Poweshiek County 4H Fair

Another joy of living in a rural area -- the 4H County Fair!  Liza saw as many neigh-neighs and moo cows as she could stand and her Iowa Grandpa Jim fed her popcorn until I thought she was going to burst!  As you can see her Liza was giving him the popcorn filled thank you lots smile.  Jim told her he would even send the bag home with her and her face lit up.  Sarah and I conveniently left the bag for others to eat and I thought we were all clear because Liza didn't mention it the rest of the evening.  Unfortunately, the next day Liza asked me where was that bag of popcorn that Grandpa Jim said he was going to send home with her -- oops -- guess I didn't fool her! 

In addition to the fair confections, we were so pleased to see Katherine's photographs exhibitions and watch Maile ride her horse.  Here we made Katherine and Liza pose for us and they were happy to oblige!

And we were thankful to see Maile ride before the storm came blowing in!  Way to go girls!

Summer is flying by!

If possible, Liza would spend every waking moment playing outside in the sprinkler.  She loves the water and her Daddy comes up with creative ways for her to enjoy it.  In this picture she is swinging and the sprinkler hits her and she laughs out loud every time.

And when swinging lost its luster she moved on to running through the sprinklers. 

If you've seen any of my posts on Facebook you already know that Liza is learning how to use the potty.  Rita the great is a tremendous help and has walked us through it step at a time.  Liza is learning quickly and she gets so excited when she "goes" in the potty; she'll show it to anyone in the house.  Here she is admiring her Dora panties and trying to figure out where the tag is so she can put her foot in the right hole.

The rain has been a very unwelcome companion lately so we've had to get creative with entertainment.  Fortunately, we had a easel hiding in the "gift" closet and this picture is the first time she ever painted.   I think she enjoyed the plastic "smock" as much as painting. 

Painting became a daily activity and Liza decided painting naked was better!  She is critically analyzing her painting from her special angle. 

Tonight when I got home from a late evening of work an 8 person tent was set up in our living room.  Furniture was cleared out and the tent over took everything!  I thought maybe Bair was checking to see if  he had all the parts - no - he just thought it would be a lot of fun for Liza to play in.  I think she really enjoyed herself! 

Catching Up...

Summer arrives, time flies and there is not enough time for blogging!  This post is meant to catch up on a few events since we last wrote. 

My good friend Sarah took this and sent it after Bair's birthday party.  It seemed Liza decided to have a little hot dog with her ketchup!

I was so pleased to answer the phone the night of Bair's party and hear the voice of Betty Bair Bryan on the other end.  She and daughter, Sue, were coming through Grinnell and asked if they could take us to dinner Monday night.  Dinner in a restaurant can be challenging with sweet Liza B so we invited them to our house instead and they were so gracious about having re-purposed left-overs!  We had fun visiting with each other and Liza was doing her best to be the center of attention.  After Betty and Sue left we looked at one another and asked almost simultaneously had Liza acted that silly and outgoing before?  No matter who was talking Liza wanted to talk over them so we worked that night on waiting until the adults were finished talking before interrupting -- wouldn't say she got it down pat but progress is being made. 

    Oh yeah...we are also working on keeping fingers out of her mouth!

In the due diligence category of parenting we signed Liza up for a week of Red Cross swimming lessons.  It probably would have been a wise idea to thoroughly read the class information because we thought she would be taught to swim but instead the class was about getting familiar and comfortable with the water.  Liza had that down pat already with her swimming time in Florida and South Carolina but she had fun in class anyway. 

Day one lesson one I was ready to go with the camera and Bair was the parent in the water with her.  That was the only day we made it to lessons with the camera so here's a brief swimming lesson recap.

Enjoying the "island" and figuring out if she's brave enough to get off of it. 

This splashing around business certainly is a lot of fun.  Maybe I'll do more of it in the bath tub at home.

The instructor told the parent a task to work on and then came around to see how the child was doing.  Bair would get Liza to do it, she'd do it right away and she really didn't feel she needed to practice.  The instructor made her way from child to child to see each one perform the task.  When she got to Liza, Liza told her she already did it and didn't need to do it again.  Lots of discussion about practice making you better ensued.  After several rounds of this Liza realized that she should just wait until the instructor came around, give it her all then, so she could go back to splashing or picking up rings underwater more quickly.   

Blowing bubbles and kicking at the same time!

This week at Rita's Liza showed signs of being interested in the potty so we are starting to venture into the world of potty training...stay tuned. 

The Month of Dads

June is a month of Daddy celebration in our house -- Bair's birthday, my Daddy's birthday and then Father's Day for everyone!  We had a small party on the patio the day before Bair's birthday with a fire and Liza ate her first smore and liked it.  She had so much fun playing with Conor and Brooke in the water that she keeps asking for them to come back over and visit.  Unfortunately, neither of us took any pictures to document the festivities.  Jimbo was the grill master (thank you!), Sarah was the sous chef and chief smore maker while Ryan was the designated marshmallow roaster -- everyone pitched in and we appreciate your help.

For Father's Day Bair suggested a trip to Iowa City to the Children's Museum and a possible carousel ride for Liza.  We loaded up and headed east down I-80.  The museum was much better than I expected and had a significant amount of age appropriate learning that Liza really enjoyed.  Here Liza is learning that if she moves the peddles the airplane's propeller will turn. 

After the airplane, Liza went to learn about rockets and had a great time waiting for the rocket launch countdown 3-2-1 blast off!

Next Liza became a paramedic.  She wasn't too interested in tending to any patients just driving the ambulance. 

We then went to a farm and after planting, crawling around the haystacks, and visiting the farm store Liza headed to the barn to slide down the slides.  It was very important to Liza that the baby go down the slide, that I take a picture of it and that I catch the baby.   

Our final activity in the museum was driving the tractor...or posing for a picture!

We left the museum, had Panera for lunch and a ride or two on the carousel before heading back to Grinnell.  My camera started flashing battery is exhausted as the carousel ride began so I reached for my phone only to be disappointed that the memory only had room for 1 picture!  Each time Liza would come around she was waving very big and according to her Daddy she was telling her "elephant" to giddy-up. 

Liza and I hope you had a great Father's Day and from our entire family to yours Happy Father's day to all!

Grinnell College Reunion

Last weekend Bair celebrated his 15th college Reunion.  It's sort of anti-climatic for him since he works at his alma mater everyday and I work in the office that puts Reunion together.  So for us the BEST part of Reunion is seeing friends who come for the celebration.  We were so pleased to see Grinnell classmates and friends Ian, Jenel (the other Ian according to Liza), Nancy, Julie and her precious little guy.  It seems the only event we managed to document was our night at Rube's. 

The grill pit at Rube's.  I think the guy in the red called Julie darlin' and buttered other people's steaks without checking first!  In this picture you can see Ian watching the guy in red, Nancy (only her arm is visible) is preparing toast for everyone and Bair is teaching Felix the finer points of grilling. 

Here's our bread goddess Nancy and now Julie is teaching Felix about grilling!

Most of you who read this blog know that Bair isn't much of a multi-tasker...this proves us wrong! 

Liza was such a good girl during dinner and at times gave Felix looks of disapproval -- I had to remind her that he isn't even one yet and doesn't know all that she does.  The entire evening all Liza cared about was her Dora backpack -- she showed it to EVERYONE in the restaurant.  Thanks Auntie Em for getting that backpack - she's in heaven!

This also proves me wrong about multi-tasking -- bouncing two children at one time while singing this is the way the farmer rides, the farmer rides, the farmer rides...

Water Fun!

Liza and her Daddy are all about playing in the hose.  After a particularly hot day this week Chris thought about how he could turn himself into a water attraction that would hold Liza's attention.  He was content to stand right by the sprinkler feature and soak up the cool water.  One of something never seems to satisfy our family so if one fun sprinkler attachment is good three must be great!  Unfortunately, our water pressure is low so the sprinkler attractions, while very entertaining, aren't able to exhibit their true abilities.  Liza knows no better so all is well. 

Here is the precious child in her cover-up that the Easter Bunny brought her, her favorite Dora chair and the hat she wouldn't keep on her head for one second last summer. 

There she goes through the water feature!

Getting more brave with each run through and on this run she decided to stop right before it and "hop over it like a bunny."

And it's a whole lot more fun when Daddy gets wet too.

On an enforced "break" from the sprinkler Liza climbed up, all by herself I might add, in order to go down the slide. 

She is working on her gymnastic finish by sticking each landing and then posing with her hands in the air.  She's just too much. 

Liza's first haircut

When Liza was born MaryBeth from Expressions Day Spa and Salon gave me a porcelain box for a lock of hair from Liza's first haircut.  We watched many little ones go and have their first cut but Liza's hair wasn't growing quickly enough to warrant a cut.  On Monday when I was getting my haircut Liza and Chris stopped in and MaryBeth kindly looked through Liza's hair.  Since Liza was receptive to MaryBeth combing her hair we decided to go with it and make an appointment!  Her appointment was Wednesday night and we talked it up!  She was excited to go and remembered MaryBeth's name all by herself.  We put on a special outfit for the occasion (thanks SuSu for the featured outfit) and promised to go out to dinner if Liza was good. 

In this picture Liza is perusing the options for a possible style.  Each time she turned a page she'd point to the hair and say Oooh or Aaah - very excited by each photo.

MaryBeth asked Liza if she thought she could sit on the big girl seat and Liza didn't hesitate for a minute.  She climbed right on up there and made herself at home.

After getting her hair all combed out you can see why she needed a cut!

Liza was watching intentionally and got a little shiver when her hair was sprayed.  This picture is the very first curl being cut from her sweet little head.  She's not sad just very curious about what MaryBeth is showing her.

She is starting to wonder more and more about what those scissors are doing...

Liza was a perfect angel in the chair, she didn't cry or fuss, she sat still.  MaryBeth said that she thinks Liza is the very best first haircut client she's ever had.  I'm sure she tells that to all the Moms but I'm going to go with it anyway.  Liza also liked checking herself out in the mirror!

Liza was such a trooper, had fun and was excited with her very first hair cut.  Thanks MaryBeth.