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Cars & Cows

2009-05-25

We enjoyed a cultural experience at the Speedway on Friday and were caught in between being offended by how much everyone was drinking and wondering why they weren't offering us any. David liked the cars, though. Saturday we went to the 500 Festival parade because last year was such a hit. We baked in the sun but enjoyed all the floats and police officers on motorcycles. Emily, in particular, enjoyed the car with Helio in it. Sunday, for a change of pace, we picked up the Kellers and visited Fair Oaks Dairy Farm. We ate lunch there, and were unaccustomed to the amount of cheese on our plates. David, unimpressed by the miracle of birth, preferred the outdoor big bounce to watching a calf enter the world. Monday's day off provided a good opportunity to putter and rest.

Tuesday afternoon we discovered a robin's nest in a bush about four feet off the ground, so now we have an excellent Nature Lesson right in our own yard. Update: there are now four eggs. We'll keep you posted on their progress

It's always much more fun when you get to work the levers and push stuff around

The big appeal here was the horn at the end of the lever that he's pushing...over and over and over...

We went out to the track on Friday afternoon for Carb Day, and managed to catch the Pit Stop Challenge, though it was hard to see what was happening, and most of the time we waited for 15 minutes to see 10 seconds of action. Although, there <i>was</i> a lot of action in the stands, just most of it involved Miller Lite. And no recycling

This is what a race car sounds like. And yes, although is cheeks are very red, we did put sunblock on him beforehand

We also stayed to watch the antique race cars go around the track several times

We saw some goslings on the far side of the pond and went to go check them out. Halfway over, David got tired and needed to be carried. Dude's getting heavy, let me tell you...

I'm not sure if Gus or Beansprout is more annoyed that one is touching the other

Miss Patty at the Farmer's Market (our honey lady) bright David a special surprise on Saturday morning: six guinea fowl eggs, about half the size of a regular chicken egg and just the right size for David's breakfast

The motorcycle police officers always start the 500 Festival parade. They really <i>can</i> spell, but I couldn't get all of the letters in the frame

On your feet and hats off while the color guard passes by

The parade stalled for a few minutes while the Chinese American Society was in front of us, so the lion and the dragon started getting sassy with each other to pass the time

We were so inspired by the cow jumping over the moon and the corresponding float from the American Dairy Association that we actually went to a dairy farm the next day (see subsequent photos)

This SpongeBob did not get any hugs. Thank goodness

And this one is for Aunt Sara...Josh Duhamel, wiping the sweat off from his brow as he passes by our seats. Yeah, I can see why he's such a hottie...

Riding in the back of a car: so easy, even a caveman could do it. This was one of our WTF? moments

Danica works the crowd. So, the governor of Indiana went past on a motorcycle without any bodyguards in sight, but <i>Danica Patrick</i> traveled with no fewer than three burly men in black suits and earbuds within arm's reach of her car. Danica? Really?

Again, he could probably pull off a pink motorcycle, seeing as how he's all hardcore with a <i>pug</i> on the back of his Harley

Helio Castroneves, the winner of the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500, the greatest spectacle in racing. This is why we waited in 90 direct sunlight for almost two hours

For a slight change of pace, we stopped off at the Keller's on Sunday morning, piked up Jon and Christine, and headed north to Fair Oaks Farm, one of the largest commercial dairy farms in the country. David started the trip by trying his hand at attaching milking machines

God help whatever cow ended up getting milked by either one of us...we were not too gentle

Of <i>course</i> the dairy farm has a ball pit!

It's the cow-go-round in the "milking parlor". They can milk up to 72 cows at a time, and each cow is milked every eight hours. The milking operation goes on around the clock, seven days a week

Cheeeeeese! Yeah, no kidding. David got a quesadilla for lunch, and between the three of us we couldn't finish it

I think they both need to work on their technique a little bit

You couldn't help but giggle when you got on this thing. It was completely random and out of context, but a lot of fun, and thank goodness because David was not about to sit through the two hour birthing process of a calf

The chocolate milk production line, right next to the ice cream line in which we were standing). I kept wishing there was a way to put a work glove on one of the bottles and wave to it as it made its way down the belt. You know, doing it "our way, yes our way"...

This just saved us $12, and if it ends up looking funny, Emily can give Chris a hard time about it, rather than complaining about the girl at the hair place

Apparently he was "talking to Nana" here. This is what happens when technology blurs the lines between camera and telephone. Kids get confused

Apparently it was a long conversation, because he started multi-tasking and fixing his lawn mower at the same time

Ah, the pure joy of being given permission to play a) in the rain, b) with a camera, and c) in your pajamas