A couple quick videos of us trying to take advantage of the fading warmth:
Andrew Rip Stiking
Nutella Face
Lucia wouldn’t sit still for a picture, so I shot this instead.
Laundry Time!
We have been on a good laundry schedule lately, washing on Saturday and folding on Sunday. This is what our weekly haul looks like, at least this time of year:
Weekend Wrap-Up
The weather was beautiful this weekend and we were able to take full advantage of it. On Friday night the kids and I went on an ‘Owl Prowl’ with Polk County Conservation. We learned a little bit about the owls in our area and then went for a night hike to see if we could make contact with any owls. Our guide was unsuccessful, but it was a beautiful night to be outside. After the event the kids and I hit Over the Top, our favorite ice cream shop in Des Moines. Where was Susan for all of this? She was in Ames with her mother for a craft fair and dinner at The Café.
Saturday was spent mostly at home, with Andy visiting in the morning, naptime (for Lucia) and then we went exploring in the woods on the other side of the creek. The plants are thick so in the summer it was difficult, but now things are thinning out a bit so it is more reasonable. There are some awesome areas for the kids to play and I am hoping to put in a short single-track trail through the woods.
After dinner on Saturday we carved our pumpkins. The kids love it and couldn’t wait. There was some frustration, but in the end it was all smiles.
Sunday was a busy day, with most of the day spent away from home. We left at around 11 and headed to Stone Park, just outside of downtown, for a Cyclocross relay race. My team was Nate, John, Scott, and I. It was fun and the weather was awesome. Susan and the kids were there to cheer us on. After the bike race we headed to Hope’s birthday party at a farm outside of Ankeny. There were a ton of activities, including a very cool corn maze.
Fun times.
Sleeping Arrangements
Every night before bed Susan and I get the pleasure of checking on all of our sleeping kids. A couple of months ago we moved Lucia into a big bed with Mari and Elliot into a room with Andrew. Elliot would rather sleep in the room with Mari and Lucia (probably because he has slept in the same room as Mari his entire life) so we made a little bed for him with our futon mattress. Sometimes it is quite a sight!
Basketball!
Our new house has a nice, big driveway, almost perfect for a basketball hoop. Last week we were on a walk and we noticed that one of our neighbors, about 4 blocks away, had a hoop that was used so infrequently that it was being grown over by a nearby tree. I told Susan that I wish we could just ask them if we could have it.
Well, they had a yard sale this weekend and Susan bought it for $5! All I had to do was haul it down the street and we were ready to play!
Lemonade Stand
Today the kids hosted a lemonade stand, trying to raise money for Cousin Camp 2015. They made quite a ruckus each time a car drove by and sold some lemonade, too.
Weekend at Home
This summer has been fairly busy, so it was nice to spend a weekend at home this past weekend. With the Reagens out of town and no travel plans, it was a good weekend to get some things done around the house and spend some time with the Lieslands.
Starting on Friday Susan got the ‘weeding’ bug and decided to start tackling our gardens. There is a lot of landscaping around our yard and we gave everything some time to come up before we started determining what we wanted to keep. This also gave a lot of weeds a fair amount of time to get established. We have weeded a lot, but there is still a ways to go.
Friday and Saturday nights we spent some time at the Clive Festival. It is a community event put on by the city, with live music and fireworks each night. The music is good and the fireworks were awesome, especially on Saturday. We were up a little later than planned, but I think it was worth it.
We spent some time at the festival during the day on Saturday. The kids wanted to try out the slip-n-slide and then they spent about an hour climbing the rock wall. They could not get enough!
Sunday was more weeding and other things around the house, then swimming, then we had Mimi and Papa over for dinner.
Don’t Wake Daddy
Today I was trying to rest on the couch and Lucia kept taking my hand and making me press the button on “Don’t Wake Daddy.” I don’t think she understands the game.
Babies Wearing Babies
Lucia loves babies, real and pretend. She also knows what to do with them!
Bubbles
Susan got out some bubbles today for the kids to play with and they had a great time. Even Lucia was getting in on the action!
High Water
We knew when we bought our new house that our creek would have its share of high water and today we got our first taste of it. There has been a lot of rain over the past 24 hours and the creek has finally spilled over its 8-ft banks. It is only into the corner of our back yard and I have installed a lock on the back gate to make sure that no one accidentally gets too close.
