We finished the day with a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo which features a huge model train layout during the holiday season.

The Basile’s asked if I would take a family portrait. I was more than happy to oblige.

Nicolai let me photograph him as I set up for a family portrait of the Basile’s. I wanted to make sure that the aperture I selected would throw the background out of focus and was pleased with the result.

Gabriel reading to his son with Maya just out of frame listening in.

Jeanine and I enjoyed a nice long walk to the Meridian Hills Country Club.

This morning I got to hang with my man Bradley.

With something like 47 people staying at Lauren’s house, Maya was asked to sleep in Bradley’s crib. She fit perfectly and reported the next day that it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in.

Later in the day, Aunt Susan treated Maya to her first real manicure. Naturally, I had to capture the results. For the record, Maya is not dead, just posing peacefully for her father.

I did not have my telephoto lens with me, but I did manage to sneak up on this cardinal.

Before leaving Larry’s house, Jeanine and I went for a birding walk around Lake Holiday.

The park’s features were formed by the recession of the glaciers and include many deep gorges and overhangs. All totalled, I think I covered about eight miles and took hundreds of photos.

Today, I made a solo venture to Turkey Run State Park for several hours of hiking and photography. This suspension footbridge takes you across Sugar Creek into the heart of the park.

Lauren quite pleased with one of her better rolls.

No visit to Indiana would be complete without a game of Greedy. This game, played with 7 die, was a favorite of Eunice. You can roll the dice as long as you want, winning points for certain combinations, but if you do not roll a one or a five you lose everything. This year featured not one, but two epidsodes of passing the dice to the next person by way of their filled drink cups.