Backwards...

Something has changed in Blogger and it is uploading photos in a different order than it used to. So, rather than try to figure it out right now, or reorganize the pictures, I'll just be doing this blog in reverse chronological order. Here we go...

A couple days later, my kids were still wiped out.
Mom and Clara had a little bit of a picnic out in the backyard, Clara kept trying to eat the grass (or "salad" as Henry likes to call it). And then we got back in the car for another long drive after another too-short weekend.
This is about as much as I saw of my dad the whole weekend- my fault for being so busy. He was helping Rob install some sort of ice-melting system in the gutters. Hi Pop!
The next day I got to spend a few precious moments with my favorite niece. Check out her shirt and jeans. She's so hip.
At the end of the evening Mom came to pick up the kids so Pete and I could hang out a bit longer. Look how cute she and Charlotte are, still wearing their name tags!
Henry and Jeff spent some time rocking out. Jeff managed to be in a good mood, even though the Tigers (right?) were getting stomped by Texas (I think).
Clara and Papa relaxed on the couch.
Charlotte and Jeff were serving up some yummy margaritas to go with the Pagliai's and other assorted treats. Check out this sweet couple, still chipper even after all the attention and small talk.
After the shower several of us headed over to Charlotte (Amber's mom)'s house. It's always been a place to gather, and now we're introducing it to a new generation. Liam, on the right there, is three days older than Clara. He's the son of my good friend Matt (from high school) and his wife (also my friend now!) Lisa. It was great fun to see Liam and Clara, and how similar they are in size and milestones.
Here are the adorable soon-to-be-parents! We made them wear name tags that said Mommy and Daddy.
Even though Ellen couldn't be there in person, she was totally there in spirit. And her mom helped out tremendously. Thanks again to Barb for serving plates and utensils and helping set up the food and making the delicious lemonade and just generally being awesome.
So our reason for another trip to Iowa City was to throw a baby shower for Amber and Jeff. Ellen and I planned the shower and were fortunate to be able to hold it at Deluxe bakery on Summit Street. Amber worked there for a while about 5 years ago- when she and Jeff were living in ICIA, and she remains friends with Jamie, the owner. Jamie, by the way, made these adorable and delicious little alphabet-block petits-fours, along with other cute treats.
Oh, I guess we also had a chocolate malt, you know...to really prepare us for car napping.
Then we stopped briefly for a quick sandwich before hitting the road for ICIA. Clara had had enough of photos.
So, last Friday Pete took the day off work and we gussied ourselves up and headed to the city to get some professional family photos taken. Henry found himself in the window of Jake's studio. We did several indoor and outdoor shots. You all will just have to wait to see the results... It's so hard for me! I'm so used to the instant gratification of the personal digital camera. Jake insists we got some good shots, though.

I forgot...

A conversation Henry and I had in the car earlier today:
Set up- we were driving back from the Children's Museum and he pretending to drive the car, which he was pretending was a train.

Me: So, where are we going?
Henry: We're going home.
Me: But, where are we going on this train trip?
Henry: India.
Me: Oh! What will we do there?
Henry: Just, look at a bunch of trophies.
Me: Oh. Wow. What are the trophies for?
Henry: The Hawks.

Two weeks ago...

Two weeks ago I was planning a typical blog about how cute my kids are, blah blah blah...
And how cute Clara's outfit was, blah blah blah...
And about Clara's new habit of scooching on her butt, right up to whatever the first obstacle is...
...and then sometimes trying to eat that obstacle.

(Alternate photo title: "Linus isn't the only one who has it in for that ottoman!")

And then, the next thing you know, we find ourselves here: With an across-the-street view of this:
And later on, lunch here: Which is actually housed here: (zoom in on the bell tower)

So...I think I'm still recovering from The Dells. It was a fabulous trip, don't get me wrong, but it the place is a little Twilight Zone-ish. It's like, they took this great, naturally beautiful spot and realized people wanted to come there, so they built all kinds of places for people to stay, but then people forgot that they were going there to actually visit the beautiful river and whatnot, so the townsfolk (or whomever) started building all kinds of other crazy crap, and now it's the Water Park Capital of the World. I'm certain I'm accurate when I say most people probably vacation up there without ever leaving their hotel or hotel-compound. Also, I suppose we're kind of snobs about leaving nature as it is and all that hooey.
But we made the most of our time there. No water park vacation for us.
Oh wait...
Oh....that's right...
I guess we did kind of visit there...
This might explain why I forgot...

Holy RumRunner Batman! Could Clara speak I think she'd be saying "help!"

Ah...it was a long walk back to the room...I only ran into the wall once.

Okay, so some other photos from our trip...I won't narrate, as there is still lots to get to....
There was the ride on the Duck...

And putt-putt at Shipwreck Lagoon....
Henry's first time playing putt-putt was quite a success. Henry actually scored a hole-in-one on his very first practice putt!
We also visited a deer park, which was quite lovely.
Pete spent a lot of time with this goat...


Henry can't quite read yet...

Pete and I got a chance later to go visit a winery on our own. This is the true benefit of vacationing with grandparents!
We were very lucky to have wonderful weather.
And on the way home.......chocolate malts!
Thanks to Peter and Mary for inviting us along for a really fun trip!
Maybe in two more weeks I'll blog about last weekend.

Henry Loves Clara Jean (a guest post by Henry)

Okay...so I'm sort of giving up on the 500th blog post retrospective bonanza.
Instead we're borrowing an idea from Sofia and Henry is doing the blogging today.
Starting now:


Here's my blog. Here it comes right now. I love rock and roll CDs. I love pictures a lot and a lot. I like to play baseball and basketball. It's really fun to do. I love Clara Jean so much and I like my mom. The end.
I like this picture a lot 'cause it's very fun to look at. I like my tongue sticking out like crazy and my eyes going like this like crazy. I like books. The end.
I like crows a lot. I like that little Halloween crow 'cause it's very fun to have. The end. From Henry.
I love that kind of food. I love it a lot and I like to talk to the radio and I like my kitchen a lot.
I like my crazy hat on me and I like bakers and I like noodles and chicken nuggets. I like carrots and my friend Ryan Jack at school pretends like carrots and rice and green beans are garbage. And he pretends he doesn't like it and he doesn't think the applesauce is garbage 'cause it looks very yummy to him and I like it a lot. I like applesauce a lot and that's the end of my story. The end. Love Henry.
I like vacuums to vacuum the floor and I like tigers that are on my shirt right here and the white stuff is tigers a lot so much I like tigers. The end. Love Henry.
I like grapes a lot 'cause they're very good and I like the juice in them and I like pencils with very decorations on top of them. The end. Love Henry.
I like my box and I like to reach up in the holes a lot. Love Henry.
The end. I like my blog a lot. The end. Do you like my blog? I like to sniff my foot.