Late July/August Pictures

Share with the ducks?!?
You have got to be kidding!



Watching Baby Beethoven
- it's hypnotizing



Enjoying the jumping gym
at Nordic Fest



Such a happy boy



Good times



Do I have to go down
this 40-foot slide?



Zach found the remote control





Petting the goats at the Blank Park Zoo
in Des Moines


posted by Elena

Losing power sucks

Thursday night we had some excitement. I had the day off so we went to Chester Woods Park. We didn't realize that you had to pay to get in so we drove there and turned around. There are lots of public parks with playthings to visit. We went to the one at Soldier Field and had a lot of fun running around playing in the sand boxes and slides and steps.

That evening I was messing around on the computer and watching the Dolphins preseason game. The kids were bouncing around and Elena was watching TV in the other room. We had weather alerts telling about tornado and hail conditions and that people should get in the basement. The wind was whipping around and rain was pouring. Then we started losing power. It flickered a few times then went out completely.

Elena had some flashlights stashed so we could at least see around. We played a competitive game of candyland which Elena won. We were in good spirits and would have had a fairly uneventful night if it wasn't for the constant thunder and lighting waking everybody up and the sump basin filling. Man alive, I went down to check it and was just in time as it was to the edge full of water. I used cups and 5 gallon buckets to empty it and the water stops coming in so I take a break and go to sleep. Elena wakes me up an hour or so later because of the rain and I go check it again. It is mostly full and rising quickly. I grab by 1.5 gallon bucket and a few 5 gallon ones and start bailing water. I scoop as fast as I can but it was coming in as fast as I was pulling it out. I'd fill up my buckets, dump them in the sink 15 feet away and rush back and it was to the brim again. This goes on for about 100 gallons and the water starts slowing down and I can see progress. Bucket in one hand and flashlight in the other I keep at it eventually emptying the basin.

I emptied it again later that night/early morning but it wasn't nearly as bad. If the water had flooded the basement we wouldn't have lost much I don't think but it would have been frustrating to have wet carpet and, well, anything we did have on the floor. I'm seriously thinking about putting in a battery backup system. Next time they go on sale that is.

With all the goofy power surges it did some funky things to the computer. It messed up some setting on my browser. I tried to log onto blogger but it wouldn't work. I tried again and again. I had my password changed, I tried a few of the FAQ recommendations. I was confused. Elena tells me tonight that she tried to get on here and decided to use the correct user name and, jeepers, it worked just fine. Ah, well.

Bed and breakfast

The B and B we stayed at was a copy of a old English mansion. It had a huge master bedroom and loads of smaller bedrooms tucked away in nooks and crannies. There were stairs everywhere. Sometimes just a couple of steps and other places, the grand stairway. But to be sure, if you wanted to get anywhere in there you were going up or down stairs. It's version of handicap accessibility was that to get to the second floor one stairway was less steep than the other.

We stayed in Lowell's room, named after the original owners son. There were only two rooms taken in our first night and I felt bad for the poor couple that got stuck with the room next to ours. We were a bit noisy during the night. They told us that they understood and that they had been OK but I think that they were being polite.

Chad Greenway, Viking rookie LB out of Iowa, out for the season with a torn ACL. Koren Robinson, Viking #1 WR, busted for a DUI last night. Not a good way to start the year. On a good note, Brad Childress, Viking coach, has had some really good reviews on how professional he has been.

and then this squirrel started pee-ing on me

We went down to Des Moines for the weekend. The family had a nice time visiting with the Grandparents. The kids had a lot of fun playing from a yellow plastic bag full of toys from who knows what year. Zach especially liked an old metal red firetruck. He would do his standard with toys with wheels. He found a flat surface and got eye level with it and pushed it back and forth so he could watch the wheels spin. We went out for supper at a Chinese buffet and also had a nice breakfast at the places cafeteria. We talked with one of the cafeteria ladies and she told us that the Watsons were one of her favorites and that she remembered my Grandma Binau.

The parents were down there too going to the Iowa State Fair with Craig and Sue to see James Taylor. I Googled him to see what he what he sung. I had heard a few of his songs. We went over to their house for breakfast on Saturday. I was worried about getting going that early with everything we had. Later it became a non-issue. Zach just decided to keep everyone up all night so there was no way we would be late.

At breakfast, Zach sat on my Dad's lap and ate from his fruit bowl. This is an odd occurrence because Zach doesn't really eat fruit. He is more of a meat and potatoes guy. We were amazed. He even had seconds.

The kids took well needed naps and conversations were started. We went out the back yard and checked out all the plants and double layer pond and waterfall that takes up a corner of the landscaping. It was here we were told the story of the squirrel. Apparently while reading on a chair in the backyard, Craig felt some water splashing on his arms. He looked up and didn't see any rain clouds and thought it odd. He got another splash and saw that there was a squirrel perched on a tree right above him. That little guy had sprinkled all over him. We drive 3 1/2 hours to go the house of a PhD and this is the classy story we get.

Olivia was playing with a big black ant before breakfast. She was complimenting it and ooh-ing and ahh-ing and showing great attention and affection. This only lasted so long. She dropped the ant on the ground and squashed it. The quote was, "Bye-bye Ant."

Insulating the attic and other ways to sweat off weight

Dad came up last Tuesday to help us out with insulating the attic. Elena and I were late to meet him at home because we went to a pregnancy appointment so he got in some play time with the kids and Nadine.

He and I then went off to Menards and picked up the last of the insulation and the blower. The blower was a bit of a problem because we had to lay it down instead of standing upright. That meant that we had to unload it off the truck at our house and it is heavy.

I climbed up the ladder and pushed back the panel and we could feel the heat pouring down the opening. Whew. I went back in to get a few more drinks of water. Re-motivated I climbed up in there and started crawling around. All was going well and I had made it across the kitchen and belly-ed my way through a cut-out to the sun room. I was pulling the tubing and the switch with me which made it a bit more difficult. I was almost into position dragging that stuff when it became stuck on a truss. I yanked and pulled and mumbled a bit but it wouldn't budge. I had to crawl all the way back out to unstick the hose then crawl back in. My clothes were soaked and we haven't even sprayed one bag! (I ended up changing cloths every time I came down which was three)

Once we got going it went fast. It just sprays out of the tube and fills a big area very easily. It is kind of fun even. Hot up there, but fun. We stopped for lunch of meat and cheese sandwiches and headed back up. We put in 12 bags total and then cleaned up. Olivia was a great help. She pulled tubing and electrical cords and even helped lift the machine back into Dad's truck.

I'm really glad that this is done. It is a project that has needed to be done for a long time. Hopefully it pays for itself quickly.

Zach has a large firetruck that he just loves. It has a handle in back that he grabs hold of and pushes and pulls it up the driveway. He'll get to the top and run behind it as fast as he can down the slope. He just has a blast. He learned the trick from Olivia. She has a thing for the firetruck too so there are conflicts. I usually get out her tricycle and she'll want that instead.

Dad was down below filling up the hopper with the fiberglass with Olivia. She sounded like she was having a great time. She was shouting and playing and watching the machinery. She really liked seeing the poofs of fiberglass speed through the semi-transparent tubing.

Spinning on the swings

One of Olivia's favorite pastimes is to spin while swinging. I push her and spin her in circles and do all sorts of crazy and a bit dangerous things. Elena reads this and I don't want to get into much more detail. The problem is that it takes up all three swinging lanes we have. This means that when Zach is in the sandbox playing or wanting to swing we can't spin.

Olivia knows this and is oh so polite to offer helpful suggestions to Zach when he is around.

"Zach, its too hot outside. You go inside."

"Zach, you tired? Go nigh-night?"

"Zach, you hungry? Go inside and eat?"


We went out to the Golden Corral for supper tonight. It is a buffet so the food is fast and lots of choices. The kids each got a balloon and a good time was had by all. Except when we individually went up to get some food, Zach would get all child abandonment and start crying.

He is getting quite big. Looking at him laying down is a far cry from when he first came in the world. He is one solidly built kid.