Summer 2008...in Pictures

Summer has been flying by. It seems like it was a little less than three months ago that we were celebrating Memorial Day. With Labor Day rapidly approaching these are some of the highlights of this summer.

The Hy-Vee Triathlon: Neither flood nor bacteria could stop this year's event. With the flooding in downtown Des Moines (the second 100 year flood in 15 years), the event was moved to West Des Moines.  Which was a good thing, because Granma, Bumpa, Auntie Jeanne, Mac, and Jacob make the drive out for Mac's first triathlon. For the kids, the event was a run,

 bike, run, which just meant more chances to cheer. Mac did a great job and crossed the finish line with a strong kick. I survived my race.

Cheryl and Molly's Big Summer Adventure: Right after the triathlon, Cheryl and Molly loaded up the Pilot and headed East. On the way they visited Sheila and Donna in Chicago, enjoy chicken noodle soup at an Indiana rest stop, found the last hotel room after eating a late dinner in truck stop, and arrived in Amherst right on schedule (more or less). 

After a couple of nights in Amherst they moved further East to Tom and Kate's new house in Plymouth. 

With the association beach a couple blocks away and the entrance to Cap Cod right around the corner, Cheryl and Molly spent a lot of time in their swimsuits with their toes in the sand. I joined them on July 3rd and was whisked from Logan airport to association beach just in time enjoy hotdogs, bonfires, and fireworks on the beach.  We packed in more beaches, fried clams, Plymouth Rock (a must see!) fireworks, and sandcastles (really more sand holes) before I was back on a plane to Iowa. 

Cheryl and Molly spent a few more days in Plymouth before moving on to Philadelphia to visit Pete, Kay, Luther, and Erica. Molly and Luther wore each other out and she is still talking about her baby cousin Erica. Cheryl and Molly's Big Summer Adventure ended with the drive to Pittsburgh for the start of the Transplant Games (please see prior posts).

Ashby Park Wading Pool: Molly is finally big enough to really enjoy the Ashby Park wading pool. She isn't intimidated by the big kids running around and will try to make friends with kids her size. While she doesn't like to get her face wet, she will now walk on the bottom with her hands and let her feet float behind her. This has been a nice extension of her time at the beach.

Balloons: Indianola, Iowa is home to the National Balloon Museum and hosts the National Balloon Festival each summer. It's no Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, but it is in Indianola. Cheryl, Molly, Sara, Phoebe, and Julia picked me up after work and drove down to watch the evening events. We had brought a picnic and planned to eat dinner while watching balloons. Turns out they don't let you bring food or drink into the grounds, so our picnic was in the parking lot. With the weather a little iffy, they lifted off 40 or 50 balloons, but cancelled the shape balloons and the night illumination. Fun was still had by all.

A Night Under the Stars:  Before Molly joined our family, Cheryl and I would try to go camping around our wedding anniversary.  It was partly because we couldn't afford anything fancy, but we also just enjoyed a weekend camping out.  This year we decided it was time to try camping with Molly.  After loading up the car with enough gear to set up an Everest base camp, we drove 15 minutes up to Saylorville Lake.  We found a nice spot nestled between two RVs and set up our little tent.   After canoeing around Big Creek, we enjoyed hotdogs and smores over a campfire and watched the stars come out.  Our tent, however, is definitely a two-person tent.  Cheryl and I can handle the cramped quarters, but there was no way we were getting two adults and toddler into our tent for a night.  So Molly and I slept together and Cheryl settled into the Tent-Cot.  Yes, it is a cot, with a tent over it.  It was a demo-product someone reviewed for SF years ago that we somehow ended up with.  It seems appropriate for an average sized woman, but it would never work for your typical male hunter the product was designed for.  Molly slept all night, eat lots of bacon the next morning, and declared camping fun!

Iowa State Fair: August is Iowa State Fair Time. This usually means oppressively hot and humid weather, but this year it has been extremely pleasant. If attendance is down this year, it is the economy and not the weather. We attended this year on Wells Fargo Team Member Appreciation Day. Wynonna gave a private concert for Wells Fargo employees and we each got $5.00 worth of Fair Bucks. Molly was not as interested in the animals this year ("It smelled too farmy"), but we did see Bob the Builder (or as Molly pointed out, a person in a Bob the Builder costume), butter Shawn Johnson, a miniature horse, dippin' dots, and a blue ribbon egg plant. The highlight, however, was a ride on the Sky Glider. Surprisingly, they will let anyone ride when accompanied by an adult. I have ridden on a lot of ski lifts in my time, but riding with Molly as she insisted on dangling her legs, scared the heck out of me.

I-Cubs: Each Friday night during the summer, we listen for the fireworks after the I-Cubs game. So we have to make at least one Friday night game to watch them up close. Oh, and they have dippin' dots at the ballpark. We also happened to meet up with Ron and Amy at the game (the same thing occurred last year) which made for a nice distraction for Molly. Since the game only took 1:51 to complete, Molly was still wide awake and really enjoyed the fireworks. Her favorite are the white crackly ones that sound like popcorn. Oh, and they have dippin' dots at the ballpark.