Go Cousin Drew!

Joel's cousin Drew Leininger pitches for the University of Indiana Hoosiers. Two years ago when Indiana was playing the Hawkeyes, we went to the games, but, as a freshman, Drew didn't get to pitch during that series. It was fun seeing him anyway.

Fast forward to this past weekend and it was deja vu all over again. Unfortunately, Indiana's starting pitching had an easy time keeping the Hawkeye's at bay. The weather was crummy on Friday night, so the game was canceled. We tracked Drew down at the mall that night and got to chit chat a bit. The rain went away but only Joel ventured to the ballpark since the high temperature only made it into the low 40s. Sunday was "nicer" although winter coats were still necessary. Here is a picture of Wally putting the finishing touches on a sign for Drew. He worked very hard on it and used up a good portion of two crayons to give it some color.


Drew warmed up in the bullpen toward the end of both games of Sunday's double-header, but alas the Hawkeyes neglected to mount any rallies, so the Hoosier relievers didn't get much playing time. In order to get a workout, Drew threw a side session after the final game.

Wally had an opportunity to give Drew the sign in the end. If you can't tell, he was a little proud to give a sign to a real ball player.

Random: Wally and Sander dancing to some music.

To make Montanans feel better...

Well, summer arrived in Iowa. We've had a few days in the 80s, several in the 70s, and many in the 60s. We've been enjoying being able to play outside. I have some seeds in the garden and will plant the rest in a week or two. Wally loves climbing the tree in the loop, but it still terrifies Mom.

Wally loves the Chick-fil-A cow at the mall. I missed getting a picture of Wally hugging and kissing the cow. We were at the mall last night to see Joel's cousin Drew who is in town to play baseball for Indiana against the Hawkeyes. We didn't have much time to spend with him as he had to get back to the hotel to do homework, but it was nice just the same.

Mmmm pancakes!

Well, this is what we have this morning. I guess it is better to have had summer and lost it than never to have had summer at all!

Hawkeye Baseball Season has Begun!

Last Sunday was beautiful weather and the Hawkeye baseball team had a home game, so we put on our Hawkeye gear, and off we went. Wally was excited to cheer "Go Cubs" (We corrected him that he should cheer Go Hawkeyes). He wasn't really into the game, but he was a great kid just the same.

He did get a bit bored, so Joel pulled out the ipod. Maybe next game, Wally will be more into it. Hopefully he will be, as Joel's cousin Drew will be pitching for Indiana next week. I love how Katie often includes pictures from the past, so I dug through the archives, and found our first Hawkeye game when Drew came to town with Indiana in 2009.

He still looks like Wally, but our baby is definitely growing up.

Speaking of, I'm going to be late to picking him up from school! Gotta go!

Thundershirt

Moose is terrified of thunder. Moose is terrified of rain. Moose is terrified of cloudy days. Poor Moose gets so worked up that it seems like he is having a seizure. If we pet Moose, talk to him, or even just look at him, it makes it much worse. Moose also gets even dumber than normal during these times. Last April at least 3 police vehicles were out looking for Moose when he ran away during a storm. I took the dogs to the vet yesterday for routine shots and mentioned that Moose was even more nervous at the time because it was cloudy. The vet immediately said, "Thundershirt." Um, excuse me? What did you say? She proceeded to tell me about her big wussy dog that is also terrified of thunder. They tried everything, even drugs, but then they learned about Thundershirts. They work like swaddling a baby. The pressure on their chest is supposed to make them less anxious (even with non-thunder issues). With the rain starting to come down and thunderstorms predicted (well, face it, we live in Iowa), Wally, Moose, Daisy and I rushed to a pet store and picked up a Thundershirt for Moose. He really did seem calmer during the drive home. Maybe he is just an old dog and he was worn out from the exciting afternoon. There hasn't been any thunder since we got the shirt last night, but he started shaking this afternoon, so I put it on him. I'll up-date everyone to see how he does this weekend. Poor Moose. Hopefully his "Brave shirt" will help.

Spring time randomness...

Spring is here! Wally and I started our garden (now about 3 weeks ago). I think Wally loves dirt like I do. I local bank has baby animals in its basement every spring. We went a couple years ago, and I can't for the life of me find those pictures. Wally, as always, loved the animals. His favorite this year were the baby ducks.

Though he didn't get to hold the baby chicks this year (last time they pooped in his hand), he though petting them was fun. He really liked comparing the chicks and the ducks.

Then we went to Lowes with Stacy, Sander, and Levi to build a "fortune telling box." I only got my finger smashed once, so I consider it a success!

Later that day, Stacy and family came over and the boys decorated Easter Egg cookies. Wally must be my son and he seemed to think the point of decorating cookies is to get as much frosting as possible on to each cookie.

I think Wally was wondering if he could just pour the frosting right on.

We love our swing on the porch, but it is rather hard. I found some seat cushions that fit it perfectly, so I sewed 2 together. Wally loves playing with the cushion, so it isn't on the swing often.

Wally made a hide-out in the house (notice the swing cushion), but Moose quickly took it over.

We've had pretty good luck since we moved to Iowa City. First Free Happy Meals for a year, and now we just won a family membership to the Children's Museum. Pretty awesome! Since we can go now when it isn't horribly busy, Wally got to try the flight simulator with Daddy. Wally's favorite part was bouncing along on the ground taking out as many houses and trees as he could. Maybe he isn't ready for a ride in the Nighthawk!

Last Sunday was Youth Sunday at church. All of the kiddos got to go to the front and sing "This Little Light of Mine." Unlike at Christmas time, Wally was not shy.

Yes, I was the typical overly-proud mom who videoed and photographed throughout the song.

He's pretty cute though, right?

Spring Break 2011

Wally and I decided to go visit all of his Grandmas and Papas for spring break. Joel is trying to save up time-off for the adoption, so he was unable to join us. That was a big-time bummer. It just wasn't right doing the trip without him. We missed him a bunch, but we still managed to have some fun. Wally is an amazing traveller and the two of us made the 13 hour drive all by ourselves. Wally listened to books on CD, colored, played I-spy with me, and of course, played on Daddy's ipod. We didn't have any rough spells during the whole drive. I am definitely spoiled to have Wally as my kid! The first full-day at the Reder Ranch we went to Grandma Mary and Papa Randy's church. Then in the afternoon, Wally got to help Grandma empty blue bird houses to get them ready for the spring. Good thing, because we saw several blue birds looking for homes! The we were going to hike up to the hangar to see Papa's plane, but got distracted by the mud. Wally ended up with boots full of water and gloves that were soaking, but it was so much.

Grandma even had to play in the mud some!

After Wally was soaking, he built a bridge so that we didn't have to get wet.

A tradition in our family is to have waffles (my favorite) or pancakes on Saturday mornings. Since we wouldn't be there on a Saturday morning, we had waffles on Monday! Yum!

Grandma had found a big box of my old dolls for me to take home for Sister. It was fun going through those memories and then seeing Wally play with them. I never thought as a kid that my kids would play with them some day.

We also found the box of our old Halloween costumes that my mom had made. Wally loved the lion costume. Maybe he will get to wear it some day when he is a little bigger.

Wally loved Jason's wizard costume as we have been reading the Magic Tree House books about Merlin the magician. I think Wally was bummed that he couldn't take it home.

We then drove up on Monday afternoon to Broadus to first visit Papa Steve and Grandma Cindy. When we got there Papa was just getting ready to go check on his calves as it is calving season. Wally and I excitedly hopped into Papa's new truck and headed to the ranch. Wally even go to ride in the front seat!

The sun was getting low in the sky and was just beautiful shining on the Wolfe Mountains. Papa's ranch is quite beautiful.

We got to see 3 baby calves that had just been born. Papa hadn't even seen them yet! Papa had black calves and white calves. My favorite were the white ones (especially after they were clean, dry, and fluffy), but Wally loved the black ones.

We even got to help Papa heard some cows from one pasture to a coral. Wally is still talking about how the cows thought the people from Iowa were crazy!

We had a lovely dinner with the whole family, though again, it wasn't right without Joel (and Kourtney). Thanks!

Both Linda and Mary are very musically talented. They sound like angels when they sing. Here, Mary played a song that she had written herself. I only managed to catch the last part on video. What a gift!

Then we were off to visit Grandma Kathy and Gator. Wally and Gator had a blast together as they have pretty much the same amount of energy.

What would Wally do with a puppy?!?!!!

Gramma Kathy took us on a walk to the ice cream parlor (The Cooper Moon). Wally was so excited to be getting a milk shake.

When he got it, he seriously only came up for air once or twice before it was gone. I think he had a bit of a brain freeze when he was done!

On the walk back to Gramma's house, we played in the mud again. Nothing is better than Grammas and mud!

We brought Great-Gramma Camilla over for the evening and Wally had to show her his piano that he bought with Christmas money from her. Wally's best song is Jingle Bells. Maybe he will take after Linda and Mary!

Though our trip to Broadus was short, it was great to see everyone. Wally was sure excited to get a marble bag from Gramma Kathy that Bubu (the gorilla) could even fit in!

When we got back to the Reder Ranch, it was just before lunchtime and the weather was nice, so we thought we would get a picnic together and head to Sylvan Lake as Wally had never been there. On the way to Hill City, Wally threw-up. Luckily, I apparently got my puke-catching skills from my mom as she cupped her hands and caught almost all of it! Thanks Grandma! When we got to Sylvan Lake, Wally seemed a bit out of it. We parked and were going to get out for our picnic and Wally said, "I'm too tired to have a picnic." We tipped his chair back and he was out. Guess the boy knows when he is tired!

So, Grandma, Papa, and I ate in the car and then we drove through the hills. Sylvan Lake was beautiful (like always), but looked especially neat as the lake was frozen and covered with snow.

Wally woke up just as we rounded a corner to find the buffalo in Custer State Park.

Our luck continued as we came over a hill and found the "wild" donkeys. These donkeys are not shy at all. Good thing Wally has no fear of animals!

Wally wasn't afraid of the giant teeth chomping at him.

Ah, what a cute donkey. They had the car surrounded! It is perfectly normal to have 2 giant donkey heads leaning in your window trying to eat out of your lap.

Ah, a baby donkey! They were so soft!

Hmm...Grandma Mary says the donkeys were licking the salt off the car, but I have proof suggesting otherwise!

The sun came out and the weather was beautiful, so we stopped at a playground in Custer State Park and enjoyed some swinging.

On the drive home, Wally saw some boulders on Boulder Hill Road that he just needed to climb on. I guess there aren't many of those in Iowa.

The turkeys came out one morning for Wally to feed. The turkeys were more afraid of Wally than of Peni the dog though!

Wally climbed the oak tree by Papa's pond. He decided that it needs a magic tree house in it. There's another project for you Papa and Grandma! Wally and I had a fun ride on the ATV.

Though we were just there in November, a lot has changed at the Reder Ranch. The big old barn is gone and the pond has grown (as have the piles of dirt). I can't wait to see the pond this summer.

One the drive home, I was pooped. I'm sure Wally could have done the whole drive in one day again, but I was just too tired and didn't want to risk it. So, we stopped in Sioux Falls and stayed at a hotel with a big water slide. Wally (and I) loved going down it. I had to make sure to be at the bottom to fetch him out of the water when he came shooting out. Sometimes he would want me to go up with him and I would go first so I could catch him. Other times he would go up by himself, wait in line, and go down - he is getting so grown up!

Wally and I put on about 28 hours of actual driving time (not total travel time) and over 1800 miles. That didn't include the time we spent in cars with our Grandmas and Papas.

It was a great trip and the only thing that would have made it better would have been having Joel with us. I was definitely homesick towards the end, and not for my house.