Okoboji 2010

On the last weekend of the summer, we celebrated! Some Des Moines friends and ourselves all made the trip to Okoboji. Our friend Carli's parents have a place there and generously host a group of us each summer. Thank you John and Deb! We had a great time boating, eating and drinking, and being with friends. Matt got to ski and hasn't lost his touch, even though he only does it about once a year now! Claire especially had fun with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Lori on Friday night (they just happened to be in Boji the same weekend). She missed having ice cream with Grandpa, and she's already asked for a 'rain check.' She also liked playing with Annabelle and Aiden - they shared some quality retro Fisher Price toys at the lake house. She did however, miss her friend Anna - sleeping for four hours while boating and again the next day for a couple?!? C'mon Anna, Claire was practically alone with all the adults! ;) Claire also swam at Gull Point on Saturday! It must have worn her out too (that or she was finally taking cues from Anna), because she fell asleep on my shoulder on the way to Barefoot Bar and slept almost the whole hour+ that we were there. That never happens anymore (but I was glad she got some sleep)! Overall it was a very relaxing weekend and a much needed long weekend - our only vacation all summer! We're already thinking about the annual Okoboji weekend of 2011!!

Pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Claire is walking Deb around the house on Saturday morning. The 'guys' went golfing and the 'girls' and kids hung out at the house. Take note of the fog outside.

Disclaimer: If you visit us and are foolish enough to give Clarie both your hands, you will be stooping over to walk with her for a looooong time. ;)

Out cold at Barefoot. Best of both worlds - sleeping baby against your shoulder and laughing with friends over 'go down in history' happenings.

Claire and Anna - Anna really has the rocking horse down. You should see her lips when she's rocking - so cute!

Dinner on Saturday night - table shots are a tradition in my family that I like to share with everyone!

(l to r) Carli & Spencer, Ben & Amber with Aiden, Laura & Jeff, Brian & Jen

View 2

(l to r) Brian & Jen, Bryan Becker, John & Deb, Carli

'Happy' birthday, Matty!

Matt is the hardest worker I know. On his birthday, August 12th, he worked at work really hard in the morning so he could get everything done to come home. He got home around 1:00, took a short break to eat lunch with us and play with Claire, then went back to work at home. We had a project that needed to get done, and as usual, he sacrificed relaxation or whatever it was he wanted to do, for the good of the family. For those of you who know Matt well, I'm sure this doesn't surprise you. Case in point.

I wanted to show off the fruits of his labor. This is one of those 'not fun' projects. You're not looking forward to doing it and you really have nothing to show for it once it's complete, besides, in this case, a continually dry basement. (This is something you only appreciate once you've had a wet basement and/or had to haul about 100 gallons of water up the basement stairs with your lovely wife one shop vac at a time when it's raining cats and dogs at midnight on a particular Sunday night/Monday morning in August...of 2010.)

(For the record, he did get to enjoy a birthday celebration a little bit. On Wednesday, his birthday eve, he and I went out to eat at a restaurant of his choice to celebrate. We had a fun time, just the two of us, while Omi, Onkel Alex, and Jaclyn babysat Claire.)

30 foot run of tile connected to...

the drainage system around the basement window well. No water filling up in the window well = dry basement! Yay!

Claire has a strategy. Walk Onkel Alex around lots and lots. Then he will mess up his back again. Then he will need an adjustment again. Then he will come back to Des Moines for his appointment. Then he will visit again! :)

Going Out with a Bang!

Claire and I had a wonderful last week of summer! We enjoyed just being with each other and lots of simple things. Matt and I took Claire to the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday evening. It wasn't officially open yet, but Matt knew that all the FFA and 4H kids would be there with their livestock. We thought it would be fun to go and show Claire all the animals. Otherwise, if we waited until the last weekend of the fair to go like we usually do, many of the animals would already be gone. We saw sheep, horses, and cows. Claire would point to each and show us the sign for 'dog,' so I guess she hasn't quite differentiated between dogs and any other four legged mammal at this point in her understanding. :) As we were walking through the sheep barn, we stopped at one of the pens to become acquainted with a particularly friendly sheep. He (or she) greeted us at the gate and I knelt down so that Claire could get a closer look. This friendly ewe really must have scared her, because she shuddered and started crying. If we kept a distance, she was fine and really studied the animals. Later, we went to the new air-conditioned horse arena and watched the horses and cowgirls and cowboys (Western style) maneuver through the barrels. Claire really liked this and kept pointing to each horse as it made its way around the arena. :) After the show, we went back to the horse barn and past the horse stalls. Again, Claire didn't want anything to do with being up close to the horse. Annabelle pet the horses and had lots of fun with them (by this time we'd met up with Schwartzs), but Claire was apprehensive about being near them. I guess she'll watch and enjoy from afar! (And for the record, she LOVES dogs and being very close to them and petting them...so she clearly recognizes a difference in these other mammals.)

Although it's very hard being away from my little girl this first week back (the first day back at 11:00 I thought to myself 'Ok, I'm ready to go pick up Claire now!), I am one of the lucky few who gets summers off! If I have to be away from Claire to work outside the home, I can't think of another job I'd rather do! Here are some pictures of our last week together at home. (Well Matt's at home, so actually they're evening pictures, but oh well!)

Driving with Daddy - "Always be sure to keep your feet up!"

"I need Daddy's help. On my own I can only drive backwards...and get stuck in corners!"

"You heard, huh? Yep, I've got engine problems. Just taking a quick peek under the hood now."

"This is going to require some more detailed diagnostic testing. I need a closer look. I may even have to take the old FP Green Machine to Uncle John for mechanic work. After all, Mama did buy it at a garage sale."

Friday Funday

We started the day by playing on the floor, like we usually do. Claire still has bedhead and her hair is getting so long now! I love that you can see her two chompers coming in on top. And this is a typical face for her, not usually caught on camera. See that little nose scrunch - it's just so cute!

Now we're on to playing 'I'm gonna catch you!" You can see Claire's excitement in her expression as she looks back to make sure Mami is still playing. (Still in our pajamas, so there's no need to button our pants.)

At the splash pool, I couldn't move fast enough for her. She wanted to go, go, go! I think this photo captures that. :)

She sure didn't want to stop for a picture with me! Claire wouldn't even look at the camera at any one of my many attempts at this shot, she was just too interested in the fountains around us.

.

Claire and Norah are both one year old! Look at how much changes in a year though - Claire still looks like a baby, and Norah (who will be 2 in October) looks like a little girl. We have a fun year ahead of us!

And that has been Friday, August 6, 2010...Friday Funday! It's definitely the simple things. We left the pool at quarter past noon, Claire fell asleep in the car (which rarely happens on in-town trips), and then again on the way home after a quick stop at the grocery store. Swimming must have worn her out! Those 15 minutes gave her a second wind though, because she was raring to go for another two hours. :) Just looking at these pictures brings a smile to my face. I'm gonna miss days with my little girl when the school year starts - one week of summer left! And boy are we going to enjoy it!

Best Part of the Day

Homemade Carrot Cake - voila!

"Whaaaat? Yes, I already got all the frosting off, but half of it's on my bib...

yes, I have my party hat on."

Daddy, Mami, Claire - August 1st, 2010

August 1st, we celebrated Claire's first birthday! We had family and close friends over for burgers on the grill and cheesy potatoes, among other sides. For dessert, Omi made chocolate cake, Grandma made salted nut roll bars, and Mami made carrot cake, including a little Claire sized cake for our birthday girl. I have to say that my carrot cake was delicious and all from scratch (Yes, Onkel Alex, I even peeled and shredded the carrots. No, I did not grind the flour.). I was impressed by the presentation and will surely make it again! A few people played bags outdoors, but most just stayed in the AC and chatted. We did the traditional birthday song, as well as "Zum Geburtstag viel Glueck!" and everyone watched Claire eat her cake. She didn't smash into it nearly as much this weekend as last weekend, when we had a faux party with Aunt Chris. It was a busyyyyy afternoon, but we had a great time and are happy that many important family members and friends made it to celebrate with us!

The best part of the day was in the evening. Matt, Claire and I were all hanging out in the family room, which was decorated with streamers and balloons and "happy birthday" signs. Claire was so fascinated by each of our party decorations and we had the longest simple conversation about balloons and streamers. We kept pointing them out, Claire leading the conversation by pointing at different things and Mami narrating. "Yes, those are balloons! What colors are the balloons? Green, and purple, and pink. That's right! ... Yes, that's another balloon. That's a big pink balloon. ... Yes, those are streamers! Streamers are fun!" Daddy thought this was silly and told us so, but it didn't bother us. We were enamored with the balloons and streamers. :)

Some things Claire is up to at a year:

• She's totally excited to see Matt whenever he gets home from work! We hear the door rattling and she stops whatever she's doing to pay attention to who's coming. She gets a big smile on her face for Daddy. This has pretty much been all summer! Mami must get a little boring to her all day, every day.
• Claire signs more, milk, and dog. That's thanks to lots of exposure to dogs at Omi and Opa's house! :) Amber and Sage played with Claire yesterday while I worked in my classroom for half a day and said that Claire combined two signs, more and milk! Godmother Amber confirmed that this is possible at 12 months. What a smart girl we have!
• We're still working on the signs eat, please, thank you, bath, outside, inside, and look. We added these later, but I don't think it will take a long time for her to pick them up because she just started signing milk back on her birthday and she's already a pro. Now she asks for milk all the time...hmmm.
• Outside, kisses, no, etc. (I'll fill this in later when I remember more.) Claire understands these words. When I say "outside" she looks right out the window. When I ask for kisses, she sometimes gives them, depending on her mood.
• Matt pointed out this week that Claire has grown particularly fond of her 'Schmusetuch' which she sleeps with. She always grabs for it now and is holding it when she's standing in the crib waiting for us to get her.
• Claire points now all the time! I think she loves this newfound control. She points and we go over to the object and talk about it. This is really neat! I like this especially because it tells me exactly what she's looking at and I'm learning new vocabulary as we go. ("Air snake" is streamer in German, how cool is that! "Colored band" is ribbon. Sometimes German makes so much sense, and then other times the language balances itself out.)
• It's fun to see her personality emerging more and more. She is an excellent talker! When we get together with other friends and their babies who are about the same age, she clearly likes to talk more than most. She also likes to scream to get her point across. This should get interesting as she gets older. ;)
• Claire's entering into the stage of knowing what she wants and this includes letting us know she isn't happy if she doesn't get what she wants. She arches her back and whines or tries to roll over and get away during diaper changes. This has been within the last couple of months.
• She stood up in the high chair for the first time today. I was only three feet away, but was busy trying to get the cheese package closed (complicated I know). I glance up and there she is standing. I firmly told her no and that "we only sit down in our high chair," but she seemed to think this was funny and tried it a couple more times. Lunchtime was over at this point!
• At other times, she is starting to follow directions. For example, she found a pea on the floor and was bringing it to her mouth today, but when I told her no, she stopped and went on to a different activity.
• She loves stairs! At our house, we only have the one step to go up and down, because we don't let her play on the hard basement stairs. The first time she went upstairs was playing at the mall in June, in the kids' section. Then in July, she had fun going up and down at Omi and Opa's and Grandma and Grandpa's. Everytime I've walked with her today (taken her hands while she walks), she's gone straight for OUR stairs too. It doesn't hurt the knees when Mami is holding her hands so you can stand upright.
• There are lots more things I'm forgetting I'm sure, I'll get to those later. :)

Reflecting on this past year, we have so much to be thankful for!

God, thank you for blessing us with a daughter. Thank you for using her to teach me more about how a parent loves his/her child. This has helped me to better understand how you love us. It makes me think about the Bible story when one son returns and they feast on a fattened calf because he's back. The other son doesn't understand why they're celebrating so much for his brother, when he's been there all along. I get it now God. It's like the father is overwhelmed with happiness that the son has returned. I can't really explain it well though, but I realize how a parents loves his/her child. Thank you Lord for making the simple things in life the best - for walks on a summer evening, for trips to the grocery store, for Claire's excitement whenever Matt returns from work, for wet open mouth baby kisses and hugs and loving each other. I ask for your continued guidance in raising Claire. Give us wisdom when making decisions and help us to know when to let go and not worry about the little things. Thank you for deepening our marriage and making us a better wife and husband this past year. Bless us with another joyful year. Help us grow deeper in our relationship with you. We know this is not in our control, but is in your plans for us - plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. I love you Lord. Be with us, protect us. Amen.

RAGBRAI virgin

What do you get when you combine 20,000 cyclists, 65 miles of blacktop in a day, 102 degree heat index, small Iowa towns, and fields upon fields of corn and beans? That's right - it's RAGBRAI.

I was inducted into a new culture this week - I went in a RAGBRAI virgin and came out, well, a veteran I suppose. Matt and I rode day 3 of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa this year from Algona to Clear Lake. My first experience with this ride was something! Despite the fact that I was about the keel over and die on the last 20-some mile leg from Garner to Clear Lake (I am kidding, barely), we made it together. Matt wouldn't leave me, though I kept telling him he could go ahead and I'd meet him there. Against the wind, he rode right in front of me to make it a little easier for me as we crept along at 8-9 miles an hour. Lessons learned: 1) Maybe I should train for this next year? 2) My husband is the best and we stick together! 3) Even when working really hard, one can have a great time and make fabulous memories!

For the record, Matt also rode on day 4 from Clear Lake to Charles City too. He said it was easier and I would have been fine. Me? I was glad that Claire needed me on day 4. ;) Thank you Omi for babysitting on day 3!!

Ready for the day! At the start just outside of Algona with Mark and Brenda.

This isn't so bad! At the first stop in Wesley. About 14 miles into the day and still cool.

Look at the thousands of cyclists!! This picture doesn't really even begin to tell the story.

.

A yummy french toast breakfast in the first town! We chose this because of the short line, but it was tasty too.

Bountiful Harvest

"Hmmm, Mom. I don't know about this carrot from your garden. It's fine for me, but you and dad are going to starve! Is this really the only carrot you grew?"

And that's how my garden is going. I was so excited to have one this year, but quickly learned how much time they take, and mine was just a small plot! The weeds really 'grew like weeds' and I didn't take enough time to work on it. Maybe next year! Until then, thank you Onkel Willi (and anyone else willing) for sharing your produce and thank you to the growers at the farmer's market!