Landen's Birthday, My Birthday

Landen was born 3 years ago today, on my 35th birthday. We had a great day (see the slide show for a glimpse.) The whole day was a lot of fun, but I think the best part was when I tucked Landen into bed and he sweetly whispered, "Thank you for the new bike."

Defriended On Facebook

Last fall, one of my Facebook "friends" wrote on her status that she got to shake John McCain's hand at a campaign rally. I commented that I thought that was cool and that Kylee, Makenna and I had been to a Barack Obama rally in August, but we didn't get anywhere near close enough to shake his hand.

My friend commented back that she thought that was a good thing (that we didn't get close enough to shake his hand.)

I didn't comment back.

On Wednesday, January 7, as I sat down to enjoy a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast, I got to witness this beautiful exchange between Matt Lower and Ann Coulter on the Today Show.

It about made me gag on a Mini Wheat.

Later, my friend's Facebook status said that she wondered if anyone else is reading Ann Coulter's new book, Guilty.

I commented on her status that, "No I'm not reading it, but I WISH the Today Show would have banned her for life."

The next day I discovered that my friend and I were no longer "friends." I had been defriended on Facebook.

The Weekend

We (Kylee, Makenna and I) took Jamie's family to Indianapolis on Saturday. I had been missing Jamie. It was great to spend some time with him and his family this past week. I wish it would have been under happier circumstances though.

I forgot to take the camera, but Deb did snap this picture of the kids in the back of the van. They seemed to really enjoy the drive. We didn't hear a complaint the whole way there, just a lot of playing and giggling.

Deb iPhoned this picture to me.

We stopped at Moe's for burritos in Carmel before dropping the Prenkerts off at the airport, where their van was parked.

Heading north on 465, Makenna said, "INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY!" I said, "Yeah, you can visit it." Pause. "Do you want to?" "YEAH!" So I made a quick exit and we headed toward the Speedway.

I thought it might be fun just to drive under the tunnel and take a look at the track, then head on north. The girls, however, were already scoping out the museum signs and asked if we could go in. I was afraid admission might be $15 or $20 each. Much to our surprise, admission to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is $3 for adults and $1 for children. We bought tickets for the museum as well as tickets for a track tour, which were also $3 and $1.

The tour was fun. A bus took us right on the track. We did one loop, listening to track history as we rode.

The museum was nice as well. We watched a video that detailed the history of the Motor Speedway. Mostly though, the museum is a collection of Indy 500 winning cars. Probably close to half of the winning cars were on display, dating back to the first race in 1911.

All three of us enjoyed our visit. The $10 total price was a bargain!

I spotted a guy with an iPhone
and asked him if he would snap
a picture and e-mail it to me.

After the museum we drove to Kokomo, where we spent the night at the Courtyard by Marriott.

• We swam four times. (It would have been three times, but Makenna threw-up in the pool bathroom (almost in the pool,) so we had to go up to the room so she could get cleaned up - then we went back.)
  
• I got plenty of use out of the hotel's free wi-fi on my iPod Touch.
• I wish my iPod had a built in camera.
  
• While trying to decide where to eat supper, Kylee spotted a sign at a McDonald's that said "Free Hot Chocolate on Feb. 14." We went in and ordered three cups - nothing else.
  
• We ate supper at Cracker Barrel. It's not my favorite place, but it was good and cheap. The girls loved their pancakes - WAY cheaper than IHOP.
  
• After supper we went to another McDonald's (one with a really busy drive-through with only three employees working) and ordered three more free cups of hot chocolate - and nothing else.
  
• The hotel reservation came with a free in-room movie, but we did not have time to watch one, which would have been Madagascar 2.
  
• The breakfast (which is not usually free) was included in the deal and was really good.
• I usually use hotwire.com or priceline.com to book hotel rooms. I booked this room directly through the hotel. The deal was $69, which is more than I usually pay for a similar grade hotel, but the free breakfast made it worth it.
• The hotel was busy - lots of kids.
• We ate lunch at Qdoba.
• We walked both Kokomo malls.
• All three of us were exhausted when we got home.