Gilbert Christmas

We celebrated Christmas at Gilbert Farms this year!

Mom and gran were both there!  That hasn't happened in more years than we can count.

Natalie's tree was gorgeous and every last inch of the house was decorated with Christmas cheer.

The food was incredible and the table was set for royalty in her Christmas Spode.

Ashley made Moscow mules as we opened presents and put the children down for naps.

Opening presents took what felt like hours as the pile was quite considerable!

In the evening, we had leftovers and enjoyed being together as the children went to bed.

We had a night in with a movie and cozy Christmas pajamas!

It was really a nice way to celebrate - just being together.

We all spent the night under one roof and it felt a little like those 326 days.

In the morning, we had coffee and breakfast before heading back home.

It was a memorable holiday full of warmth, love and togetherness.

Wonderful twin night!

Zionsville Books & Brews Potterfest!

Books and Brews of Zionsville had their first Annual Potterfest!

We knew we had to give it a try!

The event description read:

"Greetings from your Zionsville Hogwarts location!!! We are celebrating all things Harry Potter with our first annual HARRY POTTERFEST!

We will have all your favorite HP Brews on tap including:
Prisoner of Ale-zkaban (Belgian Tripel)
Dubbledore's Magic Ale (Belgian Dubbel)
Butterbeer (Cream Ale brewed with Vanilla Beans and Caramel Candies) **TAPPING AT 6PM**

We will have a Harry Potter photobooth for you and your friends to capture the magic!

Also, break out your wands and circle glasses - There will be a Harry Potter costume contest!!!

We will have a special showing of Fantastic Beasts at 10:00pm to ring in the night!"

It sounded like a lot of fun so we donned our wizard robes and headed over for lunch!

The menu consisted of some interesting literary fare!

Ashley ordered the "Frankenstein", a charcuterie plate of local meats and cheese served with crackers and greek olive mix.  She also enjoyed the Dumbledore Magic Ale!

Emily ordered the "babe" sandwich of pulled pork with bbq sauce topped with provolone cheese.  She also had a Polyjuice (non-alcoholic - read pregnant friendly) drink.  Not a favorite.

We had the place almost to ourselves at this time of day.  There were some decorations and the staff had on their themed gear.  The manager even gave us some gift cards to return since our costumes were so great!

We had some fun with the provided props before heading out.

The trivia, butter beer, and movie showing were all slated for later in the night and looked PACKED!

It was nice to have more of a personalized experience, especially when the atmosphere of this Zionsville shop is somewhat reminiscent of a small hidden pub from the wizarding world.

It was nice to check out this event once, but we probably would not make it a priority going forward.

Our love of all things Potter means we will likely attend many more of these types of events; each time hoping for the most authentic and magical experience.  Some are winners.  Some are losers.

This event was somewhere in between the two extremes.  They put in effort to brew some special drinks, but the decor and execution left a little to be desired.

Great twin time in our robes in Zionsville!

Frazee Gardens Peaches and Swimming!

Ashley spotted a delicious Instagram post which led us to Frazee Gardens in Brownsburg!

This great garden shop has all sorts of fun things for your yard and your home!

On this special day, they were selling peaches by the crate!

We picked up a huge box of peaches, and Victor thought it would be fun to take a bite!

Just like mom, he couldn't even wait to get home and wash them!

Then we headed to the pool for a mid-day dip!

We snacked on Subway before trying out the community swim spot!

Victor and Aunt Ashley had their share of secrets told beneath a gorgeous sun hat!

Victor wasn't too keen on wearing his life vest, but he loved holding Aunt Ashley's hand!

The steps were just the right spot to splash and play!

Victor made waves on step #1!

Aunt Ashley coaxed him out to deeper waters for a float!

He was loving it!

Victor was so excited to splash and blow bubbles!

In the safety of Aunt Ashley's arms, all this sun and water was so much fun!

Learning to float is an exercise in trust!

Victor was getting really confident with his toys and first step!

We had some laughs and sunglasses fun before calling it a day!

We headed back to Avon for naps and chats!

What a great summer twin day!

Holliday Park Fun!

On this beautiful twin night, we headed to Holliday Park!

This is a one-of-a-kind park right here in Indy!

We had always wanted to check out this amazing local place, but never made the time.

Ashley researched a concert series happening at the park, and we made sure to show up early!

The park was filled with lawn chairs, picnic blankets, people of all ages and plenty of dogs.

Victor really loved our shady spot!

Aunt Ashley loved giving Victor smooches!

We listened to the cover songs presented by Matt Roush.  He was really good!

They had food carts set up behind the ruins, but we brought our own picnic.

We snacked on Green Goddess Cobb salads from Panera as the soothing melodies surrounded us in the summer air.

Victor enjoyed a grilled cheese and ran around our site in a frolicking way only toddlers seem to have.

The parking lot filled up fast!  It was a good thing we got there early.

There was still plenty of room for seating, running and playing, but parking was limited.

Overall, this was a great night to kick back and relax!

This is a great venue and the fact that you can bring your own picnic makes it a perfect place for a summer sip and snuggles!

Great twin night!!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at ISO!

On this Potterific evening, we headed downtown to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!

We first had dinner at our favorite Leaky Cauldron spot, Napolese!

After some delicious salads and olives (plus one glass of wine and some gelato), we were ready for the show!

We took a short walk past Knockturn Alley and around King's Cross Circle to our destination.

The venue did not have as much decor as they did for the first movie.

This was a bit of a disappointment as a lot of the excitement at the first installment stemmed from the buzz of the wizarding world created in the lobby.

They did have a swag table and popcorn, but other than that, they could have been screening anything.

Nevertheless, the movie, music and the magic we always carry made it a special evening! 

True to our witchy roots, we wore our perfectly coordinated dresses and robes!

Many other attendees were similarly festooned.

From our back row seats, we had a view of everything in the theatre!

These cheap seats were not that cheap and we agreed that we would pay a few dollars more for a better position on the next installment.

In fact, we purchased our tickets right then and there!

The movie was amazing and the music was absolutely transcendent!

We truly held on to our seats as the car hit the Whomping Willow, scrambled for cover from spiders in the dark forest, and hoisted the Gryffindor sword at the blind basilisk!

It was a great time for three witches out on the town!