Tourist in your own town

Feeling the need to get out of the house and also to get Dusty to quit working on the weekend, this afternoon I announced for everyone to get their shoes on; we were leaving. I did not disclose the location for our adventure, but kept everyone guessing. First stop - the museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We've lived here for almost a decade, but had not been to the track. Although Aaron reminded me as we were pulling in that he had been there with a friend last year for a motorcycle race.

We spent time looking at the cars and trophies. Here's Aaron with the trophy for the winner of the Brickyard 400

With Tony Stewart's winning car



Rachel's favorite car....PINK!!





The Borg-Warner trophy for the Indianapolis 500 winner





Then we headed downtown to go to the top of the Sailor's and Soldier's Monument. We've been to the monument lots of times but never up in it. $2 per person to ride the elevator with Rachel being free vs. climbing 32 flights of stairs with a 4-year old...$6 well spent!







Finished up the day with dinner at Fazoli's and a trip to Family Video. Time to go watch a movie! :)

Rock & Worship Roadshow

(Photo taken by Melissa King)

Last night several of us headed into the city for the Rock and Worship Roadshow. MercyMe, David Crowder Band, Family Force Five, Fee, Francesca Battistelli, Remedy Drive, and Sidewalk Prophets....all for $10. Can't beat it. Since it was open seating we left and made a bee line for the stadium determined to get some decent seats. Fortunately Christina & Janelle had got there early and snagged some good ones on the floor, center section about 14 rows from the stage. My little point and shoot camera is dead and I didn't want to lug the big on around so I left it at home. I instantly regretted the decision. However determined to live in the moment instead of worrying about documenting the moment Heather, Sarah, & I threw our rock fists in the air and proceeded to bust out some dance moves.

Sidewalk Prophets and Remedy Drive were 1st up. The pre-game show or the bands before the opening acts...they didn't even get the fancy, fancy lights. :) I liked Sidewalk Prophets, but the guy from Remedy Drive lost me after he did a couple of handstands off his keyboard. I spent the rest of their set wondering if I could pull that off on Sunday. A sturdier keyboard stand would be needed.

Fee kicked off the main group of bands. I love Fee. I could have done with a lot more Fee. Bring back Fee!! After Fee, Francesca Battistelli came on. She's a good singer, but seemed really out of place in the midst of all of these loud, rockin' bands. We decided that she needed a funkier wardrobe as well.

Next - Family Force Five...I'm not sure really how to describe the experience that was Family Force Five. Wikipedia lists them as a crunk rock band...I have no idea what that is. I've now heard them and I still don't know what that is. A mash up of rock, rap, electronica, screaming, club music, and dancing is about as close as I can come to describing it. I must say they were very entertaining to watch, and dressed in snazzy matching purple shirts with silver trim that resembled a marching band uniform. I will now quote all of their lyrics that I understood - "GETCH YOUR BACK OFF THE WALL!!!", "FEVER!!!", "ROCK IT LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE!!" Thank you, thank you very much. I must be getting old.

Providing relief to our eardrums was David Crowder Band. Another great group to watch live. Lots of fun and songs I knew...so bonus. I've also decided that we need to add a gnome to the stage for our band at church....don't ask, you just had to be there.

Last up, the headliner, MercyMe. They always put on a great show and I loved the stage-length light board, video screen thingy. Technical, no? The light up drums were the bomb!

So to summarize our band at church needs matching band uniforms, light up drums, and a stage gnome. I'll do a hand stand off the keyboards, we'll teach Paul to hold his guitar over his head and march like a gorilla, a la Family Force Five, and Sarah can scream GETCH YOUR BACK OFF THE WALL!! Then we'll be set....it should go over quite well. :)

Stacks and Stacks

Today Rachel and I spent the day out together. We started off with a free sausage biscuit from Chick-fil-a. On the way out of the restaurant we ran into Allie, JJ, and Heather so we had to take a few minutes and chat with them. Then Jen, Rylan, and Maddie showed up. Which proves my theory - Stay long enough at Chick-fil-a in Avon and someone from the church will show up. :) After our breakfast we headed into the city to the Central Library. That was a lot of fun. There is a new 6 story building. It's attached to the old building with a huge glass atrium.

This is my attempt at some HDR photography. I don't know, I might need a tutorial from PEC

Here are some shots from inside the atrium. Actually Rachel took both of these. I think she may have some potential!

I mean, look at that...the composition of the old building combined with the new atrium...the sun flaring through the banners...the slightly off-kilter angle to give the photo interest....I could go on and on! :)

There are from the inside of the old building where all of the fiction is housed.

From the 6th floor looking toward downtown.

We wrapped up by eating at the mall food court, picking up some supplies from Trader Joe's and swinging by Dusty's office to check out the new digs. I think he just may work in world's smallest cubicle. But at least there's a photo of me on the desk now!

Sun, Glorious Sun!

Put off housework, photo editing, and everything else to go soak in the sun. Aaaaahhh...enjoying it while we can. I think rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.

Baby Molly

Here's my sweet little niece Molly. She's 5 days old today and was the perfect little model.

We don't need no stinkin' girl toys!

This is what happens when you combine a little boy, a dinosaur, a "My Little Pony", and a camera.

Baby Molly Jean

Our new little niece was born this morning. Molly Jean Lusk made her appearance at 6:08 AM weighing 7 lbs. 15 oz and 20 1/2 in. long. Baby Molly and Becky are both doing just fine. David and Madelyn are excited about their baby sister and Daniel is keeping busy posting pictures and video to Facebook! :)