Our Soaking Wet July 4th

It rained like crazy this year on the morning of the 4th of July. There is a fun parade in Coralville and we decided to brave it, thinking it might be easier to find a spot on the parade route. It was still really busy though much to our surprise. Some of the parade entries had to change things up--the saddest to me was the Shriners who usually ride around on these awesome three wheelers. They just waved from a bus instead.

Here is a photo of our boys picking up candy that was streaming down the gutter. They ate soggy tootsie rolls for weeks.

Later that afternoon we had our first (and hopefully annual) July 4th barbeque at our house and then went to a fireworks show once it was dark. Fourth of July has treated us well in Iowa.

Riverside Iowa--Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk

Back in June we attended Trek Fest in Riverside, Iowa--the future birthplace of Captain Kirk. We're not Trekkies, but we are fans of unique and unusual fairs so we had to go. Trek Fest was definitely unique, to say the least. We missed the morning parade (guess we'll have to go back next year), but we did get to mingle with Trekkies, keep our kids from touching the very expensive Starship Enterprise models, let the boys participate in a tractor pull and ride a carnival ride all in one stop. All in all it was a pretty good day.

Apparently this was neutral territory for the often contentious Star Wars vs. Star Trek crowd. I guess all sci-fi geeks...er, I mean....enthusiasts were welcome. For some good Star Wars vs. Star Trek fun watch this edgy clip.

Ponseti Races

We got to be a part of the Ponseti Races this past weekend. Dr. Ponseti is the man who developed the non-surgical treatment of club feet. Wyatt was treated with this method and so it was really special to be a part of it. The race was last Friday and Dr. Ponseti wasn't able to attend because he had a stroke last Tuesday. His wife attended and sat in his place at the finish line of the children's races. Dr. Ponseti passed away on Sunday and will be missed. He was an amazing man. He kept working right up until the end of his life helping children like mine to be able to run and jump and play. We will be forever grateful for his work.

My Boys

I caught a great photo of my boys at the park yesterday. I love it because it shows a little bit about their personalities...well mostly Jonah and Wyatt's personalities since Emmett is still just showing off his sweet baby self. Jonah is the big brother who always asks to hold Emmett and wants to make sure he's okay. Wyatt is a little jokester. He always tries to make Emmett laugh. I love these boys.

Pirate or Gnome?

Jonah and Wyatt love anything and everything pirate. I think they are trying to recruit Emmett while he's still young and impressionable.

However, Max's grandma is pushing for the Garden Gnome Guild.

We'll see who wins in the end...

The Rest of Our Trip to Utah

We did a lot while visiting family in Utah and so I thought I'd try to record more of it. We went to a Bees game with Justin, Ashly and Fisher and decided that we will probably not be taking our boys to a baseball game again any time in the near future. They just wanted to ride the train, play on the playground, eat candy... I know, what did we expect from a 2 and 4 year old, but honestly, it was like pulling teeth just to get to the seventh inning stretch. We sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game and decided to call it a night.

We spent a weekend up at the Stirling cabin. Here's Max teaching Jonah how to hold a snake. I loving having three boys, but I just don't dig snakes and bugs and I have a feeling I'm going to have to get used to them.
Jonah needed a little reminding to hold the snake's head. Then he didn't want to hold it at all after it bit him on the hand.

Tutu (Max's mom) took us all for a ride on the Heber Creeper. The boys and their cousin Ava had a lot of fun, especially when cowboys came riding up beside the train shooting their guns in the air. They held up the train and stole the money box. When they opened it up and only found a stuffed duck, they were so angry they took hostages. It was a beautiful day for a train ride.

And here's Max showing off is mountain man skills. What a man!

Justin and Ashly came up while we were there and set up a zip line for the kids. They loved it.

I had to throw this one in just for memory's sake. This is Jonah with his bear, Argon. (It was Max's bear when he was young.) We're not sure where he got the name, but Argon can do lots of things--even some superhero things--and he often shows up in bedtime stories.

The Sunday before we left we went over to Natalie's house for a double baby blessing for Oscar and Emmett.
All in all it was a wonderful vacation. It was good to be with family and friends and to be in and near the mountains where we feel most at home.

Wyatt turned 3

It's been over a month, but my little Wyatt turned 3 back in July. Wyatt is such a sweet and playful boy. He loves to tease and he loves to get tickled. He loves to jump on the trampoline run through the sprinklers. He loves to help me cook in the kitchen and always likes to "snitch," especially when it is cookies. I usually have to tell him to stop snitching because I'm afraid he'll get sick. Speaking of cookies, Wyatt definitely has a sweet tooth. He usually asks me for a cookie or a candy by 9 am at the latest. Wyatt loves sports and is good at all the ones he's tried so far. He can hit a pitched ball over our fence--skipped right past the whole t-ball thing--and daily asks me to come play baseball. We take turns being the pitcher and the hitter and I always chase him around the bases and he is always safe. He knows all his letters, can count to 13 or so (after that it kind of jumps around until 20) and likes to color things "all the colors" instead of just one. He still loves his blue blankie and though it is probably a biohazard, I secretly like watching him suck on it because it looks like a baby's sucking reflex and it reminds me he is still little even though sometimes he acts so big. I love you Wyatt.