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!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Concert!

On this MAGICAL twin night, we visited the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra to see

HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE!!!!!

We made sure to wear our Hogwarts robes and Ashley got us matching dresses in our house colors!

We were definitely stylish witches!  Ashley must have visited Madam Malkin's for such wonderful apparel!

The Hilbert Circle Theatre was decked out with brooms, self-writing pens, a London phone booth and more!

There was even a merchandise area for picking up any last minute bits and bobs!

An amazing dragon stood menacingly in the hall!

We arrived early and valeted the car so that we could take in all the sights and sounds of the day!

A lot of people were dressed up, but the reactions we got from kids really made our day!

When it was time to take our seats, we found ourselves on the Second Mezzanine, Row GG!

Amazing seats right on the end of the first row!

What we really were not prepared for was that they showed the entire film!!

We have often agreed that this is the most magical movie because of its innocence, first discovery of the wizarding world, and musical score.

As the emotions of the movie swelled, so did the live music and our hearts!

Even though we have seen this film hundreds of times, it truly felt like a whole new experience!

We felt the music was sometimes so true to the movie, you forgot it was live.

Other times, it was so moving, you felt the movie had cast you as the final character; transporting you to the heart of Hogwarts!

Our favorite scenes brought tears or laughter as we sat in the historic, mirrored theatre.

The big screen and rows of strings made the experience more than magic!

We were in potions class, casting spells to make feathers fly, and learning lessons of bravery, friendship and making your own way in the world.

Although the ticket prices were a bit high (and wine was $6/glass), we agreed:

We would have paid any amount of money for this experience!!!

There is absolutely nothing like this for a true Potter fan!

After the show, we turned down Diagon Alley to go to Indianapolis' version of the Leaky Cauldron (Napolese).

We had some pizza with quail eggs and talked nonstop about how amazing the show was!

We didn't even mind the stares of muggles as we enjoyed reveling in the perfection of doing all this one day before Halloween!

Perfect timing, perfect outfits, perfect show, perfect dinner, perfect twin day!

*Spirits* in Irvington

On this spooky twin night, we decided to enjoy a new event at the Historic Irvington Halloween Festival!

Ashley stopped in to Pogue's Run Grocer to pick up a picnic to start our evening!

We then met at Ellenberger Park for an al fresco dinner!

The Pogue's Run deli did not disappoint!  We will definitely visit again!

Their deli was so affordable and featured world class ingredients!

Our gourmet sandwiches and themed Prophecy wine paired beautifully with the humbling beauty of the outstretched trees.

Once we finished our delicious dinner, we left the company of the changing leaves for the Bona Thompson Memorial Center!

The autumn skies painted an eerie backdrop for the stately building and its ghostly evening!

We attended the "seance" first, where three mediums made contact with spirits connected to audience members.

While this event was billed by a reputable Irvington magic shop as a seance, it was less of a traditional seance and more of a group reading.

Almost everyone in the room received a minute of the mediums' time to hear a message.

Some were meaningful, some were not, but it was an hour and a half of entertainment.

We really felt that based on the poster and sticker price, this should have been more intimate and traditional, but this being the first year for the event, it may evolve in time.

After the group reading, one-on-one readings were available with many different types of psychics, mediums, numerologists, and tarot card readers.

We each sat for a private reading and felt it was much more productive than the group reading.

Ashley met with a tarot card reader who kept pulling sword cards.

Emily met with a numerologist who said she comes across aloof to strangers when her true priority is family.

We had a great time exploring the Bona Thompson building, breathing in the crisp fall air, and trying to connect through October's thinning veil between this side and the beyond.

Spooktacular twin night!