Goodbye Indiana, Hello Routine

I've been in Indiana for the past several days. Camilla, my niece, was baptized on February 1st so my dad, brother (Darren), and myself made the trip out to celebrate with her.

I know it's shocking to know that I have a niece on my side of the family, in fact I have 2 awesome nieces! Unfortunately, they both live across the country in Indiana, so I don't get to hang with them very often. It was a fabulous trip, hanging out with my family is one of my favorite past times. We love to laugh, we enjoy being together, and sometimes we get a little rowdy.

I don't remember how it started, but right off the bat Darren and my niece Courtney decided to see who could out-prank each other. I think Courtney won by a landslide. Almost-twelve year old girls are very tricky. However, Darren did have a sweet comeback with recording a ringtone on her cell phone that said "Hi, I'm Courtney and I looooooovvvvvveeeee boys!". Very funny. The first morning we were there Courtney showed Darren who was boss by tying his shoes together.


We made homemade pizza one night for dinner. Here's my brother Mike cutting up some onions. He's so manly for not crying! I was commenting to Darren about Mike's gray hair. We all have gray, but Mike's shows up so well because he has black hair. I said to Darren, "I think Mike wins the gray hair contest". Darren quickly put me in my place and said I did....he's probably right when I think about it. I just choose to hide it! Thank goodness for hair products...


Here is my dad and Greg. Greg is the husband of Kelly. Kelly is Kim's sister. Kim is Mike's wife. Get it? Got it? Good. I gave Greg crap all weekend for drinking Citrus Drop, which is the ghetto pop version of Mountain Dew. There was even Mountain Dew available, and he brought his own ghetto pop. Tsk Tsk Tsk! ha ha!


We played lots of Rock Band. Rock Band does weird things to your head. It makes it so whenever you hear music in a store, or in an elevator, or on the radio, you start to imagine yourself in front of the drums or guitar. You can totally imagine the color dots coming towards you, and then you can imagine yourself NAILING the song. Yeah, that's what happened this weekend. Darren and I wished they even had Rock Band songs that were Sunday appropriate so we could Jam on Sunday. I can imagine "Once there was a snowman" on Rock Band, can't you?? Don't even get me started on "Give Said the Little Stream".


Three out of Four Clark siblings (We missed you Curtis!). We all have the same nose.


Here is Camilla, Courtney, and Kim. I was with Mike and Kim when Courtney was born, it's tripping me out that she'll be 12 years old in a few days! The last time I was in Indiana, was for Camilla's baby blessing. And now she's 8. Insanity! I can see why Mike and Kim love Indiana. Kim's extended family lives there and they are a blast to hang out with. They have great friends, and a fantastic community. It's a no brainer, we just wish we could see each other more often.


**Disclaimer** I did NOT manipulate this photo in any way!
Darren, if you want to know what you'll look like in 26 years, check out the guy sitting next to you! It's amazing!


We went to a mall in Indianapolis that had a fun arcade in it. We played fun games and Darren even found a skate boarding game to remind him of his High School days.
Mike also found a virtual batting cage, to remind him of his glory days. I found lots of car racing games, and I couldn't keep the car on the road very well....to remind me that I failed my driving test the first time in High School!





On Sunday, my niece was baptized, and Kelly and Greg's daughter was blessed. It was quite the crazy day. Kim finally had to tape menu's to her kitchen cupboard doors because none of us could keep straight what we were doing that day. We had church, a big dinner, the baptism and blessing, refreshments for the whole neighborhood, and then the Super Bowl with the potluck buffet. It was so fun and so crazy at the same time. At one point Darren counted 60 people in Mike and Kim's house. Once you found a cushy spot, you stayed there because if you got up, you could kiss that cushy spot bu-bye!

Camilla and her cousin Reese.


The reason for the Indiana trip:


The Superbowl. I hope Darren posts his awesome 3D glasses picture he took. It was so funny!





The trip ended before I knew it, as is usually the case. I really wish my mom could have been there with us as well. She had her knee replaced on December 1st and she is still trying to convince her new bionic knee that it WANTS to be friends with her. Thanks again to Mike, Kim, Courtney, and Camilla for being awesome hosts. Can't wait to see you guys again this summer! Just remember....NOBODY SLEEPS!