An Interview With Quinn - Age 15

Here is the annual interview with Quinn. The answers in green are the same from last year and the ones in blue are different answers.  See how much has changed (or not!) in the past year. 

What is your favorite color?           Yellow
What is your favorite toy/app?       Tik Tok 
What is your favorite fruit?            Apples
What is your favorite TV show?      Grey's Anatomy
What is your favorite outfit?          Skirt and Jean Jacket
What is your favorite game?          Fortnite on Xbox 

What is your favorite snack?         Cheez-Its
What is your favorite animal?        Cow and Butterfly
What is your favorite song?          Please Notice by Christian Leave
What is your favorite book?          This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
Who is your best friend?               Sam
What is your favorite food?          Bacon Cheeseburger 
What is your favorite thing to do outside?       Ride Bikes
What is your favorite thing to do inside?        Xbox
What is your favorite drink?         Dr. Pepper
What is your favorite thing to take to bed?    Stuffed Cow
What is your favorite candy?         Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
What is your favorite holiday?       Christmas
What is your favorite season?     Summer
What is your favorite movie?       Tangled

What do you want to be when you grow up?    Interior Designer or Math Teacher
The thing I do the best is...             Math

The coolest person on Earth is...      Mom 
Three words that describe me...     Dramatic, Kind, and Persistent
One food I really do not like is...         Seafood
One wish I have is....                      Stay in Indy 

This is how Quinn writes her name when she is 15...

Click on the following links to see Quinn's answers from previous years at:
Age 14,

Age 13,

Age 12, 

Age 11,  

Age 10, 

Age 9, 

Age 8, 

 Age 7.  

It is fun to see how her answers have changed over the years!

An Honor...

The other day, I received a text from a neighbor that said, "Congrats to Sullivan for her Student of the Month honor!" I looked at the text a bit dumbfounded as her "honor" was news to me.  I wondered just how my neighbor knew that Sullivan was named Student of the Month but I didn't. I thanked her for the kind words and told her how extremely proud we were of Sullivan (as if I knew what she was talking about).

Fast forward about a half hour later, I opened my email and saw that the latest school newsletter in my inbox.  It dawned on me that that is how my neighbor found out about Sullivan's honor.  I opened it and my hunch was right.  There in the newsletter it named Sullivan as Student of the Month.  

Later that day when I came home from work,  my conversation with Sullivan went a little something like this:

Me: Congratulations, Sulla!  I'm so proud of you!

S: Huh? What are you talking about?

Me: (excited) You are the Student of the Month.  It was published in the newsletter today!  Congrats!

S: Oh... I knew about that last week. 

Me: Great.  Glad you didn't find it important enough to share with us.

S: I forgot. Oops.

Apparently the "honor" she received is really no big deal. Nonetheless, we are proud of her for showing good character and being an outstanding student at school.  

The Big 1-5...

This birthday girl turned the big 1-5 yesterday. 

She started her day off with a birthday breakfast of her choice - blueberry muffins.  And with the blueberry muffins, went a perfectly off-pitch version of "Happy Birthday" sung to her by her wonderful mother.

Quinn blew out the candle too quickly and said wonderful mother didn't get a picture of it, so Quinn had to relight it and try again.

After breakfast, Quinn wasted no time opening presents before she went to church.  

She got a lot of great gifts, but the much anticipated Xbox was definitely her fave!

The afternoon was spent with Sam - watching movies and hanging out.

The afternoon was slow paced and perfect - but so was the meal of choice last night.  We trucked over to Carmel and enjoyed a delicious meal at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Delicious food, but better company.  

Cake topped off the night with deliciousness...

It's so cliche to say, "Where did the time go?" so I won't say it.  But I am in bewilderment at how we got to age 15 so quickly.  

Quinn- we are forever proud of you.  Thank you for always being you unapologetically.  You're fierce spirit, determination, and infectious smile make you the great person you are.  We love you more than you will ever know.  Happy 15th Birthday, Q!

Louisville - A Good Distraction

While the house was on the market, we decided to escape Indy and get away from the bazillion house showings that we had.  We had driven through Louisville several times over the past years, but had never really explored it.  We felt like this was the perfect opportunity to do so.  

First stop was Which Which - a sandwich restaurant that Quinn loves.  They had them here in Indy, but have since closed the locations close to us.  This stop in Louisville made Quinn's heart happy.

Such simple joys in life - a good sandwich with great company!

Next stop was the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  

This factory tour was pretty darn cool.  It took you inside the factory and showed you how they make the bats from start to finish.  It was a fascinating process!

Ryan got to swing an actual playing bat from Rod Carew - a Minnesota Twins player.

He also got his picture next to Kirby Puckett's name...

To say that Ryan was in Hog Heaven in this museum was an understatement!  

He was in all his glory!

The following day we traveled a little bit south and checked another National Park off the list. We visited Mammoth Cave.  It was quite the spectacular cave and pretty amazing to think about how beautiful the Earth can be under the ground we walk on every day.

We learned that they have explored roughly 412 miles of this cave system and they feel fairly comfortable that it continues on for quite a while past that.  That just blows me away!

We also learned that back in the 1800's an individual purchased the cave for $10,000.  He gave tours of the cave system to those who were ill with the belief that the cave had healing powers for those who suffered from Tuberculosis.  

 

Our time in Louisville was short, but it offered a nice distraction from all the chaos of house showings going on back home.  We had a great time together and made some great memories!

An Interview w/ Sullivan - Age 12

It's that time of year again to interview Sullivan and see how much her opinion of things has changed in the past year.  I'm always in awe of how much her 'favorites' change over time. The answers in red are new favorites, and the ones in purple are the same from last year.  

What is your favorite color?           Periwinkle
What is your favorite toy?              Longboard
What is your favorite fruit?            Pomegranates/Strawberries
What is your favorite TV show?      The Middle
What is your favorite outfit?           Tye Dye sweatshirt and black pants
What is your favorite game?          Minecraft
What is your favorite snack?         Goldfish Crackers
What is your favorite animal?        Giraffe and Elephant
What is your favorite song?          Falling (by Harry Styles)
What is your favorite book?         Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Who is your best friend?               Maddy 
What is your favorite food?          French Fries
What is your favorite thing to do outside?       Playing with the Dog
What is your favorite thing to do inside?       Playing Minecraft with Quinn
What is your favorite drink?        Diet Mt. Dew
What is your favorite thing to take to bed?    Little Blankies 
What is your favorite candy?         Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
What is your favorite holiday?      Christmas
What is your favorite season?     Spring
What is your favorite movie?       Star Girl

What do you want to be when you grow up?    An Artist
The thing I do the best is...             Gymnastics
The coolest person on Earth is...      Mom
Three words that describe me...     Caring, Helpful, and Sweet
One food I really do not like is...         Beef Brisket Fat
One wish I have is....                      To go to Paris (to see Eiffel Tower)

This is how Sullivan signs her name when she is 12 years old...

If you want to see her answers from the previous years, check them out here:

Age 11

Age 10

Age 9

Age 8

 Age 7 

Age 6 

 Age 5 

 Age 4

Spring Break 2021, Part 2

After visiting the National Parks, we made our way to Key West, FL.  We had never been there before, but had heard that it was gorgeous.  The rumors did not disappoint, and we fell in love with the weather and the scenery.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Key West is the home of Mile 0 for Highway 1 - which goes from Key West all the way to Maine.  We had heard about Mile 0 in all we read about the area and just HAD to visit the area.  

Little did we realize that it is simply a small road marker on the side of the road outside of downtown Key West.  The girls were REALLY impressed by this (wink, wink)!

We also visited the home of Ernest Hemmingway.  I had obviously heard of him before, but had never read any of his work, and knew very little about his life. 

This museum opened my eyes to how complex his life was -  four wives, a chauvinistic personality, lots of different moves, a professional boxer, an alcoholic, and suffered from bi-polar disorder which later lead to his suicide.  WOW!

The girls weren't as wowed by his crazy past, but they did love all the (6 toed) cats on the grounds!

We visited the Southern most point of the United States to take a few pictures with this iconic display...

We only had to wait in a DisneyWorld-like line to do so...ha!

We visited a Butterfly House in Key West - which more than thrilled Quinn.  She has developed quite the fascination with butterflies lately.  

Sullivan was NOT a fan of the butterflies at all - she couldn't wait to get out of there fast enough.  Something about them swarming around her didn't appeal to her.  She about lost it when she saw one land on me...

Another super exciting thing we did was visit the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL.  This organization rescues injured sea turtles in the wild.  Their goal is to rescue, rehabilitate, and then release them back into the sea. 

Sadly, not all turtles are able to be released and spend their forever days at this facility.  It looked like they were pretty well taken care of and loved. 

Aside from all these great experiences that we got to do, we truly just enjoyed the small moments too like swimming in the hotel pool and playing cards by the poolside...

It was a wonderful getaway and exactly what we needed to recharge and muster through the coming weeks of home selling!