More Fun on the Farm

Amy had to go to South to be prepared for court with her brother Rob's divorce last week and took William with her. But before she had o meet with the attorney, there was lots of fun to have on the farm! WD LOVED the kitties. He wanted G'ma & G'pa to get him one to hold and carry around. And as soon as he put one down he'd run back to have them give him another. The kittens tolerated him SO WELL!
It was a sweltering day so Amy filled the pool and William didn't take long to discover that he LOVED that just about as much as he loved the kitties.

Swingin' & singin' with G'pa Ray.

Playing on the Farm

We were recently at Grandpa Ray's & Grandma Karyn's and WD got to play outside. To avoid laundry issues, I stripped him down to his diaper. I thought he'd like the puddles more - but I dont' think it was the same if he wasn't going to get in trouble for getting muddy. :-)

"I hit the rocks again! What do I do now???"

"Ooohhh...this feels funny!"


"Hey - it's not very deep....or warm!"

OUR Weekend in pictures

PACKING:

WD enjoyed all the fun new "toys" that were drug out for us to go camping.

Here WD shows the newest toy he found - the new shower curtain rod (and his popcorn popper). Happy as a clam one moment...

...not so happy the next moment (this is his tantrum pose).

CAMPING:

Buddy enjoys the shade.

Raspberry prefers to sunbathe.

WD plays in his pen (can you see the "war paint" of sunblock that he's wearing?).

Dave relaxes with a book.

I relax while documenting our fun w/ the camera.

Out hiking.

Buddy Too snuggled up in Dave's sleeping bag.

WD woke up screaming inconsolably Friday night at 11:30pm and I had to take him for a ride in the car until he fell alseep (about 30min.). All we can think is that it was gas from the chili he had for supper. He seemed tired but fine the next day.

The next morning, Raspberry joins Buddy and tries to wake-up Dave by laying on his head (then licking his face continuously).

Blowin' in the wind - on the ride home.

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP.

BEFORE:

The long wavy locks in back.

Another happy as a clam moment...can't help but love them.

AFTER:

The trim didn't seem to phase him one bit.

Shorter, still wavy hair; and according to Uncle Rob it's even more blond.

All boy.

William apparently got curls and blue eyes from his father, and his luck and gracefulness from his mother.

Tuesday Night (5/12) William was climbing (as he tries to do with everything) the couch, and was up on the arm of the couch trying to reach the window when he slipped and fell head-first into the toy basket below. Light bump on the head, and tears. Mostly just bruised pride.

Friday (5/15) WD approached Grandma's friend's dog (Casey) the way he does with our lab Raspberry, and Casey wasn't having it. She nipped at him and grazed his right cheek. Nothing serious, but we are all hoping it doesn't happen again for the sake of WD and Casey's future. He was OK but had a slight black-eye and scratch on his cheek for our Pictures on Saturday morning.

Then Wednesday Morning (yesterday 5/20) he was at the top of our stairs and preparing to go down we were getting ready to to the sitter's and work. Raspberry decided she wanted to go out but chose to go between WD and the railing he was holding onto. This broke WD's grip and I couldn't grab his hand in time do I just got to witness him tumbling towards me. He cried for about 30 seconds, then wanted to look around outside. He now has carpet burn on the left side of his forehead, and the corner of his left eye.

Poor kid. At this rate he'll be lucky if he makes it to age 10!

WD & Uncle Mike

After 2.5 days together you'd think we would have gotten pictures w/ Aunt Kim, but she somehow managed to elude the camera. Uncle Mike couldn't really play with William too much due to the shoulder surgery he had while he was home (removed a very deep cyst). The party was hard on it too, as Mike reports a lot of people were patting him on the shoulder right on one of his incisions. OUCH! William did get to have a few calm minutes with Uncle Mike before they both went to bed on Saturday night.

Such a good picture of them both.

Mike's not a proud uncle at all - is he???

The big SURPRISE!

Mom & Dad had no idea what was coming their way, so the month of stressing and planning paid off. Yep - I said month. This was a very last minute thing as some of you may know we started planning a big 50th anniversary party for them a while ago, but they insisted it be canceled. Well...after Dad hinted like mad that he really wished Mom could have a party I caught on that he really wanted to have one. So we just took it down a notch, and made it more of a surprise open house. And boy were they surprised! Mom wouldn't talk to me initially, and then had a hard time looking at me. I wish I had a picture of her then - I'd totally rub it in her face now (ha ha ha). She relaxed and ended up having a great time. Dad did too. He wasn't as uptight about it, but probably as he wasn't thinking the way mom was (the house isn't clean, I don't have anything to serve people, what will they drink, etc., etc.)

The happy couple with their cakes. They were SO GOOD!!! Way to go Hy-Vee!!! Totally surprised all of us how awesome they were!!! There was chocolate w/ chocolate frosting, Lemon w/ cream cheese filling, white w/ raspberry filling, and finally a strawberry cake.

Here Mom & Dad are with Max & Bev Fisher, who stood up with them at their wedding. Max & Bev came from Illinois to help us celebrate. If you look closely, there is a wedding picture with the four of them on the table (in the frame to the left of the tiered cake). The Fishers recently celebrated their 50th as well. Both my friends who helped us (the Metiers) and I think it's pretty awesome that they are are still friends, keep in touch AND that they both have made it 50 years together! It is getting to be pretty rare anymore.

Recent outings

We went to Tulip Time in Pella last weekend and a couple weeks before that we went to the zoo. Both times we went with our play-date friends Sarah and her daughter Leia.

Can you guess which child is unhappy??? I leave his sight for a moment to tour a kybo and he has a fit. At least Leia looks entertained.

Mommy and William in the tulip gardens.

Here we are at the zoo in March. It was cold and rainy so we stayed inside. William liked the waterfall here, especially when I'd swing him out over it and he'd get sprinkled with water drops. Leia thinks since her mommy is taking the picture she gets to take a look around on her own.