Football in Fayette, Iowa

The Bair family went to Upper Iowa University (UIU) on Saturday to cheer on the St. Cloud State University Huskies as they played the Peacocks of UIU. It was Homecoming weekend for UIU so the alumni director in me had to check things out. There were tailgates in the parking lot, beer pong throughout the game, Hall of Fame inductions at half-time and a tent at the game serving beverages to alumni! The Huskies took care of the Peacocks in a 57-10 victory and the day was perfect until the skies opened up in the 4th quarter. Thank goodness Jenel had ponchos and Liza was mostly covered in her stroller on the sprint back to the car. After the rain stopped and we dried off we had a fun early dinner in the town of West Union with good friends and enjoyed the company of new friends - Carlin and Courtney. Thanks for the invite Jenel we're so glad we came.

We arrived with enough time to spare, surprisingly, since I thought the game started at 11:00 am and we got there a little after noon. The game started at 1:00 pm so we didn't miss any of the action. While we were waiting for the game to start Liza was burning off a little energy in grass by the parking lot.

During the game Liza had a dirty diaper and behind the visitor stands was a nice grassy area so I took her back there and changed her diaper and then tossed the dirty in the Huskies trash can on the sidelines - thanks! Not too long after changing her Liza grabs the changing mat and wipes and heads back to the same area behind the stands. So I followed her back there and she asked me to lay out the mat, which I did, and then she got out a wipe and pretended we were changing her diaper again - it was so funny! Here she sits on her favorite diaper changing spot on the UIU campus.

Since Fayette is very small we made the 7 mile drive to West Union, IA for dinner at the Tap't Out Stein-n-Dine. Jenel and I had to take pictures so as we were leaving we snapped a few pictures. Here are Ian (he was a groomsman in our wedding) with Bair and Liza.

And the rest of the St. Cloud gang, Carlin, Courtney, Jenel and Ian. Great to see everyone and we hope it's not so long between visits.

Grinnell High School Homecoming Parade

Nights like last night remind me why I enjoy living in our wonderful small town. It's Homecoming for the Grinnell Tigers so downtown business windows have been painted and there was a parade last night to honor the occasion. As we made our way to the parade route we stopped and talked to many friends and it was so nice to see a town full of people all in one place supporting one cause - the children in our school systems! The Board of Education had a float in the parade, the local cement company sent one of their mixers and organizations like the Rotary and Lions Club put together an entry. It seems every float was tossing out candy and thank goodness Brea was standing with us to pick it all up. We didn't let Liza in on the secret so she had no idea what she was missing. She had fun watching Brea get it and stuff it in her Daddy's pockets. Thank goodness her Daddy found a friend with an empty plastic bag because his pockets were overflowing.

Brea, Liza and their Dads watching the parade and playing with sunglasses.

What's a parade without the high school marching band? I know there are children in this picture I should know but they grow up so quickly I can't keep up.

Our friend's daughter saw me before I saw her and I'm so glad she called out so I could take this cute picture of her. She is a great smiler for the camera!

I was trying to take some shots to give you a feel for the parade. Little did I know, until after the fact, that Brea's big sister Lexi is in this picture as well as our friend Kathy. This float is for the elementary school, I think.

Liza vocabulary continues to surprise us but we weren't surprised at all when she recognized all the tigers. She loves tigers! One tiger would pass and she'd say "more please" as if we could produce tigers on demand. Thankfully there were many tigers so it was never too long before another came along. One kind walking tiger tried to come up and say hello but both Brea and Liza gave him a scared sad face so he moved on.

I'm not sure what this entry was but the tigers theme is carried out well!


Now if they'll just get on with announcing Homecoming King and Queen...Grinnell anxiously awaits!

Labor Day in Florida

Liza took her first plane trip over Labor Day weekend to see some of her Florida relatives. We made a quick trip to Stuart and were so pleased that the Copelands and Stanfords decided to come down too. Liza enjoyed seeing her cousin Mary Katherine so much and I don't think her Nana, Gaggy, SuSu, Aunt Ann and Grandma could have given them any more attention! They were well loved and I know Liza enjoyed seeing everyone.

Liza is waiting patiently in Des Moines to board her first airplane. She was all about HER stroller that she was pushing and not planning to ride in.

We had some time to kill in Dallas/Fort Worth and Liza thought the chairs were a great play toy. As Bair and I were gathering up our many bags of what turned out to be unnecessary Liza entertainment she lost her balance and fell off. Great watchful parents she has. We knew it was going to be warm enough when we got to Stuart to put her in her in this cute sundress that my friend Susan had monogrammed - thanks!

Once we arrived it was all about fun! Liza loved the pool! Here she is the queen of the pool with her Aunt Ann carefully watching her "lay back" in the lobster. Both Mary Katherine and Liza fell out of the lobster at some point while we were there so we all watched carefully.

SuSu got her exercise by teaching Liza and Mary Katherine about jumping in the pool. She would alternate throwing each of them in to their parents. Here's Liza on one of her "jumps" into the pool. I wish I had gotten closer pictures of her facial expressions. I think the girls tired out before SuSu did.

It was nice that the Ed and Edith Glasscock family was all together so we took some great family pictures that will be cherished. Since the little girls were all dressed up we took a few practice shots. Here are Liza and Mary Katherine sharing the fish that swim in the pool. Not sure how much "sharing" Liza is doing since she has it firmly gripped and out of reach.

There is an entire 30 picture series of these two sitting in the chair together but this one is my favorite of all!

Next to Nana and Gaggy, Liza and Mary Katherine were the best photo subjects of all. They didn't complain, kept smiling, would stay most anywhere we put them and certainly did their best to look cute at all times. We asked them to give each other a hug and this is the cute shot we got.

I don't think I had the pleasure of meeting any of my great grandparents so I love that Liza and Mary Katherine are sitting on the laps of two of theirs. We'll have to get some more pictures with Great Grandmother Bair during our Christmas trip.

This is shot of the 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren with their wonderfully kind and loving Nana and Gaggy. Or as Chris and Suzanne say Nana and Granddaddy!

Our return flights didn't go as smoothly so we had time to burn in both airports. We departed an hour and a half late out of West Palm so we missed our connection and had 2 hours in DFW. We were lucky that our terminal had a kids play area. Liza really enjoyed "driving" the car and getting out of it all by herself.

We had a good time with everyone and are looking forward to our return in December.

Go Big Orange!

Liza is starting to ham it up for the camera - not all the time - but enough that we laugh a lot. She also loves to see the picture after it's taken so she sometimes forget to be still long enough for us to take the photo. Almost as soon as you put the camera up she's running towards you to see herself on the camera! Here she is hamming it up on the front porch.

It has started to be cool in the mornings so layers are necessary. Liza helped dress herself for a bike outing and she who rarely lets me puts hats on her picked this up and wouldn't take it off. Oh what an outfit!

Liza loves to lay back and pretend she's sleeping - she has the fake breathing sounds down. In this picture she told us she was going to lay back and relax. Seems she accomplished that!

Bair was taking the pictures and I was jumping around behind him trying to give Liza "suggestions." I asked Liza to put her hands down and and before I knew it she was standing at attention with her arms practically glued to her sides.

I wanted Liza to smile and was telling her with words and showing her with my fingers by trying to make a big smile on my face. So...she copied me and started putting her fingers on her cheeks too!

And by the way...Liza is ready for some BIG ORANGE football in her UT orange pants. No matter what her Daddy says they are not GATOR orange!