Balloons

So I suppose I should add an Iowa post, as we have been back for quite some time now.  We went to the International Balloon Festival in Indianola a few weeks back.  Balloon lift-offs were scheduled at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm.  You can make a guess at which one we drove 45 minutes to see...

We got to watch only a few balloons inflate.  These were the 3 that were available to take people on a balloon ride.  Lucy was desperate to go.  I had hoped that when we got there something would be available to just lift up in a basket, but it was a full-on three hour tour.  Grandma sent Lucy some money for her birthday that would have mostly covered the cost of sending her alone.  Maybe next year, kiddo.

 The festival was really a competition.  All the other balloons inflated over the horizon and floated toward us, where there was a target on the ground.  The balloonists had something they dropped out of their baskets, aiming for the target on the ground, with a prize for the winner who landed their object closest to the center of the target.  All the balloons here were floating toward us.

As the advertisement told us there was a fair-like atmosphere, we went early.  Too early.  There were a few food stands (not open yet) and some bounce houses (absurdly expensive) plus the barrel train.  I had a hard time shelling out $3 for a 30 second trip down the bouncy slide.  Double that and we can go to the Ankeny bounce house park for hours.  We did ride the train!  No seat belts, so I rode with Jamie.  It felt like a death trap - I was sure we were tipping over at many points in the ride, but somehow everything but my pride survived the ride.

I went with a new friend, Sareena, who's husband started the phd program with Eric last Monday, the same day she went into labor with baby Lydia.  She's approximately 8.75 months pregnant here, and was a great sport about driving and sitting on the ground for a picnic and balloon-gawk.

 Once the balloons got up in the air it was pretty spectacular. 

 Beautiful kids.  Note Jamie's silly face.  He likes to wrinkle up his nose now.

Jamie's Skills

Can I just say this kid is EXHAUSTING??  I really don't remember Lucy being quite so much work as a toddler.  I gleefully put him to sleep every night around 7, and spend most of the other hours I'm with him following him around averting disaster.

I regularly find him on the kitchen table with his toes hanging over the edge, on the back of the couch trying to climb onto the window, in the bathroom sink, on top of Lucy's dresser, and jumping on our bed.  He's also a kid with a number of hiding spots, so there are times in our 800 square foot house that I can't find him for a minute or two.  He is also getting really, really good at annoying Lucy.  It's hard to explain to her that her emphatic "yuck" when looking at the dinner on his face now is fueling more chew-and-show later.  I think, anyway.  I can already see him delight in getting a rise out of her.

We've got a few nicknames for this one including "The Safety Baby" and "Dr. Destructo."  I dropped the kids off with a friend not too long ago and Lucy asked Jamie on our way out the door, "Are you ready to go wreck the place?"  That about sums it up. 

The video is the amazing things he can do, not necessarily the dangerous ones.  In addition to making me work to keep him safe, he's figuring stuff out at a lightning pace.  He's incredible.



Jamie's Skills from Kristin York on Vimeo.

Camp 2012

It gets more beautiful every year.

I think back to when I was pregnant with Lucy and my cousin Ken was at camp with his two girls who were then 11 and 14 (ish).  Ken was ecstatic I came to visit because his girls were so incredibly bored and I helped entertain them for the day.  Apparently one of the first things they noticed when they arrived was the conspicuous lack of an ipod docking station ... and that was before we had tv channels there, too.  It was their first time visiting camp.  I first wonder if I was incredibly bored at camp as a teenager.  I have a lot of memories from camp growing up, but I don't know from which years in my life.  We also had Ree Ree and Putt Putt in town to break up the trip, as well as a lot more company than Mom?  Next, I think about if my kids will be as incredibly bored at camp as Erin and Tara were if we continue to bring them every year. 

We were lucky enough to be joined by Sara, Tim and Jacob for a couple days of visit this year.  Lucy had a blast with Jacob, one of the only 13 year old boys to ever walk the earth that absolutely adores children.  He might have been a grandmother in his past life.

Tim kayaking with a great shot of Jo Mary.

Jamie the fearless.  Here is where he got the nickname Dr. Destructo.  The next shots are him jumping off the dock.  I never tested it, but I don't know as he would have gone right in by himself.  He doesn't jump in the pool here.

Aunt Sara can't take a serious photo.

Apparently we need more choices for guest seating.

Stacy and Chloe visited as well.

 Here Chloe really dug in to her mom about how much she wanted a little brother.  It was heartwarming birth control for the Henry family.

 We were excited to give the girls sparklers.  It didn't turn out as well as planned.  Neither girl was thrilled, to say the least.

 And yes, we listened to Big Mouth Billy Bass.

 And yes, we wore the moose hat.

 And yes, we climbed the giant stone.

And yes, we engaged in activities that could lead to another dad-directed splinter surgery.

My beautiful kids at beautiful camp. 
What could be better?

Fun at Grandma's

Dragging the excitement out as long as possible, I've postponed adding any more photos of Maine because aside from 95 degree weather and a billion trips to the pool, not much is happening here.

In Maine at Grandma's, you can always count on her buying a new toy before you get there, like a water table.

And you can always count on us to use it inappropriately.  Yes, yes Lucy is wearing pearls that belonged to Nana Boddy, her great-great-grandmother.

 Yes, yes Jamie is sitting in the water table.  Way to go, team York.

 Though you may think my kids never stop moving, they do sometimes take the time to read through a few good books.

 We also play Go Fish.  Excitedly.

 Washing up is important, too.  We'll see if we get an invitation back next year, as Jamie broke the faucet he's holding in this picture.  It's possible, but I'm not counting on it. 

Maine Fun from Kristin York on Vimeo.