July 2008 Archives

This evening, Rory and I attended our weekly Weight Watchers meeting.  This is my 8th week and Rory's 10th (I think).  Our trend so far has been if I have a great week, Rory doesn't.  If Rory has a great week, my sucked.  So my goal was for both of us to have a rockin' week, and we did!  Officially, Rory is down 17.something pounds (and looks good!!!), and I'm down 15.2 pounds!  Woo hoo!

So, per every Thursday, we went to dinner after the meeting.  Since yesterday was Andy's birthday (HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY, 2!!!), we let him pick our destination.  He choose Bench Warmers, an established bar-like restaurant in Ankeny.  I'm pretty sure that goes against all Weight Watchers logic, but those cheeseballs and mushrooms were heaven, and I'm not remorseful!!!  We did a great job of balancing them with (the biggest!) taco salads, so that counts for something, right?!

Afterwards, Andy and Rory shared their American Idol Karaoke skills with us.  WE NEED THIS GAME!  How fun!  The microphone connects to the Wii, and you sing along to some of the best songs (Copacabana and Black Velvet and You're Beautiful were some of our "highlights").  Even Andy Chalupa participated with "Sweet Emotion!"  Simon, Paula and Randy critiqued him and called him "good."  That's a matter of opinion ;)  But, kudos to Andy, Duane, Linda and everyone who tried their vocal ranges!

Carter's stellar dinner at The Bench: Grandpa's Shirley Temple (Sprite and cherry syrup), popcorn, cheeseballs and cheese pizza.  Yummy!

DJ A-Dawg sings Black Velvet!  Get down with your bad self!

I rocked out to You're Beautiful, with some help from Carter!  Woo Hoo!

Yuck!  That's about all I have to say ... YUCK!

Strawberry yogurt = yummy!  Cheeseburger macaroni = great!  But both, mixed together in a rough, harsh  manner = totally disgusting!  But, I guess in the end she ate it!  And, like my mom always told me: "It all goes to the same place anyway!"

With last week being busy, and this week being just as nuts, I played hooky from class and Carter and I enjoyed a morning of Mommy and Me Gym Time at Triad!

We bounced on the trampoline together, amid her giggle-fit, and we played along the obstacle course.  She had a ball, and I left with a monstrous Mommy smile!  Certainly better than a two-day course in classroom management!

JUMPY!  JUMPY! 
"Mommy!  Jumpy me!"

Rolling inside the ball - she called it her "turtle shell!"

"Arns out ... I'm okay ... I'm okay ..." she kept saying!

Stuck, with ball, in the pit! 
"Pull, Mommy!  Pull and help me!"

Andy and I got brave and took Carter to the BIG POOL this afternoon.  Good times!  Good times!  It's a 0-depth pool, and she never got any deeper than about 2 feet, but she had a ball!  Andy and I crab-walked and splashed around with her until the 4pm shift-change, all-out call.  By 4:10, we were all back in, and by 4:15, we were all back out again: "due to the weather, everyone must leave the pool until at least 4:30."  With the darkening skies, we decided to call it a day ... just as the tornado sirens went off.  All 200'ish people at the pool began to high-tail it out of there!

We got home to high-winds, but we beat the rain.  Andy and I pulled what we could in to safer, less blow-away-able areas, grabbed dry clothes and headed for the basement.  In round one, we fared pretty well.  All four deck chairs and our table blew about two lots south.  Score: 0 Mother Nature, 1 Chalupa's.  Round two hit about 6:00.  We didn't really have anything that could blow away at that point!  However, a single shingle at the upper-most point of the house blew up, and rain poured inside.  It seeped down the central water pipe, and inched along the ceiling of the kitchen and the garage.  We didn't notice until we were eating dinner, and a drip hit the floor.  Mother Nature strikes back with a vengence: Mother Nature: 1, Chalupa's: 1.  And more storms are on the way.

Waiting to get back in!

Carter and Andy play catch while we wait

The view from the deck: lightening, dark storms clouds and wind on the way

The view before we hit the deck: our trees blowing and our basketball hoop face-down in the driveway

THIS was our dinner conversation!  Not cool!

Andy spent the evening searching for the issue, in the attic, on the roof, in the garage ... turns out it's just a leaky shingle, fixed and taken care of.  Our builder says they'll take care of it all.  THANK GOODNESS!

To put things into perspective: about a mile east of us, between Andy and Rory's house and ours, a big tree was uprooted and crashed through a deck.

Trees were uprooted, outdoor toys bent and mangled, and houses sustained damage.  We are all okay, our damage is minimal and easily repaired, and all is good.  It wasn't a fun evening, but it could have been much worse.

Andy and Rory went to a pool party this evening, so Carter and I got to take the doggies outside for a quick potty break (better the neighbor's tree than their new tables!). 

Carter was excited to go, but I guess I underestimated the whole situation.  Upon entering the house, Rinky and Moda (inside) were barking and flipping out over Carter and I (outside).  Both dogs wanted out; we needed in.  Carter loves the dogs, but gets a little skiddish when we first see them while they go doggy-crazy.  So both dogs were crowding the door, Carter wouldn't go, and I was getting annoyed!  Finally, bless his heart, Rinky chilled out, and Moda calmed down so I could get Carter inside.

After the enterance fiasco, I didn't dare take both dogs and Carter out at the same time!  So Rinky went out first, successfully douping me - I'd forgotten poo-bags.  That'll teach me!  So in went Rinky and out came Moda, and we picked up after Stinky Rinky!  I know the neighbor saw the "incident," and gave us a nasty glare.  Have you ever tried to corral a dog in need of facilities and an interested two-year old?!  I'm sure she did not see us clean up after ourselves, thank you very much!  

Once everyone had done their duties, including Carter, Carts handed out treats.  But, before she could, everyone had to sit nicely!

Andy and Rory, feel free to go away more often!  We love Rinky (left) and Moda (right) and will watch them whenever!  

What a better way to spend a Friday evening that picnic'ing at the park?  

We made sandwiches, packed some fruit and juice boxes, and grabbed our duckie bread and headed to the park.  Carter didn't want to eat; she wanted to share her bread with the duckies and play!  So we watched the duckies - which still amazes her! - and played.  She even met a couple new friends - no surprise there!

Carter at the duckie pond

Carter and Mommy tossing bread to the ducky and her baby duckies

She gotten to be a pro at these wobbly stepy things!

Chalupa's at Top!

Smiles from the Fountain Park!

As I got ready for a fun-filled day, Carter did too!

Soapin' up in the big tub ...

... and doing her hair, brushing her teeth and putting on her "gum pop," or chapstick, before we head out to face the day!

You know how bedtime is supposed to be a time of calming and relaxing, winding down after a long day.

Is it any surprise that it's the exact opposite for Carter?  All she wanted to do this evening was jump on Daddy.  I, of course, scolded her and told her not to do such a harmful thing ...

... or something like that ;)

This Wild Child, ready to jump!

Bombs away!

Mommy, a not-so-tired Carter Kay and Daddy, snuggling for bed time

Andy is working (or at least he tells me he is!) putting together a page for recipes.  Kinda like Rory(http://uproryous.blogspot.com/) and Kelsey (http://www.easysite.com/bumstedfamily) are doing.  I've found some keepers to add, but I couldn't wait to share this one!!

Quick Oven S'Mores

2 large marshmallows
4 fat-free graham crackers
2 tsp light hot fudge, at room temp.

I'm come to terms with the fact that my husband will always be more computer savy than I.  But my nearly-three year old daughter?!  

Just accept, that soon, Carter will be more computer literate than all of us!  Today, she got her very own computer.  

The idea came when we went to Janine's last month for Kelsey's birthday.  "Other Carter," Carter J, and Madisyn have a computer in their toy room.  Carter Kay gravitated to it immediately.  Like she always does at home with ours.  She has sites that she likes, like the Disney website and cartoon movie trailer sites.  So Andy, being a techy-nerd, searched eBay for the perfect computer for her.  Finally, he won the bid last week.  Her MAC came today.

While we were at Creative Treasures, Andy set everything up for her.  She loves it!  It's hooked up to the Internet, and he showed her how to get to trailers of "Rocket Monkies," "Kung Fu Panda," and "WALL-E."  While making dinner, she played the "Rocket Monkies" trailer at least 20 times (for real!).  She can "clack" the bookmarks to what she wants with percision!  

And, at this very second, Andy and Carter are creating her very own email account.  Yeah, I know.  So, check your inboxs and junk mail for anything from "Carter Kay Sweetie."  Your favorite itsy-bitsy might be emailing you!

Andy, Carter and the new computer!  

This is a genetic trait:  I was asking her if she liked her new computer, and she competely ignored me.  Just like her Dad does when I ask him things while he's computer'ing!  Total waste of time!

"Rocket Monkies," aka "Space Chimps."  She has watched and watched and watched this trailer all day!  We're going tomorrow to see it in the theater as a reward for an awesome potty week.  How many people actually know parts of movies by heart before ever actually seeing it?!  I do! 
"I am Titan, I am strong!" says Titan the monkey
"No one wants to sing along," replies the other monkey, as he tosses a banana, making Titan fall! 
Ahh cha cha .. you know you want to come with us!!

Carter and I had a Mommy-N-Carter outing this afternoon.  No boys allowed (because OUR didn't want to come; OUR boy was busy playing with Carter's computer at home!)!  We went to Creative Treasures, the paint-it-yourself pottery studio.  Carter was overwhelmed by choices.  She wanted to paint a spoon holder, a squirrel, the letter M (yeah ... I don't know ...).  We decided on a picture frame (good choice, I know!).  She prepared it, and picked out her paints ("pink-a-boo!"  What a girl!).  I showed her how to paint, and she took right off!  She wanted me to help, so I made green edges, and we both speckled our creation with polka dots!  In 7 days, we'll be sure to share our masterpiece with you!

Sponging off the dust and yuckies so our paint will adhere nicely

She will paint you!  Look out!  She means business!

Precision and perfection, that's the name of her painting game!

She accidentally whipped upright just as I was accidentally too close, and got a little "pink-a-boo" in my hair.  Then it was funny to "accidentally" get paint in Mommy's hair.  "Oh sorry!  It was just an accident!"  Yeah right!

Our star-frame, done being painted

Bring on the polka dots!  I did the yellow, and together we did the purple.  Carter did the red all by herself!  Honestly, my intention from the start was to take this to school for my desk, hideous and awful.  I expected very little from our first artsy pottery attempt.  I'm very excited to see what it'll look like!  She did an awesome job, and my crazy-perfectionist Mommy side didn't come out at all!  We had a ball!

Our Treasure, painting treasures!  Be sure to check in next Saturday to see our Star-Frame!

Janine's birthday was last week, but with a crazy summer, we weren't able to get together until Friday.  We met at Kelsey's for fun and lunch, then headed to North Liberty to the pool.  With three adults and five kids (Madi = 6, Carter Jay = 3, Carter Kay = nearly 3, and Grant and Collin = 2 1/2), I was a tad worried (but I didn't mention that to anyone, for fear we wouldn't go!).  But the kiddo's did an awesome job splashing and playing!  And it was great to see them - and my favorite girls! - again!  

Kelsey ~ thanks for cooking for us!  Your gazpacho, which I lovingly mocked!, was delicious!  You and the boys were very gracious for letting us take over your house for the morning!  When you come up in August, we will certainly be more-than-ready and happy to pay it back!  

Janine ~ thanks for suggesting a change in locale!  North Liberty kicks Ankeny's tail!  And THANKS for letting us celebrate in style!  Hopefully we didn't disappoint!  Like I said, I'm always ready for more Girls Only adventures or Friends' Day outings!  Just say the word!

Grant, Colly, Other Carter and Madi ~ thanks for putting up with us and playing with us!  Carter and I both had a blast, and we're already missing everyone!  It never amazes me how much everyone grows up from visit to visit.  Even Madi, being the "big girl."  I know we say this every time we get together, but we really should do it more often.  It's takes a little advanced planning, and some gazpacho and dirt!, but it is 100% worth it!

We love you guys!
Happy (belated!) Birthday, Janine!  Hopefully you had a great birthday and a great friends celebration at the pool! 

Ready to Roll!  Carter's stylin' in her necklaces and new ball.  She's also wearing her Mickey undies, on our first car trip in underwears!

She let me know just outside of Williamsburg she needed to potty, so we pulled off at the exit and hit the BP.  She did awesome, and got to pick an Amana Taffy!  Candy apple - great choice!

Car #1: "Other" Carter (Carter Jay), Madi and Carter Kay

Car #2: Grant, Collin and Kelsey

ALL HAIL the NORTH LIBERTY POOL!

Grant, playing with the water pail, inevitably looking for trouble!

Collin, scoping out the scene and chilling with the ball

Madi the Mermaid, swimming and sliding!

Carter J mastering the big slide

Carter Kay, splishing and splashing and trying to avoid the big slide!

Besties Madi and Carter.  Madi desperately wanted Carter to go down the slide with her, but Carter was a little scared.  She'd climb up, then climb back down after Madi slid!

... but then she got brave ...

... and she decided it'd be okay to try it ...

... who knows ... she might even like it!

WEEE!  Janine said as soon as she was upright, she said, "GO AGAIN!" and took off to slide again!  Who's scared?!!

As a treat for being totally potty-tastic, Carter got a bubble-blowing toy - Bubble Doggy.  We played outside with Bubble Doggy in the windy afternoon today.

Strike a Bubble Doggy pose!

"I getting you, Mommy!"

CarterIsARobot.

SheHasARobotVoice.

SheHasGoneRobotCrazy.

Wow!  Who knew robots are nutty?!

That's right!  Our first PERFECT day care day in undies!  We've been doing only undies at home for a week now.  We had two "incidences" (when she peed on the kitchen floor and the actual peeing on, not in, the potty) all week.  That's it!  The weekend went flawlessly!  She wore undies to the SummerFest activities and to the store with no issue.  Monday was our first full day in undies.  And she rocked it!

Dry!  Dry!  Dry!  Dry!  Dry!  Dry!  Thatta girl!!

Good times!  Good times!  The carnival did not disappoint this year!  Carter and I rode the carousel, and she squealed and cheered on her bunny!  She also rode the cars and the elephants.  She had fun, but she kept a close eye on the inner workings of the ride, just in case!

And Andy got to eat!  Being on Weight Watchers with him is kinda like exposing yourself to the Devil himself!  We walked down "food alley," with walking tacos and fried pickles (both of which I love!).  Prior to going, I checked the points of a caramel apple: 9!  If the apple is bad, the fried pickle and taco in a chip bag were sure to be way worse!  So I made a smart choice: I got a "treat" at Hy-Vee (a cup of strawberry shortcake, 5 points) and had that.  Andy, on the other hand, devoured a large walking taco and part of my tropical slushy, and then went back for barbeque!  How is that fair?!!  

The weather was perfect for our yearly Sunday SummerFest Midway adventure, and we had a ball.  Next year, maybe the Tilt-a-Whirl and another walking taco!

Carter's treat: a strawberry and grape slushy and part of my strawberry treat

Having fun in the SummerFest sun!

Riding our carousel bunny!  Weeee!

That'll be the sweetest car you ever drive, Sweetie!  Beep!  Beep!

Riding the pink elephant

Daddy and Carter fish for sharks!  

Who knew?!  Andy's a really great cook!  He told me his secret: "All I really did was follow directions."  Yeah, but I'm also not a big fan of that!

Andy and Rory came over for dinner.  Rory is a fabulous cook, and I always feel bad that he's always cooking for us.  So I thought we'd make an appitizer, chicken and dessert from my new Weight Watchers grilling book.  Thankfully, Andy took over cause it was hard!  But it turned out wonderfully!  It is totally a have-again!  I loved the soup and pears, but the stuffed chicken was my favorite!  I think I could eat it for every dinner!  Yum!

Voila!  Corn and Chives soup, with taters and cheese!  I think it was about 3 points and oh-so-good!

Corn and Chives soup recipe:

Grilled Chicken stuffed with goat cheese recipe:

Grilled pears recipe:

Before cooking dinner Saturday afternoon, Andy checked out the recipe and Carter enjoyed her potty treat (3 days totally undies and no accidents!!).  This is the reason I wanted the island in our new home: I envisioned me cooking supper while Carter did her homework and Daddy helped her.  This wasn't what I had in my mind, but this moment in our cozy home was so sweet!

Andy has this look - with this eye brows raised and a straigth stare.  I had Carter pose the same way.  "Carter, put your eye browns up," and she held them with her fingers.  "Carter, but both hands on the table," and she did, with the sucker.  Finally, I got a Carter/Daddy pose!  How cute are these two?!

It's SUMMERFEST!  We love Summerfest!  I feel a bit guilty that we aren't involved more, but at 2 1/2, there isn't much more we can do without presenting a problem!  

But we certainly enjoy the parade!  

Andy, Carter and I picked up Andy and Rory, and found our favorite spot.  Last year, it was sweltering and awful; this year it was overcast and cool, a great start!  By the time the parade got around to us, it was lightly sprinkling, which wasn't really neat, but it didn't last long or inhibit our fun!  Carter danced to the high school band and local musicians, she waved to each and every one of our Sweet 16 constants (even yelling, "Hi!  You're pretty!" to one cute girl!) and, of course, she worked it for the candy!  We had kids on either side of us - one yucky boy who didn't understand parade boundaries, and a family of three who were adorable!  We talked about sharing, and Carter would get a handful of candy, put some in her bag, and then go to the family of three and share!  Without being prompted by us!  She also received a balloon butterfly and a super-soft teddy bear!  Now, that's a parade treat!

Tomorrow's Summerfest outing: the midway and treats!  How many points to you think a corn dog is???

Our "sweet" Carter, separating herself from our chairs and blanket to have a fit!  She's being naughty, but I think she's adorable in this picture!  

Rory, Andy, Carter and Andy waiting for the parade to start.  Our "spot" is at the end, so it was about 9:45 when things got around to us.  So Carter danced, played under the blanket and put on a show for us!

Some of our favorites were the high school marching band, the baton twirlers, the Triad group, the AHS cheerleaders, our Ankeny Christian Childcare float, the guy who threw us the bear, and any float with music we could dance to!

This is the bear.  The Bear.  It was from the new Prarie Trail organization, and it's the best parade "treasure" ever!  Although, we enjoyed the Bit 'O Honey and a couple Laffy Taffy's, too!

Because it was 97 degrees - "119 degrees with the relative humidity," the radio guy said - we opted for in-door fun.  Carter and I made bracelets.  Grandma and I cleaned out the bead drawers at home a few weeks ago.  I thought she'd really have to work at threading the tiny beads on her pipe cleaner, but like everything else she does, she surprised me with the ease and confidence she worked with!  She had a ball with these simply, little bracelets!  

I showed her how to bead them, "find the tiny hole, push the wire in and pull the bead gently.  Then hold the end and pull the bead to the bottom."  As she worked, so carefully and attentively!, she repeated each and every instructional word I'd told her!

TA DA!  Carter's first bracelet.  "Maybe tomorrow I can make Daddy a necklace!" she told me.  I'm sure he'd love that!

I can not tell you how many times in a given day I hear, "I'm not tired!" around nap and bed time!  Oh no, Carter's never tired!  But when she does crash, it's just that: a crash and she's out!  Not a curl up and relax, reflect on the day's adventures, or slowly drift to sleep.  It is out!

This is how I found her Friday morning: surrounded by books, with a Kung Fu Panda book tent, competely esleep!

We have had a rocky go with the potty training. We've been at this for over a year.  Carter is stubborn, just like her daddy!

So the idea of "underwears" kinda scared us!  Sunday evening, the first day with them, she was great and oh-so-proud ... for the first hour.  Then she peed on the kitchen floor.  Monday and Tuesday evening went smoothly and without incident.  Wednesday evening Andy told her to go wash her hands, and when she did, I think she realized she had to pee but couldn't stop herself.  She actually peed on the closed top of her little potty.  She was devastated, saying, "I don't want Mommy and Daddy to be mad!"  We explained, as best we could so she'd understand, we weren't mad.  She did finally calm down.

Thursday, she had a 100% completely dry day!  From 6:30am to 8:00pm!  Dry, dry, dry!  We loved up to her big time: playing outside in the slip and slide, getting new Princess books, and having a Palmer's brownie for supper.  As Andy said, "See!  Big girls get big girl rewards!"  That's the ticket!

BIG GIRLS RULE!!

"Look!  The slip and slide, Mommy!"

"W O W ! "

She never did get the actual idea of the slip and slide, but she had a ball!

Every time she's "accidentally" get her face wet, she'd come and dry off ... ON ME!

One toe in and one toe out!

"Weeeeeee!"

"I'm so excited!"

... closer to slip and slide form, but not quite there!  

She may not have gotten the slip and slide down, but she had a blast!  And what better reward for a day of great pottying?!!

I had my math book on the island to get ready for tutoring.  I should have known it was a book and Carter'd be interested in it!

Math may rock, but Carter doesn't look overly thrilled about fractions!

 We had the privilege of keeping Carter for about 4 days while Andy and Kelly took a little time off to be in a wedding.  We enjoyed it a lot and it was the first time we really had Carter all to ourselves since she was a baby.  Much has changed!  Now we can have complete  verbal conversations and everything!  My only regret was not having my camera with me for what would have been some good photo opportunities.  Such as:  sitting in the big John Deere tractor banging on the horn and having a wonderful time - scooping up dirt from the machine shed floor and "showering" herself with it - back at Mike and Monika's running up and down the hills, blowing dandelion seeds all over the yard and the completely unprompted display of manners she showed to Uncle Mike, "Thank you for having me" when we were ready to leave, I was proud of her! - our visit to the Sass Family Farm, I went to get eggs completely forgetting that they have a small farm petting zoo in the back.  Carter enjoyed the baby lambs, the baby bunny, the goats etc. - and of course the visit to all the pigs on our farm.  She particularly enjoyed sticking her finger IN the snoots of the small outside ones when they came up to the fence to "talk" to her.  So, I have put in the pictures I did manage to take.  It actually would have been good to make a movie of Carter's dinner conversation with five of us adults had I brought the camera - needless to say she was VERY talkative and very entertaining!   We all enjoyed her!  It was a good few days and we loved having her but I think her parents were very glad to have her back.  As grandparents we loved having her but we were ready for a break from a 2 year old and were left wondering how we managed to have all those little boys all those years in the house and not go nuts!

  Grandpa and Carter making snakes or some other c reature or something with play doh.

 Carter helping put marshmallows on the Rocky Mountain brownies - she managed to snitch a few of them in the process!

Carter after a visit to the machine shed where Uncle Brian let her in the big John Deere.  The dirt on the floor of the machine shed proved too tempting to play in.   A bath was a necessity that night!

Carter helping me make chocolate ice-cream pie - she managed to get her fingers in the ice-cream bucket too!

Watching it all blend

Grandpa and Carter enjoy a book together.  There was many, many books read over the 4 days!

I have never been as proud of our Carter as I am this evening!  

There are things that, from the start, you know you want to teach and instill in your child.  A strong moral sense of right and wrong, compassion, work ethic.  Persistence and not giving up.

And that's exactly what tonight's final tap performance consisted of: persistence.  It's probably not a shock that Carter isn't in love with tappy class.  I think she likes it, but I think she's unsure and prefers Triad gymnastics, where she can run and jump and be crazy.  At two and a half, she doesn't seem like the refined dancer.  Yet.  Maybe she will be.  But, if not, that's okay, too.

That being said, Carter followed through with her tappy this evening.  She was a little slow to start: wanting to run and not keen on listening, perferring to dance to her own beat.  But she came around.  They performed two runs of their routine.  During the first run, she didn't really dance much, but she also didn't run off the boards or pout in a corner.  Run two was great!  She followed along, fairly closely!, with the routine and participated!  She was very pleased with herself at the end.

Tap might not be her true calling.  But she's had a chance to try it.  She might come back to it.  She might not.  But she finished what she started, and she had a great attitude this evening.  She was adorable!  She actually looked like she was having fun!  I was proud of her performance.  She did well!  I am glowing at her perseverance  and committment to see it through.  That's a life skill I hope she takes with her always!

Everybody wants to be a cat ... except Carter.  She wasn't a big fan of the tail!   But she's cute!

Starting the dance.  See!  Following directions!

TA DA!  Look at that proud smile!

A big round of applause!!  Good job, Toe Tappers!

Today is the day.  No more diapers.  No more pull up's.  

We are a big girl.

Today we jump, feet first (literally, ahh cha cha!), into Big Girl Panties.

Carter and I went to Target to pick out whatever kind she wanted.  She choose "kitty," of Hello Kitty.  I also bought every cartoon character I could get my hands on, and we bought many pairs.  I also filled our cart with a bunch of cheap cotton shorts, cause I'm sure this won't just be a smooth transition.

Wish us luck!

BIG GIRL!  Carter proudly shows off her Minnie Mouse undies.  Let's hope the novelty continues and she can live up to the honor of underwear!

It's been about a week since our last post, and it's been quite a week! 

Monday afternoon, Carter and I drove to Grandma and Poppy's.  They were both a little surprised with her newly acquired naughtiness skills, but they took it in stride!  

Tuesday we drove to Burlington for the day.  We did some shopping (ShopKo is my favorite store, and we found some great Carter clothing!) and played at Fun City indoor water park (hey group - you know how we do something for everyone's birthday?  Well, I want to pack up all of our babies and spend a chilly November weekday at Fun City!  Woo hoo!).  

The indoor kiddy pool at Fun City totally lived up to the name of FUN!

Swimming with the fishes!

Checking out Grandma's pretty flowers - isn't that right eye creepy?!

Wearing Poppy's glasses

Wednesday we played around at Sunset Park, then Carter and I met Andy at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Thursday, Andy and I left our trying two year old with Duane and Linda and headed to Champaign/Urbana, Illinous for Tjett and Katie's wedding weekend.

Swinging

Choo!  Choo!

"I'm not tired," she said.  Yeah right!

Thursday we got to bum around.  We didn't have an agenda, which was nice and unusual!  We planned to cross into Illinois at Burlington, but apparently there's been some flooding.  Who knew?!  So we had to take a more "scenic route" to an open bridge.  We checked into our hotel, "purchased" our Facebook pull tabs and then went to dinner and a movie.  It was strange - I haven't had my own Mexican meal in forever!  We always end up sharing rice and beans with Carter!  I didn't have to share, which was good because it was delicious!  Then we went to see "Wanted," a very unfriendly children's movie.  It was a very cry from Kung Fu Panda and Wall E, and a nice change.  

For lunch Friday, we got to meet some of Tjett and Katie's friends at Crane Alley.  I was a little concerned that Crane Alley, a "bar," would kill my Weight Watchers points.  I thought bar = bar food = no bueno!  Wrong!  We had the tastiest lunches, met some interesting cats (and YOUNG!  My God!  We are OLD!), and had a relaxing meal with adults.  Unusual, I know.  Then we split up: Katie and wedding party went to decorate, Andy and the boys went golfing and I went shopping.  Champaign has a Macy's!  Later, we gathered at the church for rehersal.  It was silly and sweet - no surprise with Tjett and Katie!  After rehersal, Andy and I went with Tjett, Best Man Mark and Katie's brother Nick to some of Tjett's friends "Freedom" Party.  Just like Tjett, these guys were crazy and funny, and we had a ball with them!

Rehearsal with Chase (Tjett's sister), Alice and Sarah (Katie's friends), Pastor and Tjett (the groom), Mark (Newt-friend of Tjett's), Tjader (Tjett's brother) and Andy (some nerd from the street)

This sums up the relationship of Katie and Tjett perfectly: ZANY!

Everyone's all smiles for tomorrow's big day!

Saturday was the BIG DAY.  Which, for Andy and I, meant sleeping in and watching CABLE at the hotel until he was needed for pictures.  The big sha-bang began at 2:00 and was over in about 25 minutes!  Simple and touching as that: Katie's now a Gerdom!  The wedding party took pictures, Mark took the boys (yes, including my husband!) to "an undisclosed bar" for a drink (the dirty old men went to Hooter's!), and then the reception got underway.  I had a job - I got to announce the wedding party upon arrival.  Partly because I could correctly pronounce "Tjett" and "Tjader" and "Navarre" and "Boohaegan," and partly because I'm loud and outgoing??  That's good, right?  The beautiful couple was toasted, we had a great dinner, and we danced (and most drank!) the night away.  I got to meet many Cornell friends of Katie and Tjett - all of which made me feel old, old, old! - and we were able to witness and share in a wonderful day for Mr. and Mrs. Gerdom.  It was a great day.

The wedding party and guests toast the newly-weds

They're nerdy and goony, but I love these guys!  Andy and Tjett

Free beer = drunk Andy, performing, with mad skills, the Chicken Dance.  Nice ... so proud ...

Katie's circles around and whips the bouquet to a lucky single lady!

Tjett fished out the garter and suspicously appears to be aiming to a certain single gentleman??!

Here's to happiness and silliness, just like ours!

And Sunday, we packed it all up and headed back to Ankeny.  It was a long drive and completely worth it, but I'm glad to be home and mostly unpacked and cleaned up!  Home sweet home!  

Next adventure: BIG GIRL UNDIES ... pray for us ...