Iowa's windy city

Of course the windiest little town in the middle of Iowa would host it's own kite fest and we road tripped it on down to check it out. Shannon, Bruce and Liam invited us for the weekend with the lure of a possible tethered hot air balloon ride. But of course it was TOO windy for even the balloon to go up, but the owners were sweet enough to let us climb on in and check out the basket.

Kids were able to make their own kites which were impressively good fliers, especially Liam's. All three of the kids were loving the sport of kite flying and Bruce couldn't help but buy his own fancier version to fly. Henry with his keen nose figured out that these markers were sure smelly and couldn't stop sniffing the darn things.

Bryn's favorite thing to draw lately is rainbows and her kite was no exception.

Liam was a doll and sat with me just checking out all the kites flying overhead and I couldn't help but snap some photos of the cute dude with his new haircut.

Racing down the field on all fours.

Aunt Shannon bought a bag of sour apple cotton candy and we all got in on that action. nummmmm.

Later on the kids found a perfect hill to roll down as the day was coming to an end.

Thanks to Bruce for starting off Mother's Day on a very delicious note with a mouth watering breakfast. We all had so much fun, just wish they lived closer......

Deep Sea Diving 101

Ever since Bryn and Henry saw divers in a giant tank at the Shed aquarium a couple weeks ago they have asked us more questions about the divers then about the fish they saw. Well, it was their lucky day this past weekend when they got to meet a real life diver friend of their own. Miss Kathie and Mr. Tim invited us all to see beautiful pics of all the places they have been deep sea diving and the marine life he has had the chance to swim next to, (including amazing video footage of whale sharks in the waters of Belize) and for an added bonus we made a trip to the basement and the garage to see all the diving gear he has accumulated.

Mr. Tim let them try on his flippers and gloves and showed them all the fancy equipment attached to the oxygen tanks. I'm thinking Mr. Tim should take this show on the road cause they loved it. Thank you both for the wonderful afternoon and the CD full of underwater photos you gave us to take home.

Below is Mr. Tim showing them the dry suit he uses in very cold water.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house the kids tried chasing butterflies and bees with their new nets while the adults worked on hanging the new hand made barn doors.

Taa daaa. We actually got the doors hung and now my dad's VW bug has an easier entrance into the barn.



It was a fun weekend to get away while Jay was busy typing up a 20- something page grad school paper.

Feedin' the chick-chicks

The chickens are starting to get a little more adventurous with their food these days. They've been pecking away at overly ripe bananas, baby tomatoes, and most recently, mustard greens. The greens have a little kick to 'em, and the flock seems to really be developing a taste for that kinda stuff. So are Henry and Bryn, it turns out.

Bryn's become quite the little mommy, making sure each hen gets her share...

...and here's Henry, finishing off the last of the greens.

Happy Earth Day!

Mother Earth is getting an awful lot of lip service lately, and deservedly so. Henry has been asking when Earth Day would be here for the last couple weeks and this morning he was relieved to hear that today was the day! We started off our Wednesday with an impromptu art project designed by Henry. Ingredients : colored paper, FULL glass of water and scissors. Then you soak the colored paper in the water without ever wringing it out, let dirty water drip all over the house while you parade your art around, then you layer the pieces on top of each other to make "foam" for Mother Earth and when it's a sticky wet mess you cut it up with scissors. Provides an hours worth of enjoyment for all, especially mom.

Off to the coop to give the chickens some fresh air in their run and feed them some yummy grape tomatoes.

Then for the grand finale..... garbage pick up. I overheard Bryn tell Henry "Mother Earth is happy when kids pick up trash, just like mommy and daddy are." We took our wagon and off we went in search of litter to pick up. Below is Bryn's best "treasure", a shoe insole! She squeeled every time her little eyes spotted more garbage and even dug up a canister she was that was partially buried in the mud. Go girl!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a tad difficult to find enough to fill our bag half full. Plenty of cigarette butts which spawned several conversations about what people do with these objects and why they get thrown on the ground instead of the garbage.

It was our lucky day, the streetsweeper was doing it's thing in our neighborhood and it ended up riding past us many times. Henry said "That Zamboni thing is cleaning on Mother Earth Day too!" We had planned on inviting some friends to join us but Bryn's nose was a nonstop sieve so we decided against infecting others. I'm sure we will do this again and again.

Only disappointment came when we got home from our trash pick up and Henry grabbed the wind vane and started wacking at the bark of a new tree we planted last fall. He really didn't know what possessed him to do that but after I screamed "Why would you do that to a tree on Earth Day?" he later reasoned that a little bit of watering and the tree should be just fine.

Egg time

We were excited to hear that Jen, Shawn, Allison and Mia were hitting the roads and heading to Madison for a long weekend. Henry and Bryn are always getting updates on what the girls are up to but it's much more fun to see them in person. Bryn and Aunt Jen playing in the kitchen.

Ready to scramble for some eggs on the Capitol lawn. The nice weather made for at least 5 times as many kids as last year when they foraged in the snow for eggs.




The below shot is definitely a milestone in the making. As many of you know from past posts, H and B have been terrified of "dressed up people" . So much so, that they typically ask on our way to an event whether or not there will be any mascots milling around. Slowly over the last several months Henry especially has started to shed his fear and warms up to these dressed up adults fairly quickly! He was in love with the bunny at the Capitol last weekend. No kidding, he just stood there hugging a leg or burying his face into his tummy until I repeatedly asked him to let go. Bryn wasn't quite as enamored, but did manage to give the bunny a couple high 5's as long as she was still touching me. Better than the screaming fits of before, that's for sure!

Mia and Allison got their hands on some eggs too, before heading into the Capitol and completing a circuit of stairclimbing!

Back at home we enjoyed some Spring like weather and watched the kids play it up in the backyard.

Of course Bryn was the first to pull the gang. Nothing stands in her way. Allison and Mia may be having second thoughts though.

Up close and personal with the chickens!!

Sunday we all drove over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The backyard was full of eggs and the hunt was on!

Counting their loot! The Easter bunny was very health conscious this year. Raisins and goldfish crackers, nummmmm.

Allison wishing Henry would let her go.....

Grandma made them each their very own letter shirt for Easter, and they were a HUGE hit! Thanks Karyl, not only for the letters but for a day full of mouth watering eats too. We then needed a photo shoot of course to show off the new T's. Not easy trying to get 4 kids to look in one direction. This was the best we could do!

Spring Break Daddy style!

Since I would be home during Spring Break, Sarah took advantage of the opportunity to get away for a few days with her mom and they flew to Santa Fe. While they were away, the kiddos and I tried to create our own Spring Break adventures back here in the midwest...

No, Bryn was not driving the four-wheeler out at Pickhardt's cabin. They did get a chance to ride on it (notice their bike helmets) and we went VERY slowly.

Here's Mr. Pickhardt making them hot chocolate on the woodstove.

Here we are after we helped load the four-wheeler with firewood.

Henry sharing his carrots during lunch after they stacked more wood on the pile (kind of).

Watching Mr. Pik put up a new Blue Bird house on a fence post.

The next day we headed to Chicago, where Henry got to spend a while staring at his recent obsession...jellyfish. We spent the morning at the Shedd Aquarium, and then pretty much spent the afternoon running around, then napping in Grant Park.

After a short break back at the hotel we wandered down to Millenium Park where we met Sandra, Eliot, Maya and Josie who were also in Chicago for the day. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out (and taking pictures) at the "Mirror Bean" and the faces waterfall/fountain things...it's kinda tought to explain of you've never been there.

We finished the day off with some deep-dish Chicago pizza, where Henry almost feel asleep in the booth. Little guy was really spent after all the walking. The next morning we headed home to check on the chickens, who were ready to officialy move out into their coop. We'll post more pics of that and of Easter weekend with Jen, Shawn, Mia and Allison, and Grandpa and Grandma A in a day or two.