Memorial Day means different things to different people, but in Indianapolis it means one thing: The Indianapolis 500.
On Saturday morning we went to the parade. My company's corporate offices are along the parade route in a restored Gothic revival building that at times has been the headquarters of the company that made both Gatorade and Pork and Beans. The company provided reserved seats and lunch and the kids had a lot of fun watching the parade.
Most of the time they were mesmerized by the parade, looking a lot like this:
Because of floats, bands, racecars, horses, the entire starting lineup of the Indy 500, celebrities, and of course, giant balloons like this one (my favorite):
After the parade, the kids thought it was a lot of fun to dance around in the middle of Meridian Street.
After the parade, we headed down Meridian to Monument Circle. Tori, of course, was always ready with a pose:
The boys on the monument, looking toward the Indiana State Capital.
Tori with the entire monument and Chase Tower in the background.
Joey with his best impression of the Obama 'gazer' pose (except for the smile).
Once again, Tori ready for a pose:
Then, even though we aren't particularly "race fans," we decided to head over to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take a look around. They have the track open quite a bit during the month-long lead up to the race. Even on the day before the race we were able to check it all out.The boys from the infield, looking toward the bricks:
And in the seats, looking down toward the bricks, winner's circle, etc.:
And the boys reading their Indy 500 Hot Wheels magazines they were given by an IMS worker:
5 comments:
Wow! Fun! What a wonderful time you guys had! The pictures of the kids are fabulous!!! I can't wait to see you all in three weeks!!
Sounds like a wonderful family time. Great photos...I remember some of those spots. Love the pink glove...is it still working?
Cool, Tori is the little model for sure. In the first picture I saw of her I got really sad thinking she had a cast on her hand like she broke her thumb. Then I remembered her incessant thumb sucking and quickly put two and two together...which is four. Anyways, looks like a fun Memorial Day. Really though Joe? Indy 500? I just don't know about that. I thought you went to an Ivy League Graduate School back East? Joe Wharton is probably spinning in his grave! Hahaha jk We're excited to see all of you soon!
Yes Mom and Jon--the glove is working well. Tori proved to be very stubborn when it came to any kind of invasive techniques (getting her in trouble, bitter nail polish, etc.). Positive reinforcement (including replacing it with a new doll/stuffed animal for her to self soothe with, etc.) didn't work either. Then one day Liz was in the store and saw some pink mittens on clearance, got an idea to cut the main part off and got Tori to buy in. I think the reason it worked is because Tori cares more about the accessory than sucking her thumb. We take it off for meals, and she asks to put it back on--she will even put it back on herself. So just as we thought there was no way to break her of it, it looks like this may work.
And Jon, you're right about the 500, although I'm told that open wheel racing is much more sophisticated than something like NASCAR--not that you could tell from the people who go to the race here. But mostly it's just the spectacle and history that is kind of cool.
That sounds like so much fun! I bet the parade was awesome and how cool that you guys had seats provided by the company! Great tradition to start!
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