It's Official!

I am a Nurse, that's right, Licensed RN here!! Now if someone would just realize there's a nursing shortage and hire me that would be great! The job hunt will have to be postponed until next week, we're headed to Ida Grove today for a long weekend and Barb and TJ's wedding.

Fair Time

Candi and I took the kids to the Mississippi Valley Fair Tuesday. We stepped in poop, looked at lots of cow butts, got rained on, and spent too much money - what else are you suppose to do at a fair? We had a great time!! The kids got to pet a few cows, some goats, a llama, camel, feed an elephant and get pictures with a monkey - they usual fair stuff. You read that right, a monkey!



Yeah, he was that kind of monkey!



The elephant Levi chucked food at!



Levi Sharing his funnel cake with baby Reese

Bix Weekend

This weekend was the annual Bix 7 marathon. Levi and Hallie got into the Jr Bix and both are very proud of their medals. Saturday Jake walked the Bix - 7 miles, mostly uphill - with his Uncle Mike, they finished in just under 2 hours - way to go guys!



If you look really hard in the Second picture you can see Levi (he's behind the boy in orange shorts, and may have been responsible for the girl on the ground - He told me this happened after the race, but I was surprised to see it on camera)



More importantly, the Bix weekend means lots of family! Levi had a blast playing with his cousins and we had fun seeing everyone we don't often get to see!

Play Time

Recently Levi designed a cake from playdouh - I know I'm a little bias, but if this is his first attempt, we may have a future Cake Designer in the house... The black are candles with yellow fire and blue frosting stratigically placed.



Also, you know Levi's a big fan of Lego's and Spider man, but did you know there are Lego Spider man toys? Oh yes, and you thought your kids toys were hard to put together... I actually like building them if I didn't know they were going to be destroyed within minuets after they're put together!

45 min.... 75 Questions

Well, I tested. This part is almost worse - I have to wait, and wait and wait to know how I did, hopefully getting done quickly is a good sign - I usually test fast, and I didn't get stuck on any particular problem, so it's probably good. I don't know, I just don't know........ But I will certainly be sharing with you as soon as I do!

Local News

Just in case you're worried - we survived the storm with no adverse effects. Candi, however, is without power but managing well. They aren't sure when their power will be back on - it could be days.

Also, I got my ATT which means I can sit for my RN boards - I test Next Monday, the 28th - wish me luck - I am totally freaking out!!

Brookfield Zoo

Saturday we drove to Chicago to check out the Zoo. It was lots of fun, but I have to admit we've been horribly spoiled with the Omaha zoo. Not that Brookfield isn't impressive - clearly we had a great time, but Omaha is amazing. The cool thing about Brookfield is are more opportunities for hands on learning and a dolphin show. I would recommend checking it out.

Patty Grandma!!

Patty Grandma came to visit this weekend. We had a blast. She got to watch Levi at Karate Class and try out our pool. We also visited the Putnam Museum.



Levi Poses as an exhibit



Listening to information about water conservation



Making it rain



Taking a break in a boat



I didn't take a picture, but the museum actually houses 2 mummies. We also watched Kung Fu Panda in the IMAX. The movie was great and was our first IMAX experience - very cool (just don't get a pretzel - not so great)

Slumber Party!!

You've all been waiting for it... The slumber party went fabulously, I was so impressed with how brave Hallie was. In fact, at one point she wanted me to call her mom to make sure she wasn't coming to pick her up.

Our festivities included a walk to the park





And a morning dip in the pool - just me and the kids, I was nervous, but they were both wonderfully behaved.



The next morning, Reese came over to hang out too.

Lego Mania

One of Levi's favorite things is to play with Legos.



Today he made this awesome robot!!




Hallie is on her way to our house for her first ever slumber party!! She's never spent the night away from mom and dad - hopefully it goes well!!

Hidden Treasures

As many of you may know, we moved here with very little furniture. We have graciously received a dinning room table from Candi and a love seat from one of Jake co-workers (as our sofa and love seat that should have already arrived won't be here until at least early August). We've also been searching yard sells and have found 2 book shelves. One is very practical, not that pretty and we've put it in our bed room. The other we paid 5 dollars for - it was a hideous maroon color - not just because it was maroon - which doesn't fit our house, but because it was an ugly maroon. We spent a few day sanding and staining it and now it's a beautiful bookshelf and holds our aquarium.

We also made a trip to the junk store with Candi and Reese.

We all found treasures that we couldn't live without, well, we could live without most of them, but did find a few goodies - such as a wonderful solid oak step stool for $7!! We were a little confused to find some of our finds labeled Not For Sale..... so you're just storing some stuff at the store??
We're constantly searching for more gotta have its and great bargains - I'll keep you posted.

Weekends Not Over

That Post was getting out of control. Saturday, the fun continued with lunch by Grill Master Ryan (yum) and activities at Candi's. We made homemade ice cream and then it was time for a water balloon fight. It was all out war - Even Reese got into the mix!



And of course no 4th of July Party is complete without fireworks, we had lots of smoke, and little pop and after dark the sparks started flying!!

Let Freedom Ring

Happy Fourth of July!! Always an exciting weekend, and this year was filled with excitement.

First, Thursday we went to Rock Island for their celebration and fireworks. The kids had fun on the bouncy slide and then we went to Carmel's loft to watch the show. Thanks for having us over - we toned it down so you didn't have to bring in Merry Maids.









































On Friday Dad and Jessie came bright and early to go watch Hallie in the Parade. Thanks for saving our spots Candi and getting us real rock star parking!! We had fun watching the parade and gathering candy.


























After the parade we went fishing (sorry no pics I forgot my camera). Then it was nap time


















Followed by more Fireworks!!

Just to keep you attention

The other morning I walked out of our apartment to get in the car and spotted something flying around. Like a dork, I took a picture.








We haven't been up to much. Lil' Dude spent the weekend with Patty grandma. I met her in Iowa City at the mall to pick him up. I'm not much for toilet pictures, but in the family restroom by the food court there was this wonderful restroom sized perfectly for Levi!

We have lots of excitement planed for this Fourth of July, so check back soon!!