Cy Fever

The city with Iowa State has peppered our town with 30 decorated Cy sculptures. We saw every single one today.

 Ok, the one to the right is where it started to get a little hairy. Jamie did NOT want to take a photo with Cy at the mall, he wanted to sit in the boat that if I put a dollar's worth of quarters into would shake around for about 45 seconds. And he wanted me to carry him. It was #26, ok?

 This last picture was #30 on the list and I had a hard time finding it. While we were trekking around town, we saw a number of other people jumping out at the Cy statues to take pictures too, and there was a heated debate about the legitimacy of this statue. It's bronze, not the composite the other statues are, and apparently has been in this location for years, didn't just crop up this past spring. I say if it's on the list, it's legit.

And yes, I do know that we only have 29 photos. I have 30 in my iphoto and can't figure out which one I'm missing. Loved ones, please let me know if you'd like a photo book this Christmas with our Cy trip. I promise all 30 will be there.

Como Goodbye

This was a while back but we went to Minneapolis for one last goodbye with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Grace. We spent one day at the Mall of America (our best pics are already on facebook) and another at the Como Zoo. It was a whirlwind of excitement for the kids.

These are the lily pads outside. I swear they are real and about three feet across. The kids wanted to jump on them like frogs.

 Ryan and Grace. Hahaha! Sorry Grace, I meant Ryan and a statue of a gorilla.

 The wonder.

 The zoo also has an amazing indoor botanical garden. I think I have a picture of me and the kids on this fountain from a couple of years back.

 Not ready for goodbye.

 And the best part was we got to ride the carousel!

It was a lovely visit, bittersweet and unexpected as I didn't think we'd ever go back to their place after Ryan went to basic. I remember very clearly thinking at one point while living in Old Town that I really didn't appreciate enough that we lived about 3 minutes away from my brother, and less than 10 away from Eric's sister. I knew it was a time in my life that wouldn't last. Now I'm lamenting Ryan and Grace not being about 200 miles away. And so it goes.

Soccer Team

Go blue! Lucy's playing 1/2 soccer this year. The season is about 8 weeks and does include games, though no official score is kept. The coach told the kids it wasn't important about 10 times during the game. Roughly half the number of times he had to tell Lucy to stand up.

She's blue team in the center, teal shorts and white socks.

 Run!

 Run more! (Unfortunately at this time she's on defense, so her coach is calling to get back to the box or wherever she's supposed to be standing.)

 Ready to defend in the stance.

Overall it went well! She's been super excited to start playing soccer but I think soccer in theory was better than soccer in practice. She's not thrilled with the standing, the running, or the kicking really. She even subbed herself out at one point because she needed a break. Game one success!

And Jamie spent most of his time being tickled.

School!

Lucy started her first of the number grades ... and it has come with a huge set of expectations for quiet, individual work time. She's not sobbing every night any more, which is great.

Big girl! She drew the medal on her page because (obviously) she would be so great at 1st grade someone will award her a medal.

At school with Mrs. O'Reilly and entering with her class. I didn't even get a wave this year!

But that's not all our news - Jamie started school this year too. Hooray for preschool! He's at Small Wonders with Miss Karla just like Lucy was for two years and are we happy to be back!

 This is love. Or something.

 Hello again Miss Karla!

 Jamie's backpack hook and monkey backpack.

 And another child who didn't even look up when I said goodbye.

And did you want a picture of me walking in on my first day too? Sorry, but this is my board!