The Lieslands

Snow fell all day yesterday, but that didn’t stop Mari’s soccer practice.

The boys made a snowman this afternoon. It has been snowing since around 7:30 this morning. I am hoping it sticks around for Mari’s soccer practice tonight.

Mari was pushing Lucia around in a little dump truck this afternoon. I think Mari was enjoying it more than Lu.

Today we headed to Drake Stadium for our annual view of the Drake Relays. We can get in for free on Thursday and we always have a good time taking in the distance carnival. This year Evy, who stays with us on Thursday afternoons, joined us to take in the races.

Aside from the lack of grass, I love this sight when I look out the window. The kids are developing some great friendships around the neighborhood. It brings back memories from when I was a kid.

 

Lucia has been laughing more lately. Here she is enjoying some night-time silliness.

We had a nice Easter this year. The kids found their Easter baskets, which the Easter Bunny hides. Then they found some eggs in the back yard. We went to church and then had brunch at Mimi & Papa’s.

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With spring temperatures finally making their way to Des Moines, Susan and I were both eager to get out for a run. We decided to take the whole family along – the kids on their bikes and Lucia in the stroller. It was Lucia’s first stroller ride and first time going along with us on any sort of wheeled adventure (not counting riding in the car, of course). She did great, as usual. She fell asleep about half-way through and allowed us to enjoy the outdoors.

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I met the Reagens at Waveland for some sledding. There was an awesome ramp on the first hill we came to, and the kids immediately tested it out with our double tube. They went off successfully a few times and Nate and Hope also went off, relatively unscathed (Nate might argue this point). When Elliot and I tried it, we were not so lucky. We started to lean back too far on the landing and I stuck my hand down to make sure we landed properly. Well, we didn’t land properly, and I broke my wrist.

The first few days were rough, but 10 days later I am feeling a lot better and have pretty decent movement. I will sled again. Go off another ramp? Maybe not.

The kids put together a band today, playing various shaking instruments. In an odd, but maybe foretelling move, Andrew was the background singer while Mari took the lead. This was so noteworthy that I had to take note.

Anne McCullough Kelly, a parent in Susan’s Parents & Tots class,  made a ‘tag toy’ for Lucia. She loves it and tries to shove the whole thing in her mouth. She doesn’t have to play with it long before it is completely soaked.