Redonkulous!

Our favorite new word around here is "redonkulous," courtesy of the movie Bolt (which I think was one of the higher quality kids' movies, despite the presence of Miley Cyrus...at least we didn't have to see her!). Usage: There are so many toys on your bedroom floor that I can't walk without tripping! It's redonkulous!!

We went to the Devonian Fossil Gorge (near Iowa City) on Memorial Day for a family outing. We saw some water snakes eating a fish (ewwww!) and caught some of the hundred of tadpoles that were wiggling around in the puddles. At least, M3 did. M4 was not keen on that idea. Afterwards we had some outrageously overpriced Indian food. Oh well, the kids chose the lamb, which I thought was pretty adventurous of them!

First Days of Summer

School will be over on Friday! The past few days have been quite warm, so we broke out the sprinkler for the first time!
M3's friend B was over. I know this is blurry, but I just liked it because M3 is airborne.

Round and round they go! I love our new yard. And I also love my clothes line! Go figure...

News of the Weird

How's this for strange? The kids' gymnastics teacher was walking her dog along a rural Iowa road, turned around and realized she was being stalked by this:A serval!! In Iowa!! When she sends us the pictures she took, I will post them. (She freaked out, called her husband to pick her up, and they happened to have a camera in the car.) She got some amazing pictures!

Clearly, it was someone's pet, but it's just so interesting to contemplate...how long has it been loose? Has it been wandering all over Iowa? From a quick web search, it seems they are popular exotic pets. Which makes me sad. One site said they will not knowingly sell serval kittens to families with children. Uh huh.

Random photos...

Does anyone need rhubarb? The leaves work as sunbonnets as well...The azaleas behind our deck (I think they're azaleas):I'm not sure if M3 or M4 took this, but it's kinda cool. So there ya go:

New bike

We got M3 a new (used) bike from our local bike shop. She had no trouble at all switching to a much bigger bike. She's so excited, she wants me to wake her up early to go on a bike ride BEFORE school!

Still needs the seat up a bit higher, I think.

It's Nature's Nature

Whoa! I fell into a hole!

It's nature's nature

Oof! I tripped over a stone!

It's nature's nature

Ugh! I fell into the lake!

Well, it's nature's nature!

--New poem by M3

Happy Mother's Day!

KC visit

We had a mini St. Angelo family reunion last weekend. Too short for us Iowans as we only got to stay about 36 hours! But we had such fun hanging with the new cousins, V and O, and seeing everyone. I didn't get any pics of O, though! What's up with that? Next time. Also I was treated to a lovely early 40th birthday party! Thanks everyone!M3, M4, and V

Making her laugh.

Fun at the playground.

Mmmm...this spatula tastes great!