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Thursday October 30 We then stopped by Target to pick up some travel size shampoos and soap. After grabbing some other supplies, we hit Freddy's Custard and got some burgers to go. Marcela is in love with their burgers. After finishing our food and finalizing our packing, Bob and Ernest showed up to watch some of Chicken Little with Angelina while Mommy and I shut down our PCs and verified all the locks in the house. Our taxi showed up at 4:30pm. Tom, one of Marcela's friends from the hotel she works at, had a nice big van for us all to fit in. He dropped us off and we had a very quick check in, (approx 10 min from drop off to sitting in the terminal) While checking in, we found that it would be $15 to check one piece of luggage!!! We said 'Hell No' and just took our bags to the gate. We had plenty of time before boarding, so we picked up some McRibs and fries from McDonalds and some chicken nuggets for Angelina. The tickets that we got did not have any assigned seats, so we talked to one of the ladies at the gate desk. I tried to be pleasant, but she was obviously ready for Halloween and acted like a witch. She gave us our seats, but we found that Geli's seat was all by herself. Another lady came and checked our bags for valet in the terminal. Marcela had actually worked with her at the Doubletree hotel! They talked for a bit and Ingrid said she would see what she could do for us. Later, Marcela told me that her friend John had asked Ingrid out before and that she stood him up. Funny stuff. Ingrid came back and said she couldn't do anything about the seats, which were 1A, 1D, 2A, 2D and 4A, but that we could ask the stewardess when we got onboard. When we got on board, we found a lady sitting in 1D, but 1A and 1B were both open. We assumed that she was suppossed to be in 1B, but had sat in the wrong place. So Marcela and Geli sat in 1A and 1B, but sat in 2A, Ernest sat in 2D and i sat in 4A. I went back to 4A and got comfortable and I noticed a man stop in the front and say he had 1B! We found out the lady who sat in 1D was handicap and the guy said he would just sit in her seat back in row 7. This made everyone happy. Marcela said that Geli was excited about the plane taking off. When the plane took off though, Angelina's eyes began to widen, then she threw her head back into the seat and passed out. Poor girl was so excited that she went to sleep. Hehe. I read some magazines and Marcela listened to her iPod on the flight. The flight was about 2 and 1/2 hours. Geli woke up about 20 minutes before we landed and was a little fussy. We think it may have been the air pressure from when we started descending. Marcela calmed her down with some candy and we landed safely. We got off of the plane and waited on the jetway for our valet luggage. Bob & Ernest headed to the restroom and then we were on our way out. The airport was empty except for us and a few stragglers. Marcela called the hotel we were staying at to send a van while we made our way outside and we only had a short wait before we were inside. The ride to the hotel was around 5 minutes and we got outside to find the weather pretty chilly. We lumbered out of the van and went to check in to our rooms. While in the waiting room, Geli found a copy of Go Dog Go and started reading. We asked the people at the front desk if someone had left it. They said it was the hotel's, but she could have it. Luckily they did, because it was at this point we noticed her green blanket was missing! We looked all around the waiting room and our luggage, but it was no where to be found. Marcela said she would wait around to check inside the van which had already left for more errands. I called Grandma Vanecek to say we made it to the hotel. I had to leave a message because of the reception that she was getting, but she called right back. We discussed our plans for the next day, she talked to Geli a bit and then Marcela called to say she needed us to open the door to the building for her. Marcela ended up waiting almost 30 minutes for the van to come back. The driver had gone to fill up with gas and did some other mindless things before she got the message to come back I guess. We relaxed and watched a little TV. Bob and Ernest headed to Waffle House to have a late dinner and we headed to bed. Friday October 31 The car rental place was only 5 minutes away and it was pretty painless to get the car. We got the $5 daily insurance and $5 daily car seat usage and jumped onto highway 465. From there it was quick switch to I65 and we were headed north to Grandma's. The drive overall was uneventful. Marcela saw a lot of colorful trees that she commented on. She likes trees that actual turn a diffent color for fall. We stopped on the outskirts of Lafayette for some drinks and a donut for Angelina. Marcela got a lottery scratch off and won $10! A city called Reynolds was next on our trip. We would later learn that they were trying to be the main processing plant for Ethanol gasoline. They weren't doing too well so far. Angelina got to see lots of cornfields and open farmland as we got closer to Grandma's house. When we reached Monticello, we all started breathing a little easier knowing that we were almost there. We called the family to let them know we were close and looked around at the familiar places that we had seen a couple years before. Finally, we arrived! Hugs and kisses were passed around and Geli began to look around. Though she had been here before, she was only a month old, so Grandma Far Away's house was new to her. She got most of the attention from the family. We all sat aound and talked for a bit and then headed off to the Bed and Breakfast where we would be staying. On the way we saw Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Bill leaving the place as they headed to see Grandma Far Away. Marcela, Bob, Ernest, and I were shown around by the owners and dad who had come along. We dropped off our luggage and saw the nice video fireplaces, the lighter than air beds and the nice bathrooms. Then we were back off to Grandma Far Away's house. We talked about some politics, but Angelina was not too interested. She already knew who she wanted as President. Geli, mommy and I then walked to the end of their road and ran into the open fields for a bit. Angelina loved running around in the open space. We wandered back in to eat some chips and various dips for lunch. There was horse radish, crab, sour cream and a couple others that were very tasty. Marcela and I then headed out to the local Walmart to pick up some perishables: sodas, crackers, water, etc. We also looked for some new Disney Cars or DVDs but couldn't find anything we wanted. We did buy a Big Brain Academy game that was on sale to try and play later. We headed back to the Bed and Breakfast and found dad fishing with Geli. Geli was helping him hold the pole, but she like to dip the tip of the pole too close to the water. This may have scared away most of the fish. She accidentally dropped one of the poles in the water, but daddy was quick enough to grab it before it dropped to the bottom. There was a slide and little playground for Geli to use next to the water. She had a good time on the swing and going down the twisty slide, but it was time to go inside and chat with the family. We all sat around the entertainment room and chatted about what was going on in everyone's life before Great Uncle Tommy had finished making dinner. Shredded pork and sausage sandwiches were loved by all as the sun went down. We were almost finished with dinner when Great Uncle James, Great Aunt Maura and their kids, Dani and Jim, showed up. The grabbed some of the food and the conversations continued. Angelina got dressed up in her princess outfit and was ready to do a little Trick or Treating. Sadly, there was only one house in the area that had a light on, but the lady there was very nice and Angelina got a nice treat. We found out that she was waiting for her grandkids and saw them show up as we were leaving. After getting our fill of goodies, we headed off to bed. Marcela ended up having stomach issues all night and I didn't feel that well either. Angelina may have had problems too as she could not stop flipping around the bed. I took some Tums and felt good enough to get some sleep, but the poor girls suffered the next day. Saturday November 1 Angelina and I then took a quick shower (Even though Angelina said "no shower") and headed downstairs to watch the end of Armaggedon with the family. Geli was not very interested in the movie, but did find a puppy with wheels and a string that she liked dragging around the floor. After the movie, Geli went for her first pontoon boat ride. Tommy, James, Grandma Vanecek, Dani, Jimmy, Mommy, Ernest, Bob and Daddy all joined Angelina as Mike the owner of the Bed and Breakfast, took us out onto Shafer Lake. We saw a bunch of ducks and swans along with other various birds. We saw Ronald McDonald waving down at us from one of the houses along the bank. There was a neat two tower chimney that everyone admired too. We drove by Indiana Beach which sadly had closed the week before, so Angelina was not able to see any of the Halloween fun they had. Geli did get to drive the boat for a while. She had a blast honking the horn and turning the wheel. Luckily, she is not a crazy driver, so the ride was very smooth. We headed back to the Bed and Breakfast and found Grandpa Vanecek and Linda jumping around like maniacs, waving to Angelina. She thought they were very funny. Pasta was for lunch along with sausage and some bread. I liked the food, but mommy said it was just okay. We left Geli with Grandma and Grandpa while Ernest, Bob, Mommy and Daddy drove through town. We basically just cruised through the neighborhoods, looking at all the buildings that had closed for the season. We did stop off at a place that sold used items. We picked up a 101 dalmations book and a small puppy doll for Angelina. There was some real old collectibles, but nothing we wanted to carry back on the plane. We were gone a couple of hours and then headed back to the B&B. Geli was wide awake! A lot of the family gathered around outside and made a big bonfire and told jokes. Geli enjoyed sticking the fire with a long metal rod to make the ashes shoot into the air. We slowly made our way inside and munched on some chips and dips. Geli got tired and went upstairs for a quick nap. While Geli napped, Daddy went downstairs and chatted with the family. We all played some darts and just enjoyed each others company. After about an hour, I went to wake up the little girl and mommy. We came back down for cake, picture taking and other fun with the family. It was also a celebration of 3 birthdays! Grandpa Vanecek, James and Linda had all had birthdays this week, so the celebration continued. Mommy, Geli and I then made our way back to the room and just relaxed watching some TV. Two Texas college teams were playing, but we ended up watching movies. We ended up flipping channels for a while, but finally passed out around 11pm. Sunday November 2 We met up with Jimmy and Dani and played some Big Brain Academy that we bought earlier. The game was not as fun as we thought it would be, but there were some laughs and fun had by all. Mommy and Geli then went for a walk to enjoy the fresh air. We were very happy with the way the weather was treating us. It stayed in the 70s during the day and dropped to the 40s at night. Very comfortable. We then came back to the B&B for some ham sandwiches, potato salad, green beans and some veggies. Mommy, Daddy and Geli went up to the room to relax and try to take a nap, but Geli was too energized from luch. Mommy ended up packing a bit, while Geli and I played. We went down to join the others, but found that Linda and Bill had already left. It was the beginning of the end. We all spent time with James, Maura and the kids before they headed back to Indianapolis. We also watched a bit of the Cowboys/Giants game... our boys got stomped (Luckily, they got revenge a few weeks later!) We took some pictures and said our goodbyes and then got ready for dinner. Grandma Far Away and Bonnie from the B&B put together some leftover pasta, ham sandwiches, queso and chips to eat. There was also some leftover chocolate cake from the birthday celebration. We hung around for a couple of hours and chatted the evening away. Geli enjoyed running around and playing with the puppy on wheels. We then tried to get to bed early so that we could get up early to see Grandma and Grandpa Vanecek before they left, but our internal clocks were a bit off from the time change. We finally passed out, dreaming about our exciting weekend. Monday November 3 When we got there, Geli was offered a cookie and she spent the next 30 minutes asking her Great Grandma for more. At this point, Grandma Far Away's name was changed to Grandma Cookie. She then munched on some crackers and the family talked about the weekend and our future plans. We said our goodbyes and started off for Indianapolis. We stopped at the Monticello Walmart so Mommy could grab a christmas outfit for Geli and then in Reynolds so Ernest could get a picture with a cool Jesus statue (Touchdown Jesus!) The next hour an a half were spent enjoying the scenic drive through cornfields and colorful trees. We stopped of for gas which was down to $1.95. It had been close to $4 only a couple months earlier (Now it is below $1.50!) We swung by Super Kmart to look at Disney Cars and other goodies. Since they don't have them in South Texas anymore, it was interesting to look back at what they were like. For Geli, it was her first time in one, but she thought it was just like Walmart, so she wasn't too impressed. We ended up leaving there empty handed, though we did try to win an Orange Pac Man ghost from the crane game. Daddy didn't remember what the orange ghost's name was and all were disappointed. At this point we decided to find a place to eat before heading to the airport. After driving a couple miles towards downtown, we noticed that all the signs were now in Spanish! It seems that there is a growing population of hispanics in the area, helping farm the corn. There is a lot of corn, so I guess there is a lot of work to be done. We turned around a couple miles before getting into the downtown area and headed back to a small chinese buffet that we had passed. We ALMOST stopped a White Castle for burgers, but Geli was adamant about eating some mushrooms. Ernest was having some stomach issues and decided to take a chance at Wendys instead. The rest of us had seafood medley, chicken & broccoli, beef mushroom, fried chicken wings, hot & sour soup and other chinese favorites. We then swung by Kroger (which is not in South Texas anymore either) to look around. Geli again was not impressed. We didn't find anything we could not do without, so we headed back to Ace car rental to drop off the car. The final total was $206. Not bad for 4 nights. We hitched a ride on their shuttle and were told that both John McCain and Barrack Obama would be coming into the Indianapolis airport to finish up their campaigning. We all knew that they wanted to see Geli before she headed back to Texas, but they missed out seeing her before we left. Luckily, we had no hassles from the big names coming into the airport. We were able to get through the check in counter and the security checkpoint very quickly. Again, we were done in under 10 minutes. I guess not a lot of people were flying around this time except Presidental hopefuls. We hung aorund the airport and picked up some drinks. Angelina and Daddy both took a healthy poop before the plane ride. Angelina somehow got a seat far away from Mommy and Daddy. Luckily Mommy and Daddy's seats were next to each other, so Mommy switched seats with Geli. The Plane was not very full, so there were open seats for everyone to stretch their legs. Angelina was much more comfortable on the plane this time. She was incredibly excited to see all the planes on the ground and the ones landing. She giggled with glee as we took off into the air and she got a lollipop as we climbed up to help with the air pressure. She loved looking out the window and pointing out interesting sites to Daddy. We took off our shoes and she ripped into her lollipop along the way. She helped Daddy by scribbling some ideas into his blog and we all enjoyed the trip back to San Antonio.
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