded up the Traverse and headed to Mom's house for the weekend.  It is always a little crazy there, but worth every second.  I love spending the time with my Mom and Ralph and all of my siblings and their kids.  There were 5 kids this year between all of our families, and with an addition to our family and to Allison and Daryl's next year there will be 7!  I can only imagine!!  Here are a few of my favorite shots from Mom's house...

My gift from D- he drew my name this year.  Impressive wrapping, right? 

Ralph and little Toby.  I never thought I would see the day that Ralph was holding a dog, but wouldn't you know I was wrong.  They adopted this little guy for Ralph's Mom and haven't given him to her yet... 

The kids enjoying a little snack- I cracked up at Ben in this picture because the little chair I have his booster seat strapped too was almost too low for the table! 

Ben on Christmas Morning

After leaving Mom's house on Sunday afternoon we headed over to celebrate with the Vollmer's.  Fun and crazy at the Vollmer house as always... 

Ben's hair looks like he got a hold of a scissors in this picture, but really he didn't.  Just the weird way it fell in this pic.  I had to post it though, look at that precious face!! 

Ben loves his Aunt Lin and Aunt Caity 

One of his favorite presents... the fireman hat!! 

Usually good for about 15 solid minutes of entertainment with Ben- a big pad of paper and some fat crayons. 

What little boy doesn't need a rocking horse?

Christmas Part 1

Merry Christmas!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family- you all made our Christmas very special this year.  I definitely wanted to share pictures from all of our Christmas celebrations, but quickly realized there is a little too much for one post.  So here is the first of 2, possibly 3 Christmas posts for this year! 

I thought I would start with our family Christmas at home.  On the Thursday before Christmas, Nick and I went out on a wonderful and much needed rare date night (thank you to Auntie Lindley for babysitting) and returned home to play Santa.  We spent most of our evening after dinner assembling toys, wrapping gifts, and just preparing the set up for Ben the next morning.  The next morning, Friday morning, we woke Ben up to see what "Santa" had brought for him.  Here are some pretty cute shots...

The big tool bench that will be strategically placed upstairs in his big boy room... 

My sweet boy, very excited to see a little Mickey Mouse 

Working on his drawing skills 

He managed to stick every sticker in his stocking on his pj's:)   

A little later in the day- rocking his new Puma sweatsuit from Grandma Sams!  Nick thinks he looks a little like Mini Me from the Austin Powers movies in that suit.

Breakfast with Santa

Or more properly titled, "Breakfast with the Watts family after attempting to take pictures of a terrified Ben and Owen with Santa."

Let's just say this first year attending Breakfast with Santa was as expected, not a big hit with the toddlers.  We met up with Mike, Erin, and their son Owen at the American Funds office (where Erin and I work) a few Saturdays ago.  Every year our employer hosts a breakfast with Santa where a huge breakfast is provided and kids/families stand in a very long line to get a chance to sit on Santa's knee.  Ben and Owen were very excited about this in theory.  Ben was even saying "See-ka, yap".  (translation, Santa's lap)  However picture pure terror on Ben and Owen's faces when they thought they were going to be left to sit all alone on this big guy in a red suit's knee... terror, I tell you.  The proof is in the pictures...

Luckily, breakfast was delicious and we enjoyed it with some of our best friends- a great way to spend a Saturday morning!  Maybe next year "See-ka."

A few random pics to catch up on...

Here are some pictures from over the last month or so that I haven't had a chance to post, even though they are blog worthy.  I'll just do it all in one swoop!  

Ben surrounded by 4 of his favorite ladies... all of his cousins.

(L-R) Alexa, Anna (behind Ben), Grace, and Violet

Ben, in his classroom at school waiting to perform at the Christmas program.  He did such a great job dancing and ringing bells to the music up on stage in front of all of those people, a real natural:)  I would post the video, but I think it might be too long...

Opening some of his first Christmas gifts for the year from his Grandma Haring.

Trying my Ugg's on for size:)