Lindsey, on the way home today: “If we lived in our car we would never have to drive home.” Good point.

Then Haley added, “And we’d have a secret door that would lead to our bedrooms.”

After a day of not seeing Lindsey from drop-off at 9 am until nearly 5:30, but picking up Haley at 2:45 for tennis, I said to Haley, “It’s weird that I haven’t seen Lindsey all day.” Haley’s response: “That’s OK; you have me.”

Lindsey came for a cuddle in my bed this morning and, lying next to me, said, “Stop sniffing me.” Uh, yes, I was breathing.

280 shows in 10 days: It’s the totally independent and wholly affordable IndyFringe Festival, happening Aug. 19-28. What else is there to do Indy between innovative performances? Here are a few excerpted from “Day Trips from Chicago”

Crown Hill Cemetery. 700 W. 38th St.; (317) 920-2644; Indy’s 555-acre cemetery ranks as the third largest in the country and is the final resting place of more than 200,000 people. It comes alive on more than a dozen 1.5- to 2-hour tours that focus on topics such as Civil War Women, Skeletons in the Closet, Art & Architecture, Tombstones and Trees, and Dillinger & Other Notables—yes, that would be notorious bank robber John Dillinger who is, in fact, buried here.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall of Fame Museum. 4790 W. 16th St.; (317) 481-8500. On event days, you can simply follow the crowds or the roaring engines to find this world-renowned speedway. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Indy 500 in 2011, it’s the world’s largest spectator sporting facility. Also on deck: the 18-hole Brickyard Crossing Golf Course that plays four holes right inside the track’s 2.5-mile oval, and the Hall of Fame Museum featuring nearly 75 cars including the Marmon “Wasp,” which won the first Indy 500 in 1911.

Indianapolis Museum of Art. 4000 Michigan Rd.; (317) 923-1331; www.imamuseum.org. From ancient art of the Americas and Mediterranean to Impressionist works by Monet, from contemporary LED signs of Jenny Holzer to the attention-grabbing 60-foot-by-60-foot neon tube light sculpture by Robert Irwin, this world-class museum’s 54,000-piece collection covers a little of a lot of things—and it’s all free, no less. Adjacent to the museum is 100 Acres, an outdoor art and nature park of site-specific installations and natural beauty.

Indianapolis Zoo. White River State Park, 1200 W. Washington St.; (317) 630-2001. You could swim with the dolphins here for an added adventure (and price), but you don’t really have to, because this zoo boasts the world’s only underwater dolphin viewing dome: Just stand under the glass dome and gaze up at the dolphins playfully swishing by right above you.

Rhythm! Discovery Center. 110 W. Washington St., lower level; (317) 275-9030. You can bang on the drum all day at this percussion museum. It’s a dream come true for little kids who love to bang (I know, I’ve got two of them).

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. 3000 N. Meridian St.; (317) 334-3322. Almost as fun without kids as with, this enormous museum features the immensely popular Dinosphere where kids who dig dinos can dig for faux fossils and then check out a whole family of real ones. Plus, there are exhibits to visit a simulated open-air market in Egypt; pretend to be earthworms; scale a climbing wall; and take a spin on a carousel. A highly anticipated, brand-new archeology exhibit in partnership with National Geographic too

where to shop

Broad Ripple. Broad Ripple Village Association, 6311 Westfield Blvd., Suite 1; (317) 251-2782. About 6 miles north of downtown, this historic neighborhood, established in 1837, is the Bucktown/Wicker Park of Indianapolis.

where to eat

Bazbeaux Pizza. 811 E. Westfield Blvd.; (317) 255-5711 and 334 Massachusetts Ave.; (317) 636-7662. Open daily for lunch and dinner. $

Cafe Patachou. Multiple locations including 4901 N. Pennsylvania St.; (317) 925-2823. On Bon Appetit magazine’s 2002 list of “Ten Favorite Places for Breakfast in the Nation.”

Yats. 5363 N. College Ave.; (317) 253-8817, 659 Massachusetts Ave.; (317) 686-6380. Spiced beyond comprehension, the jambalaya, gumbo and etouffee and even simple red beans and rice and vegan white chili are taste sensations.

where to stay

Canterbury Hotel. 123 S. Illinois St.; (800) 538-8186, (317) 634-3000. This elegant downtown boutique hotel has roots that date back to 1858.

Stone Soup Inn. 1304 N. Central Ave.; (866) 639-9550. With a feeling like you’re away from it all, and yet right near downtown attractions.

Read more in “Day Trips from Chicago,”

Get out of town! From big cities to beach villages, you’ll find a trip made for you.

25 getaways for the local traveler, published by Globe Pequot Press, written by Elisa Drake, available on Amazon.

TimeOut Chicago Kids Article

The girls and I had a blast bopping and singing along to the tunes of this rocking kids band with their equally rocking kids show.

George O’Connor doesn’t have a long list of children’s books, but what he does have is top-notch. Kind of kooky, offbeat and fun. I suspect O’Connor is a bit like that himself. We had originally received O’Connor’s “Uncle Bigfoot” as a gift from our super-cool friend who works at the Field Museum. Based on the fact that I was able to stomach multiple readings of it without getting whiny (yes, these things make moms whine), I took a chance on another of this guy’s creative endeavors. Despite the fact that little Sally’s mother lets her tromp around by herself in the woods, Sally and the Some-Thing is, as Sally would say, “really something.” I get to make goofy noises like “blegh” and “blippity bloop,” while my girls giggle and repeat; Sally isn’t afraid of anything; and, without needing any hammers on the head, the book departs not one, but two messages: 1) a kind of “don’t judge the scary-looking monster by its first impression” and 2) differences can be overcome with some creative thinking. By George, I think he’s got it.

This week, we loaded up a the library with nine books. Oy. I think we overdid it because I don’t know where they all are right now (by the way, the one that’s ripped was ripped before we brought it home, I swear). So we have two winners, but I’m going to use my official Mom license and hand one the Drake Top Tot Book Award. It’s Anna Dewdney’s stab at a book about manners called Nobunny’s Perfect, and it’s hands-down the cutest one I’ve come across. We love Anna Dewdney for her Llama Llama stories, and they’re rarely available at the library, so we took the leap of faith with this non-llama choice, and it paid off.

My 4- and 2-year-old were huddled around me pointing to bunnies and chattering about them so much I could barely get through a page. The draw? The bunnies have big-time personality: They’re mad and sad and nasty and kind and apologetic, and it all shows in Dewdney’s simple and inviting illustrations. She actually includes a drawing of one bunny spitting out his carrots—and it looks exactly like my 2-year-old when she spits food out right splat in front of her at the table or anywhere she happens to be eating, really. Gotta love it. But she picked up on this bunny’s bad behavior: “He didn’t like that.” Ah-ha. Teaching moment for me. “Yes, but it’s not OK to spit food out at the table, right?” Silence. At least she was thinking about it.

My daughters and I take field trips to the Sulzer Regional library in Lincoln Square every week or so and we pick out a pile of new-to-us books—bedtime includes two each night, so we (my husband and I, mostly) crave the variety. It’s something we started doing recently because, while I love adding to our children’s library, I don’t have space to store much more! So we buy certain forever-keepers (“Where the Wild Things Are,” “The Cat in the Hat,” “Goodnight Moon”), but we’re loving our rotating selection of borrowed books just as much.

But I have a problem. I’m a historically indecisive person, and the library has so many darn books, it’s hard to sort the worthy from the “I could have written that better” books. I know a handful of children’s authors whose books we’ve loved, but one memorable read doesn’t necessarily lead to another (you know who you are, Laura Numeroff). So, I’ve embarked on a project to choose one book of the seven or eight we borrow each visit and award it with the Drake Top Tot Book Award (OK, we’re working on the name and taking suggestions). Our first time winner? “The Art Lesson” by Tomie dePaola.

Part of dePaola’s autobiographical works, the story reveals how all of his friends had certain talents, and “Tommy” loved to draw. He was psyched about having a real art teacher in school, but disappointed when she asked him to copy a picture—you see, real artists don’t copy—and tells him he has to use boring school-issued crayons instead of his cherished box of 64 from home. So Tommy works out a deal with his art teacher that if he copies the Pilgrim man and woman with the school crayons, if there’s still time, he can do his own picture with his own crayons. “And he did/And he still does.” Part of me sees my little Haley as a budding Tomie, so I sneakily picked this one on purpose. And she loved it. Especially the last page where the author/illustrator includes a drawing of Strega Nona, another of our keeper books. Haley thought that was pretty cool. At first she pointed to it hesitatingly, like she wasn’t sure about it, but after I confirmed, “Oh, that’s Strega Nona!” it became her favorite part of the book. Such a gently sweet book. It kind of has it all: heart, soul, a message, a little insider joke and, of course, fabulous art.

Tomie dePaola’s website has more about him and his work. He’s such an interesting guy, I was rather engrossed there for a little while. He even has artwork for sale.