Celebrating Birthdays in Indy

The first weekend in May is our traditional time to head to Indianapolis to celebrate Cade and Brent's birthdays.  Ahhhh.....retirement allowed us to leave on a Wednesday to be there for Cade's birthday on Thursday, May 2.  Cade is FIVE!  Five years ago we eagerly waited each day at school to get the call that Brent and April's first child had arrived.  We didn't know if the baby was a girl or boy.  Don got the call at school and called me to say "It's a BOY!"  We quickly planned a weekend trip to Indy to see our new grandson and congratulate the parents.

We arrived Wednesday in time for Don and Brent to go to the Pacers NBA play-off game.  Thursday was CADE's day and it started with papa and Cade going to Dunkin Donuts to get donuts to start the special birthday day.  Brent headed off to work and the rest of us to the zoo.  We pulled in to find the parking lot with 25-30 buses!  We started at the butterfly house and loved watching the many kinds of butterflies fly around us.  Cade got to observe a beautiful one up close on his finger.  The zoo was crowded with school groups and Cade was happy to do some of the "special" things instead of seeing the animals.  We took the zoo train and the papa & Cade rode the roller coaster.  We said good-bye to April and Kasen (Kasen wasn't very happy about that) so that we could treat Cade to a special lunch out downtown with his daddy.  We met Brent at Weber Grill and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch time together.

Happy birthday, Cade!

Off to the zoo!  

Cade in the butterfly house at the zoo.

Kasen and April in the butterfly house.

Papa and the boys waiting for the zoo train.

All aboard!

Cade and Papa riding the roller coaster!

Downtown for lunch

Lunch downtown with birthday boys Brent and Cade.

Cade with his new Nike golf clubs.

Some practice swings in the backyard.

Birthday supper with his favorite foods!

A basketball birthday cake, of course!

5 years old!

We had another fun day on Friday.  Off to preschool for both of the boys and papa and I went along.
After preschool and lunch we enjoyed lots of outside time shooting hoops and biking.

April reading Cade's birthday book during preschool.
5 Years of Basketball

Out side time!

Cade, Brent and Papa took off Saturday morning to go golfing.  Cade was anxious to try out his new clubs!  Who knew that the golf club had a rule that golfers must be 8 or older.  So the boys got a couple buckets of balls and hit them on the driving range.  They were home in time to go the Children's Museum with us.

Kasen creating at the Children's Museum

Papa helping Cade at the Museum getting ready to
explore for underwater treasures.

More backyard practice with the new clubs.

Rocks and dump trucks!  

Steaks on Brent's new grill!
Happy Birthday, Brent.

Sunday morning we skipped church so we would have a little more time together before we headed back to Iowa.  So we have breakfast at LaPeep, one of our favorite breakfast places.

Calling All Super Heroes: Owen Turns 4!

Owen Donald Kahler turned four years old on April 7th!  That cause for a big celebration on April 13 at his house.  Super Heroes was the theme for the family birthday get together.  

Happy birthday, Owen!

The best of the Super Heroes: Owen, Landon, Cade and Kasen.
These 4 boys will always be our super heroes!

Lunch time.  Owen's favorites:  pasta, veggies, fruit

Chow down boys.

Time to open presents.  Big brother helping.

Super hero figurines and legos were appreciated.

Watching as presents are unwrapped.  

Yummy cupcakes!

Which one??

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Owen, happy birthday to you!

I love this "Owen face"  

Photo booth picture time!

Cade

Owen

Kasen

Landon

Great Gm and Gpa Bauer - such good sports!

Brent and April

Yep, Nana and Papa took our turn!

Scott and Melissa.
Thanks for the wonderful party.

Sleep Over at the Kahler's

Kasen slept in Landon's bed.

The three big boys bunked in Owen's room.

Landon lost another tooth!
Shortly after the boys were all tucked in he pulled out a tooth!

Adult game time.

Easter in Indy

We flew to Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Monday.  Those five days with Brent, April, Cade and Kasen went by so fast.

Brent, Cade (4), Kasen (2), April
and BABY BOY due in August

An afternoon of outside play.

The last of the snow!

Cade and Papa shooting some hoops.

Brent and April had a meeting Friday morning so
we got to do Easter projects with the boys.
Painting birdhouses.

Painting styofoam balls to be caterpillars.

The finished project - a caterpillar.

Papa helping with the Easter egg dying.

A morning at the Indy zoo.
The butterfly house was full of all kinds of butterflies.

Cade and Kasen checking out one of the butterflies.

Cade trying a one-leg stand like the flamingoes.

We were fascinated by the penguins.

EASTER!
Early church, Easter brunch, and naps.  Brent and Don went to the basketball regional final game.  The rest of us enjoyed the nicer weather at the park.

Home from church

Easter brunch.

The sunny and warmer weather sent us to a
neighborhood park on Easter afternoon.

Monday morning and time to fly home!  We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter with Brent, April, Cade and Kasen.   LOVE our time together!

March Madness!

What is March with basketball?  We spent part of a week in Des Moines at the boys' state tournament.  Then the next week we went to Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament.  Go Hawkeyes!  Both events were fun even when I took a book or iPad to the games.  We enjoyed eating out in both locations.  Chicago was a bit crazy over the weekend with St. Patrick's Day celebrations.