Missisinewa 1812

On another of those weekends off while I was on nights, we took advantage of a uniquely Indianan experience. About 1 1/2 hours north of Indianapolis there is a huge War of 1812 reenactment at a site of what was realistically a very small insignificant battle (don't tell the people there that I said that it was insignificant). The battle took place on the banks of the Mississinewa River, hence the name of this festival -- Mississinewa 1812. We managed to convince our good friends the Rupps to go with us, which made it much more fun. In addition to the War of 1812 battle reenactment, they had a river pirate battle, British, American, & Native American encampments/villages to walk through, as well as over 150 shops of various types. We really enjoyed walking around, eating some 1800's style food, drinking some 'original' root beer and some freshly pressed apple cider, as well as enjoying learning more about the War of 1812 (a frequently passed over, but quite important event in our nation's infancy). For any of you that want to learn more, check out the link above.
*I somehow added links to the words 'learning' and 'eating' above. I don't know how to delete them. Please ignore them.*

River Pirate Battle

American Militia/Military

Native Americans and British soldiers

American Attack

(They were still fighting in the Napoleonic style)

British soldiers ready for their attack

Virginia with Gabe Rupp dipping candles

Kenta and Gabe

Virginia holding Isabelle Rupp while her mom gives her some of a hot-off-the-coals pork chop

St Louis in September

While I was working nights, I had all my weekends off. I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep, but we also took the opportunity to get out of town a couple times. Kenta has an inner need to see the Braves play as frequently as possible, and I have the an inner need for road trips and new places. So we hit to road and went to St Louis. It's only a four hour drive, so not bad for a weekend trip. We had a bunch of things planned, but I had such a hard time waking up that we had to cut some of it short. Please enjoy some pictures of our adventure below.

Chipper Jones at bat

Bobby Cox - a Braves necessity

Albert Pujols at bat

The Arch from underneath

The arch at night

K&V catching the game

K&V in front of the Arch

K&V in front of Busch Stadium

A night on the town with the Rupps and the Indianapolis Indians

Kenta and I joined our good friends the Rupps at Victory Field in Indy to see the Indianapolis Indians play the Louisville Bats. It was a very nice stadium, and we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.

Victory Field sign board

Jason and Vincent Rupp

Isabelle Rupp

Virginia and Isabelle

Better late than never... visiting Kenta's sister over the Fourth of July

A bit of tragedy befell the the Takagi family this June. Kenta's sister Emi was driving in Springfield, Missouri when she was hit head on by a Dodge viper that was out of control. Kailie, her daughter, was relatively safe in the back seats secured in her child set. She only had a small clavicle break with some bruising and a few cuts. Emi, on the other hand, had both of her legs crushed. Since that time she has required 24-7 care from others. Emi's husband, Jeff, has been in Iraq for over a year, and to the US government's credit, they had him on a plane for emergency leave within hours of the accident. Kenta and I went down to spend the weekend with them over the Fourth of July. Here are some of the pictures of our niece Kailie from that visit.

Kailie playing her favorite game of peek-a-boo

Kailie eating her first hamburger on the 4th of July

Laughing

Virginia and Kailie

Better late than never... our trip to California May 2009

During the first week of May Kenta and I joined my sisters Jessica and Rachel with their husbands Erik and Vince in southern California for a fun-filled vacation. The pictures essentially speak for themselves. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. (Blogspot wouldn't let me reorder the pictures, so some of them may seem a bit out of place)

San Diego Zoo

K&V in front of the panda

Such a comical face. We just had to take a picture.


Sleeping koala

Virginia high above the flamingos

Panda peek-a-boo

Climbing panda

K&V with Erik and Jessica just outside the panda exhibit

K&V in the Asian-inspired garden

Thoughtful koala

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Rachel's head has always been somewhat of a target for birds. It wasn't any different with the lorakeets

Vince, Rachel, Virginia, and Kenta getting ready to watch a wild animal show.

Virginia and Rachel watching the birds in the Amazon Aviary

The lorakeets quite liked me, too.

Rachel pondering the meaning of birds loving the top of her head so much.

Rachel and Virginia at the petting zoo. There were a dozen or so different species of deer there just roaming around. It was quite fun.

Vince petting another friendly deer.


Disneyland

It's a small world after all.

Erik and Jessica with Rachel and Vince

Rachel, Vince, and Virginia in one of the famous tea cups. No one else wanted to join us, but we had a blast!

Virginia, Vince, Rachel, Erik, and Jessica on a safari ride.

Vince, Rachel, Virginia, and Kenta waiting in line for a ride (a frequent occurrence).

Erik, Jessica, Rachel, Vince, and Virginia waiting for the Indiana Jones ride.

Dodgers Game

Kenta, Virginia, Erik, Jessica, Rachel, and Vince in the all-you-can-eat section of Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers played the Padres and won 1-0. Not a very eventful game, but good company nonetheless.

After the game they let everyone come onto the field to watch the fireworks. We all got a bit of a thrill from touching the grass in the outfield.

I think the lighting for the fireworks made us all look a little green.

K&V outside Dodger Stadium

Rachel and Virginia inside the Getty Museum.

Note the lovely tan line I have from our outing in Cincinnati.

Virginia near Rachel and Vince enjoying the view from the Getty Museum.

K&V near Jess and Erik at the Getty Museum.

K&V outside the LA temple

Vince, Rachel, Erik, Jessica, and Virginia in front of the LA temple.

Hopefully you enjoyed viewing our lovely vacation.