Home from Iowa

♫ ♫ "Oh I'm from Iowa, Iowa, that's where the tall corn grows!" ♫ ♪♪

That is just a phrase of the Iowa state song and, yes, we had a great visit in Iowa.

We saw my sister and brother-in-law in Washington, Iowa, near Amish country, and then followed up with a visit to Des Moines where I grew up, and saw Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and friends from my teen years. We ate way too much but enjoyed every minute. We actually got Papa Norm to admit that Iowa sweet corn may be superior to that of California.
While at my sister's we spent part of a day driving in the Amish areas and visiting their country stores. Along the way we saw these barn quilts. It is something new since the last time I had been there.

We also took a road trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, a living history type settlement of the Mormon church. Here is a view of the Mississippi River from Burlington, Iowa side. Beautiful flowers at the Nauvoo settlement. It was such an interesting place. We watched demonstrations on how to make rope, barrels, and pottery among other things. It was a very enjoyable day. A new pedestrian bridge in downtown Des Moines spanning the river. A lovely garden area adjacent to the pedestrian bridge.
Looks like Norm is taming a wildcat but actually he is standing by one in the new Des Moines Pro Bass Sports store. A really fun store!

One of the highlights of the trip for Norm was visiting the Bob Feller Baseball Museum in Van Meter, Iowa right outside Des Moines. Bob Feller is a former Cleveland Indian baseball player ... the team that Papa Norm followed as a kid, listening to the radio and charting the at bats, balls, and runs. The museum is a great example of small town enthusiasm and support for one of their own. Thanks to my cousin Cathy for the great pictures below. My camera battery was still in the charger, I discovered, when we arrived at the museum. :( :(

We are so thankful we had the opportunity for this trip and have many memories and pictures to review periodically. Iowa is a lush, green, rolling hills type of landscape and particularly green this year because of the oodles of rain that they have had.

Great trip and great to be safely home . Fun with the twins will highlight the upcoming week!

Indoors and Outdoors

The past week brought a few very warm days although there have certainly been hotter summers than this one has been so far. During one day with Chloe and Claire, we did try and entertain them inside to avoid the sun and hotness. The first pictures are just part of their morning routine, brushing their teeth. They both want to do it at the same time but it would sure be easier if they did it one at a time. :) They are standing on, and sharing, one little step stool.

We got out the play dough for some creative time. They do enjoy it and I'm actually surprised how long they stay focused. Their attention spans are longer than I think they will be on some days.

Chloe, especially, is very interested in scissors. The play dough toys have a special pair of scissors in the kit and she tried mastering the art of cutting, albeit with two hands. Papa had attempted to demonstrate how to use just one hand and Chloe's remark to him was, "Papa, you sure know a lot of things."

Claire trying her hand(s) at the scissors.

Paula told me about a park that she sometimes takes the girls to. It is a square block in the center of a housing development and is clean, new, and not so crowded. We tried it out on Friday and found it to be lots of fun.

A milestone, of sorts, this morning. The girls stayed in Sunday School by themselves. I had been staying with them for several weeks so that Mommy and Daddy could enjoy their adult class. They were so relaxed and happy when they arrived, that we decided to try and wean them from Grandma. I checked on them, peeking through the one-way glass, part way through class, and they were fine. They were taking part in the singing, doing the hand motions, and having a very good time. The teacher reported that they did great and that they are "so smart"! Of course I knew that already! I am so happy they have made the transition and that they know that Mommy & Daddy will return for them soon. They are growing up!

We had a fun brunch out after church, a little extra time with the girls and Mike and Paula since we will be traveling this week. We will certainly miss our time with Claire and Chloe, but are looking forward to seeing family and friends in Iowa.

Memorable Quotes

Claire and Chloe, seen below with their drinks, are enjoying their apple juice. That is possibly the last time they had the opportunity to drink from those nifty little "sport top" bottles.

On that particular day, we headed out on our walk as we do so often. It was hot and I was trying to get some good fresh air and some exercise for me before it was unbearable. I didn't pay too much attention to the constant chatter between the girls, but at some point I turned around and saw that they both had their juice bottles turned upside down and they had squeezed and emptied their nearly full bottles of juice all over themselves and into the well of the wagon. Their shoes, as well as my camera case, were pretty well soaked with their juice/water. I sternly told them that I was "not happy, at all" and told them that better never happen again and I blabbed on about what a mess they had made, etc, etc. Both repeated back to me, when I ask them if they understood that they should never do that again, "never, Grandma". That was pretty much it for me, although I did notice that their chatter was limited for the remainder of the walk...maybe 15 minutes or so. And, a couple of times when I stopped to talk to them, their eyes were pretty big and they were really watching me. We arrived home and I took them to the door, removed their sticky shoes, and put them inside with Papa so I could clean up the wagon and the mess. Papa reported a bit later that as they entered the comments were as follows:

Chloe = "Papa, Grandma is very angry".

Claire = "Papa, she is a mad old Grandma".

Papa claims he did not laugh, I would bet otherwise, but for the record, I learned a great lesson that day. I thought the air was clear, I had given my speech, and we had finished the walk, looked at some flowers, and other things on the way home, and I thought everything was good. Obviously, Claire and Chloe were still in shock at my anger. I am hoping that in the future I will take the time to reassure them that I am not going to be eternally angry with them, but that we can deal with the situation and go on with our day and activities. I do wonder, however, what makes Claire think I am "old"........ :):) Mommy reports that those bottles went prompty into the garbage because apparently she had experienced a similar event.

Speaking of situations, that is another one of our huge laughable moments of the week. Chloe had previously said to her Daddy, "We have a situation here" when she was concerned about some matter. We were not present when that conversation took place, but as we were leaving on Friday, Chloe followed us out on the porch and said to Papa. "Papa, we have a situation in the office". Papa said, "What situation?" She responded, "Mommy won't let me play with my collection". The "collection" she was talking about was one of several collections the girls claim to have, and in this case it was their rocks. They are kept in the closet in the office and apparently this just wasn't the time to get them out. We sure laughed over our dinner after that, and are continually surprised by the content and language skills these two year olds have.

Hope you had a happy 4th of July!