Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Today we had a fun time going to a live broadcast of an Wisconsin based NPR show -- thanks to the residency program. It was definitely a dorky thing to do this morning, but we enjoyed it and our friends Neal and Meghan even made it onto the show.

After Henry napped for awhile, we stopped into a favorite place for brunch and had a lazy afternoon being silly with Henry. He is just so goofy right now. Lots of fun.

I will be working at the hospital tomorrow when some other friends stop by for dinner - so here it is a day early - Happy Birthday!

Happy Spring!

We wish "ewe" a happy spring! We took Henry out to a farm to see the baby animals. There were LOTS of lambs. Henry was sort of in awe of all the noise. Lots of bleating back and forth between babies and mamas.

Additionally, we got to see chicks, pigs, calves, turkeys, rabbits, and a duck. Henry was brave and patted the lambs and chickens and the pig's nose. It was just the dose of spring we were looking for to wrap up a warm weather week!

Wearin' O' The Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last weekend we had a family weekend just outside Chicago (a perfect middle meeting place between Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). Our time was filled with silliness (what do you expect with a 5, 3, and 1 year old?) and adventure as we all rode the Metra in to downtown Chicago.

Our intention was to visit the Shedd Aquarium. Little did we know the whales, dolphins, and penguins were on vacation while their habitat underwent an upgrade. This changed our minds about spending time and money to see the "lesser" aquatic species. (Let's remember you're talking about the attention spans of a 5, 3, and 1 year old).

Instead, we ventured through the St. Patrick's day parade line up, saw the "giant bean" in Millennium park, and viewed the vibrantly green river. All in all still a successful trip, as we followed the golden rule of large group interaction, especially when children are involved: "always quit while it's still fun!" It certainly helped that the weather was gorgeous, too!

Another highlight to the weekend was swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub. It was Henry's first experience in a pool and he LOVED every minute of it. By the end of our session, Aunt Jennifer had convinced him to try dipping his face in the water to blow bubbles. To think next year he might be jumping in as bravely as Andrew and Julia do boggles my mind. You would think after all this expenditure of energy it was quiet and peaceful at night. And you'd be wrong. We struggled BIG TIME with sleeping soundly in the hotel room. Which made for one exhausted momma by the end of the weekend. Henry will have to turn over a new leaf before I think about taking him to another hotel in the future...oh wait, we have some long distance weddings to attend this year. More sleep training, here we come!

P.S. Thanks, Aunt Jessica, for providing the festive t-shirts!

Warm weather teaser

We had another warm weather teaser last week. It felt SO good to be outside, soaking in the sunshine. Henry loved roaming around the backyard. I know where we'll be spending a lot of time this summer!

It was a little muddy, and falls on sticks, stones, and other outdoor terrain (leftover snow) is not as forgiving as carpet, or even smooth hardwood flooring!

Henry and I fed the birdies, then we explored. He investigated leaves, rocks, sticks, a pine cone (which he ran through his hair as if it were a comb), and a corn cob left behind by Mr. Squirrel (which was hard to part with when we went in the house).

Despite having some birthday celebrations to disrupt the doldrums, February and March are hard times of the year for us. We feel sort of tired, gray, cold, muddy, and mopey. Spring and sun will be very welcomed in our house! Hopefully, just a few more weeks!

Wagon shuffle

Here is a video of Henry discovering a new way to play with his block wagon. He had some initial trouble with the dismount, but as you'll see in this video, he's mastered that "big" step down.