4th of July Fun

Hello everyone, sorry for my absence on the blog! Grandpa and Grandma are in town, and we've been busy, busy, busy! On Friday my parents (Mimi & Grampy) and sister Meg also came to town, so we had a great weekend with everyone. We ate tons of food, the kids played in their kiddie pool, we played croquet, jumped in the bouncy house, made smores in the fire pit, let off fireworks, had a scavenger hunt, did 4th of July crafts... I know I'm leaving some things out. Let's just say that it has been an action-packed week!

Henry started a summer class this week and has been enjoying it. We also started swimming lessons tonight - George and I are doing the parent/child swim class. It's for babies and toddlers ages 6 months - 3 years old. During "free time" in class the instructor went over to each parent and asked what they were hoping to get out of the class. Jokingly, I said, "I'd like for George to be able to swim the 200 individual medley by the end of the summer." He just looked at me, dumbfounded. I saw that he didn't get my joke, so I said, "my other son is doing swimming lessons during this time, and so we needed something to do while we waited for him instead of me chasing George all around the observation area like I usually do." He just gave me a strange look and swam away. I guess maybe other people are taking the parent/tot swim class a bit more seriously than I am.

We grew something!

The first veggie from our garden - a radish! Too bad we don't really like radishes that much. We also have peas, which are very yummy. Hey, it's our first attempt at a vegetable garden, so we're just happy that something grew!

Strawberries, slip-n-slides, and smores

We had a busy day today - first, we went to a nearby strawberry patch and picked strawberries. Like our previous berry picking experiences, the boys ate two berries for every one that they picked. Georgie could not shovel them in fast enough. It was a lot of fun though - picking berries and apples is one of my favorite activities to do with the kids. I'll never forget our experience in Maine last year picking blueberries with my sister Meg... the boys didn't want to bother picking the tiny berries off the prickly bushes so they just started raiding our already-picked containers instead. The strawberries are easier to pick so Mike and I were able to pick faster than they could eat them.

When we got home we got out the slip-n-slide and the kiddie pool. I wisely avoided the slip-n-slide this time around. I learned my lesson last weekend.

Finally, after dinner we lit a fire in our fire pit and roasted marshmallows (or, as Henry still calls them, mushmallows). When I was giving him a bath tonight I asked him what his favorite part of the day was. "All of it!" he said excitedly. "This was a great day." Indeed!

Sum-sum-summertime

Celebrating Mike's birthday

Mike's birthday

With Grampy in a train switching yard in Des Moines... a family friend is an engineer and let Henry sit in one of the Union Pacific diesel engines.

Hanging out with Charlie-dog.

"The Cousins" at Great-Grandma D's.

We got back from Des Moines on Monday and have been trying to settle into our summer routine. We had a ton of fun in Des Moines, visiting with family and friends and doing something fun every single day we were there. Henry especially loved getting together with "the cousins" and of course catching all those fish. I was worried that the boys would be incredibly bored last week doing ordinary things since we were all over the place in Des Moines, but they seem to be adjusting okay.

Georgie and I are doing a summer Kindermusik class, and Henry started an instructional soccer class. Yesterday we got a real taste of summer weather (hot and sunny!) and brought out the kiddie pool and slip n' slide, which I foolishly took a few turns on and now my entire abdominal area is so freakin' sore... what was I thinking? We had a really good time out there though.

We also celebrated Mike's birthday on Thursday with a trip to Famous Dave's and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. What more could a guy want? I consumed more calories that day than I usually consume in a week. I am not exaggerating.

And a very Happy Father's Day to my dad, my father-in-law, Mike, and all the other Dads out there! We celebrated by going out for breakfast and then went to Lake Eau Claire County Park for a picnic. It rained all afternoon so we stayed in and I made strawberry shortcakes with the fresh strawberries we got at the Farmer's Market yesterday- YUM.

Did you all catch the Real Housewives of New Jersey finale? Oh. my. goodness. Those ladies are hysterical. The reunion show is on Tuesday, so set those DVRs. And a big thanks to my pal Kelly in DM, with whom I watched an episode on her super-cool home theatre setup while I was in town. Nothing like watching the housewives in all their glory on a wall-size projector in high def!

The pike!

Here's the picture of the pike Mike and Henry caught a few weeks ago... Henry was in charge of snapping the picture and unfortunately this was the best one of the fish itself. (There are many stunning, beautiful photos of the floor of the boat, Henry's lap, and Mike's knees, which I will not be posting).

Fishing video

A video of Henry fishing at Easter Lake in Des Moines on Sunday - he ended up catching 4 fish that day! My sister Meg did the editing - great job Meg!!

Adventureland... now and then

Georgie on the boats

The ladybugs

Excitement on the ladybugs!

My cousin Mel and I on the same ladybugs, exactly 30 years ago! (We're in the rear seat of the yellow ladybug, Mel has dark hair and I have pigtails).

Ang on the same boats, 1979

Another party!

We celebrated Georgie's birthday with another party with my extended family in Des Moines on Sunday - both boys had an absolute blast playing with "the cousins" (my cousins' 5 little girls) and it was great getting together with everyone. On Monday we went to see "Up," which was adorable, and on Tuesday we went to the I-Cubs game and a family friend took Henry to the train yard that evening so he could sit in an engine! (I'll post those pictures later).

Yesterday I took Henry to Omaha to visit some of our old friends - it was so great seeing everyone! We saw our old house, which doesn't look the same since they re-sided it. Today was Adventureland day - I am back at the house with Georgie for his nap while Mimi, Grampy, and Aunt Meggie are still there with Henry. He's tall enough for all of the roller coasters this summer, so look out! He has NO fear.

Road trip

Henry, Georgie, and I are off to Des Moines today! Wish me luck on the ride down... it's my first time alone with them in the car for more than 2 hours. I've loaded it up with DVDs and snacks.