Visiting the Grand-Nieces

23-29 January 2020

C.J. holding Mirielle Mae, Darby's new baby, at Allison's

C.J. and I haven't been back to Indiana to see Wayne and Betty and their kids ("kids" no longer!) in several years so the imminent arrival of Darby's second child was a good reason to book a flight with United miles and spend a week. Wayne assured us that it wouldn't be chaos, and that all three daughters would be around to celebrate the new baby over the weekend. Darby had her baby just days before we arrived so we got to see the new family addition as well as meet Coralyn (almost three), and Allison's twins (two years old). And Lauren came up from St. Louis with her girlfriend, Justine.

23 Jan, Thu – Got up at 0600 and we were out of the driveway at 0730. Raining. An accident near Issaquah had the traffic slowed there, then it was slow up to Eastgate. Once we got on I-405 the HOV lane got us through the rush hour traffic with little delay and we reached ParkNJet2 at 0830. Checked one old big-wheel bag and got through a new location of TSA Pre-check at the south end of the terminal. Rain meant that we had no views on our flight to Chicago/ORD, bouncy landing, a little snow on the grass but not very cold. 2hr40min layover. We got a burger and fries (8.49) at a small food court and then ice cream at Café Zoot (10.15). Our next leg was on an Embraer 170 with two seats on each side. No snow in Indy and we soon recovered our one checked bag and met Wayne and Jeannie right outside Door 2. It seemed like it’s about as far to their home in Fishers as it is for us from SeaTac. After visiting for an hour, we went to bed in the grandmother room next to the room we had slept in before and next to the remodeled bathroom.


24 Jan, Fri – Since Jeannie told us that they usually don’t get up until after 09000, we slept in, too. After breakfast we visited until it was time to go to Darby’s for pizza night. We stopped at Jet Pizza to pick up dinner then drove the short distance to Darby and Sam’s house. They have remodeled their kitchen completely and are working on redoing the basement. The new baby, Mirielle Mae was sleeping in a swinging basket and 3-yr-old Cora was racing around with a roomful of toys. Shortly after we arrived, Allison, Ammon and the 2-yr-old twins (Adeline Jean and Ainsley Ann) arrived. We stayed until 2130 or so.


25 Jan, Sat – After oatmeal for breakfast I went with Betty to Meijers to buy a bunch of groceries. We ordered sandwiches from Jimmy Johns for lunch at Allison’s where Lauren and her fiancée Justine met us. Allison and Ammon’s house and grounds are as impressive in person as they were in description and photo. The house will be even more impressive after the twins have grown up a bit and the house is not full of toys and kid stuff (and potties). We had Betty’s chili for dinner and then ice cream. Allison and Ammon went out to a delayed Christmas party while Lauren and Justine stayed to babysit.

G reading to Addy and Ainsley at Darby's

26 Jan, Sun – After a breakfast of apple dumplings, Wayne and I went out shopping to Meinards and Sam’s Club. Meinards was like a Lowes but with sale items. We picked up a heated water bowl for the dogs. Sam’s Club was a lot like a Costco, right down to having a hot dog and soda meal for $1.50. On the way home we drove through downtown Fishers which has had a radical makeover and a rails-to-trails centerpiece (“Nickel Plate”). Meanwhile, C.J. had made two loaves of bread. We couldn’t resist and ate one of the loaves for lunch with ham and cheese. Later we went over to Darby’s with a huge pan of lasagna, the rest of the bread and some fruit salad, plus a peach cobbler. I helped Sam and Wayne carry some supplies (doors, cement boards) down to the basement. Rosario and her husband Larry joined us for dinner. Allison caught a couple of pictures of me with Allison’s kids and Darby’s baby.


27 Jan, Mon – Bacon and French toast for breakfast. Later Wayne and I went over to Allison’s to babysit while Allison and Darby, who are going to be bridesmaids for Lauren and Justine, went to try on bridesmaids dresses. We played a little pool – Wayne was much better at it than I. Later the twins woke up and we gave them their already prepared lunch. The women came back and Wayne and I left for home. Betty hosted everyone for a chicken and rice dinner, Lauren’s favorite, with the kids at their own small, plastic picnic table.


28 Jan, Tue – Leftover oatmeal and apple dumpling for breakfast. Wayne and Betty went out to meet with Lauren and Allison and their real estate agent to go look at a house near Allison’s – a possibility for Lauren and Justine if/when they move from St. Louis to Indy. When Wayne got back he said that the house did not appeal as it seemed crowded and had only a half-acre lot (and cost as much as the deluxe house and large lot that Allison and Ammon have). We went to lunch at McAlister’s Deli where we met Lauren who left right after lunch for St. Louis. Back at the house we hung out in the kitchen where Betty was making stuffed flank steak and Bisquick biscuit-scones for strawberry shortcake. Allison and the twins came over for dinner. The scones were a little strange in texture, maybe because C.J. kneaded them, but the strawberry shortcake with whipped cream was still very good. After dinner the kids did a good job of amusing themselves (and us) with the large stash of toys.


29 Jan, Wed – We got up at our usual time – around 0900. Betty had gone out to babysit the twins for a while so we had breakfast with Wayne. By the time we finished cleaning up it was almost 1100 and time to go. Betty got back before we left so she came to the new Indianapolis airport with us. We got pics at the (I)NDY sign and some of the stained glass prisms that looked like hang gliders. The regional commuter plane (United Express) had two seats per side and the flight to ORD was so short that we climbed to only 23,000 ft before descending into Chicago. We had a bit over two hours so we found a restaurant [It was O’Hare Restaurant Week so we got a good deal on a corned beef on rye with a soft drink plus a free O’Hare tote bag (13)]. The flight was long and cloudy returning to Seattle. We picked up our one checked bag and I texted ParkNJet that we’d be at pickup are Three in 9 minutes, but we ended up at the northernmost pickup area, One, in 12 min. Fortunately there was an almost empty shuttle there so we were soon back at our car. We had to pay for an extra half-day (6) [Maybe I chose 0700 from the dropdown list rather than 1900]. We were home around 1930 and fixed some leftover salmon for a light dinner.

That was fun! Maybe we should try to get to Lauren and Justine's wedding west of St. Louis in August.