Adwoa und Ama

Happy Birthday, Michael!!

And happy Father’s Day to all dads!

In honor of the auspicious coincidence of these two milestones being celebrated on the same day, we went camping! We were booked for two nights, but decided to come home yesterday for two reasons– 1) sleep (the girls starting the week off sleep deprived is not a good idea for any of us) and 2) thunderstorms (it has been raining for weeks, and Saturday night’s forecast was for more thunder. It was accurate and we were glad we were not in a tent with two small children and a puppy last night….)

Anyway– the campground (on Saylorville Lake) is only about 30 mins. from home, which made it easy to go on Friday after school/ work and still have time to pitch the tent and roast hotdogs and S’mores before bed. We accomplished all of those things!

But, it being just about the longest day of the year, dark didn’t really come until after 9 and the girls didn’t fall asleep until about 10. Surprisingly enough, given all the rain we’ve had, there really weren’t any bugs to speak of.

The campground was pretty much full and the sites are fairly close together. A communal experience, to be sure.

We got up in the morning, ate breakfast (including Starbucks’ new instant coffee– yum) took a walk around the campground, and then made our way down through an unofficial path to the lake’s edge.

We found a spot where we could fish and set up chairs there. It was a really bad fishing spot, actually. First of all, with all the rain, the lake is really high. So water’s edge really means we are still on the banks with grass and plants under the shallow water. Second, The overhanging trees were tough to cast around, as well. But we weren’t thinking we’d actually catch anything, we just thought the girls would like the experience of casting and watching the bobber… with their new Barbie and Princess (of course) fishing poles. When we were at Bass Pro last weekend to finish buying supplies (including the fishing poles), they were having a kids’ fishing workshop and taught the girls to cast. So they were very excited to try the real thing.

We stayed down by the water for a couple of hours– the girls played with rocks and stumps, mostly. Atticus took a nap under a bush.

We came back to our site, had lunch, took down the tent, packed up, and went for a walk on a bike trail in the park.

We got home at about 1:30 on Saturday, took showers, and the girls slept for almost 3 hours! It was a really fun time.

We have another weekend in July booked at a different campground on Saylorville Lake. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates!

Also…
we are late in posting pictures from J’s 4th birthday.

On her actual birthday, we had dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack… a favorite spot for its playground and kids’ desserts.

We had her party last weekend at the place where E takes gymnastics. She had a small gymnastics party with a My Little Pony cake and everyone had a nice time!

We were glad that Steve, Jacqueline, and the boys (including new baby P) came over from Iowa City for the party and to spend the night…. Steve had just finished his PhD Comprehensive Exams the day before! Congratulations!

E’s last day was a lot of fun (signing yearbooks, a school-wide picnic and awards assembly, early dismissal). I volunteered to lead the picnic today which turned out pretty well. I needed to take the day off from work to do it, though. Preparing for the lunch took from 9-11:30 with 3 other volunteers…. then the picnic– we served about 400 people with students, faculty/ staff, and guests (family). On the menu– Walking Tacos. 10 points for any non-Iowan who knows what this is without Google…. I only learned about them last fall. An Iowa specialty.

At the awards assembly, there were 4 children in E’s class who got the “outstanding attendance” award– fewer than 4 tardy or absent days. E was one of the 4 and stood up with her classmates. She didn’t seem thrilled to do so, but I think she was proud of the honor. After early dismissal, Ann and I took M and E out for ice cream.

Tomorrow E starts “camp”… the first of many which are week-long programs with various themes, put on by the same group that does her before-and-after school activities. This week’s theme is Bears and they will go on a field trip to Build a Bear Workshop. E’s first adventure. She is planning to make her bear for J’s birthday…. we’ll see if that decision still holds.

Michael is traveling (Germany) until Wednesday and the girls are doing just fine, although we all miss him. He left very early Saturday morning. Jacqueline came from Iowa City this past weekend with the boys (B who is almost 5 and P who is 2 mos.) and we had a nice weekend together. Jacqueline needed to make some peace and quiet in the house for Steve, who takes his Comps this week for his PhD.

Atti seems to be learning. He has few accidents now, and does tell us when he wants to go out. His nipping also seems to be on the decline… we hope. He’s very sweet, still. And so soft. His legs are starting to turn dark brown, as both of his parents are. It will be interesting to watch him change and see what color(s) he ends up!! We are taking puppy training classes on Friday evenings at Petsmart. At the second class, Atti had not one but two accidents in the middle of the class. None of the other dogs have done so in class 1 or 2… we’re hoping for a better showing this week!

Coming to Des Moines.
This town keeps getting better and better.